Home / Academic Programs / Writing / Thesis Tips

Printer Friendly

MA in Writing Program Thesis Tips

As the demanding culmination of the Writing Program, Thesis & Publication (490.801) is one the few courses in which students from all four concentrations gather together. The course has two major goals: the revision and completion of a successful thesis and an enriching, challenging capstone experience for the Writing Program. While some classroom work is required, the course is structured so students can focus most of their writing effort toward the thesis revision process. To allow extra time for that goal, class sessions are purposely not as involved as other courses, and students will not meet as a class for several weeks during the term. The thesis work is done largely outside of class, with an advisor, the program's thesis coordinator, and, in part, the course instructor. The capstone experience occurs largely as a class, which is directed by the course instructor. In class and small-group sessions, students consider and plan a writing life beyond the program, submit writing or other work for outside consideration, contribute to a class journal project, discuss the future of writing, participate in a program-capping roundtable discussion, and rehearse and conduct a public reading. The PennUnion literary journal, an undistributed, self-published student project, is designed to help students understand how to submit and edit for publication. The course has tight deadlines, which must be met to complete degree requirements.

The Master's Thesis: Goals, Expectations, and Requirements

A Writing Program thesis is a final student portfolio of creative writing that is as close to publishable as individually possible. The thesis also should be considered a final exam that demonstrates a student has met certain program and concentration goals, especially those that focus on revision. While the program assumes that many theses remain works in progress during and after the thesis term, these goals and requirements should guide thesis advisors as they work with students. The goals also form the basis for the final Writing Program review of each student's thesis. A Writing Program thesis should:

I. Meet the General Program Goal of Literary Writing

Our Student Handbook says: "The program includes fine arts, literature, and journalism, with the goal of creating and supporting literary writing that reaches beyond basic entertainment or information delivery into deeper realms of human art, imagination, and meaning."

II. Meet Program Standards for Writing Quality

Expectations for writing quality are individual and program-wide. The program level is set and understood by students and instructors through workshops and other courses. The individual level varies within the program expectation but is based on the student's ability to demonstrate improvement during the program and the thesis revision process.

III. Demonstrate an Understanding of Revision, Editing, and Publication Process

A. The student understands and can apply techniques of significant revision. Even advanced material can be improved beyond word and line editing; revision is required.

B. The student understands and can apply techniques of editing for publication, including word/line editing, following a format, and submitting material professionally.

C. The student understands the importance of deadlines in the real world of publication by meeting various thesis deadlines, and the student displays a graduate-level knowledge of grammar, punctuation, and other fundamentals.
The student satisfies these requirements by showing a professional ability to follow or address the suggestions and editing of the thesis advisor. This includes the expectation that the advisor and student settle disputes through the traditional student/teacher and writer/editor relationships.

IV. Meet Concentration Requirements

Certain program concentrations have special thesis requirements, including:

Nonfiction and Science-Medical Writing: Theses in these concentrations must demonstrate that the student is able to use primary research, reporting, on-location observation, and interviewing from outside the student's personal experience. At least 10 thesis pages, either in one piece of writing or throughout a thesis, should show that the student can gather and incorporate outside information. This requirement can be demonstrated through memoir, personal essay, article, opinion, review, or any other form.

Poetry: Some advisors may allow poetry students to write new poems during the thesis term, and some poetry students may be allowed to include essays or criticism in their theses. Consult the poetry advisor for more information.

Students should consult their faculty advisor (not their thesis advisor) for more information about requirements and goals in their concentration.

Areas of Potential Problems During the Thesis Course

Thesis students face additional work, lower grades, and/or rejection during the thesis process by:

A. Reluctance or inability to follow or address an advisor's suggestions or editing, or failing to show an ability or openness to revising or settling disputes.

B. Relying more on copyediting or word- or line-level changes when broader revision issues are present.

C. Failing to address word- or line-level concerns that make all or part of a thesis, while acceptable for broader issues, unacceptable.

D. Missing deadlines or submitting drafts with poor grammar, punctuation, or spelling.

E. Not adhering to program and university form and formatting guidelines.

F. Failing to adhere to concentration requirements, including the nonfiction and science-medical writing requirement for outside research, reporting, and interviewing.

The Thesis: General Information

Thesis and Publication should be taken only after a student has completed all other courses in the degree program, including core courses, electives, and workshops. (Students may take a second course during their thesis term only if the course is additional to degree requirements. The program associate chair must approve any second course.) The thesis course is offered in Washington and Baltimore during the Fall and Spring terms; Thesis and Publication is not currently offered in the summers. All thesis students must enroll in the thesis course and must be ready to submit the first draft of a thesis by the second week of the term.

During the course, students work one-on-one with an individual thesis advisor and attend the class with other thesis students. Students should contact and nominate their own thesis advisors before the course begins by filing a Thesis Planning Form. In nearly all cases, advisor nominees will be regular faculty members of the Writing Program, and in most cases students will nominate an instructor they had for an earlier course. Students should contact the desired faculty member well in advance. If the faculty member agrees to be considered, the student should submit their Planning Form, and the thesis coordinator or program associate chair will review the nomination. Most are approved, but some students are asked, for various reasons, to submit another nominee.

Most faculty members consider advising requests from students no earlier than five to six months before the beginning of a thesis course, and some instructors may be unable to participate in certain terms. A list of potential advisors is available on the program website at http://advanced.jhu.edu/academic/writing/thesis-advisors/, but newer instructors not on the list may be eligible. (A student's academic advisor does not automatically become a thesis advisor.)

To allow more time for thesis revision and student-advisor conferences, the thesis class does not meet during some weeks of the term. The open weeks of the course generally fall in the middle of the term, when students are working on thesis revisions; the schedule for each course will be announced at the first class session. Because the class does not meet each week, attendance at class sessions is critical.

Special Note: All thesis students must submit a Thesis Planning Form to the program before they start Thesis and Publication. The form is available online at http://advanced.jhu.edu/academic/writing/ThesisPlanningForm.html. The form should be submitted at least a month before the beginning of the thesis term.

THE THESIS PROCESS
The thesis is a final portfolio of a student's writing from the Writing Program. As such, students should begin creating and revising an extensive sampling of work during their earliest courses through the final course before thesis. Any course, whether a workshop or elective, can produce writing that might be adapted and revised into part of a thesis. Students are strongly encouraged to revise course submissions as they move through the program. They should not wait until a few weeks before the thesis course to revise work that was created months or years earlier. Even revisions required by a course instructor should be reworked again before being considered for a thesis.

How to Select Material for a Thesis: A thesis usually does not include new writing. Rather, it features a student's "greatest hits" from previous courses in the program. Students should choose only their best material from earlier courses and should not submit all previous program writing. For instance, a student who created 14 separate pieces in their course work may decide to choose only six or eight of those for the first thesis draft. In most cases, all thesis material must have been workshopped or otherwise submitted in earlier Writing Program courses. (This restriction does not apply to new paragraphs or sections that result from continuing revision.) Students may not submit the same version of writing that was submitted in a previous course, even if that submission was a required revision of earlier work. All thesis writing must be revised and edited from all earlier versions.

A) The writing in a thesis must be complete stories, articles, poems, essays, or chapters. Work done as an exercise should not be submitted unless it is revised into a completed form. (Chapters of an unfinished novel or nonfiction book are acceptable for a thesis.)

B) Students who want to include writing from outside their concentration must get advance permission from the course instructor. Such work may constitute only a small part of a thesis.

C) In choosing material, students should remember that quality is always better than quantity. Writers get no extra credit for reaching the maximum thesis lengths described below.

Thesis Planning Form: All students planning to enroll in Thesis and Publication must complete and submit a thesis planning form before the course begins. Copies of the form are available online at http://advanced.jhu.edu/academic/writing/ThesisPlanningForm.html.The form requires information about the student's thesis and proposed advisor. The program associate chair or thesis coordinator will review the forms and contact the student about any issues, especially those concerning an advisor. Students should submit the form at least one month before the beginning of the desired thesis course. Students who cannot meet this deadline should contact the program thesis coordinator or program associate chair as early as possible. Directions for submitting the form are included on the form itself.

Length: The first draft of a thesis for fiction, nonfiction, and science-medical writing generally should be between 50 and 90 typed, double-spaced pages of text -- excluding title pages, tables of contents, source lists, and other non-text material. The course instructor or program associate chair must give advance approval for any thesis draft of fewer than 50 or more than 100 text pages. In most cases, the first draft must include at least three separate pieces of writing, whether short stories, chapters, articles, or essays. If part of a book-length work makes up the entire thesis, the first draft usually should include the first chapter and at least two other chapters. All book excerpts, whether for part or all of a thesis, must include a synopsis of the entire work, and, if available, a brief outline of all chapters.

In poetry, first drafts should be of a length that is appropriate to the writer's work. Poets who write shorter, single-page poems should submit at least 20 poems, but poets who write longer works may choose to submit fewer poems as long as the total number of pages of poetry text is no fewer than 20. Poems should be single-spaced, and poetry thesis drafts may include one essay or work of criticism, double-spaced, in addition to the poems requirement above. Poetry thesis drafts may not exceed 35 pages of poetry without permission.

Students who are completing a degree in two concentrations should consult their academic advisors for more information about a thesis. Dual-concentration theses must include significant material from each concentration, and the student should nominate separate thesis advisors in each area or a single advisor who is qualified in both areas.

A final thesis often is shorter than the above draft lengths, depending on deletions during revision. Most final theses in fiction, nonfiction, and science-medical writing are 40-80 pages.

A Focus on Revision: Students do not write a thesis during the thesis course; they revise it. During that process, students face several key deadlines:

1) Students must have two copies of a first draft ready to submit to the thesis coordinator (not the course instructor) on the second week of the term. One copy stays with the coordinator, who sends the other to the student's thesis advisor. (Students should not submit their first thesis draft directly to their advisor without permission.) Within about 14 days, the advisor returns the draft to the author with a written critique and edited manuscript. After that, the student prepares a written revision plan. The student and advisor then spend the rest of the term improving the draft until it is ready for final program review. After the first draft, students may exchange drafts directly with their advisor. Many drafts of individual pieces or sections are expected.

2) During the thesis term, the student and the advisor submit progress reports to the coordinator, who will help resolve conflicts between student and advisor.

3) Near the term's end, the student submits two copies of a final draft: one to the thesis coordinator (not the course instructor) and another to the advisor. The coordinator and advisor jointly examine this final draft for its adherence to program standards and university guidelines. Other faculty members, including the program associate chair, may be asked to help review final drafts. The coordinator and advisor then ask either for more revisions or for the preparation of a final thesis. The revision process is expected to continue until a final draft is approved.

Thesis Continuation: Students who cannot produce an acceptable final draft during a single term may be asked to take an Incomplete for the thesis course or to enroll in Thesis Continuation (490.888) for every term after the thesis term, until the thesis is approved. The continuation course include a significant fee. This course is only for thesis students who completed 490.801 Thesis & Publication but failed to finish an approved thesis and were not approved for an Incomplete.

4) After approval of the final draft, the student submits three copies of a final thesis. Two tape-bound copies of the thesis, in proper form, are submitted the thesis coordinator on the last class day. The program keeps these thesis copies on permanent file in its offices. Within 10 days of the end of the course, the third copy must be submitted unbound on special, acid-free paper according to university guidelines. This copy is submitted to program offices, which then present it to the university for hardcover binding and filing in the Hopkins library system. Students also may prepare an unbound courtesy copy for presentation to the thesis advisor, if desired. Full thesis format instructions are distributed to thesis students.

Advisors: In addition to working closely with the student on revision, a thesis advisor examines the various drafts of a thesis for adherence to program guidelines and standards. The advisor also evaluates a student's real-world publishability, providing a professional evaluation that moves beyond the classroom. Nearly all advisors are Writing Program faculty members, although writers, editors, or teachers from outside the program will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Advisors are paid, but the course instructor handles all payment issues; students are not involved in advisor payment.

A) The program associate chair or thesis coordinator must approve all thesis advisors. (See Thesis Planning Form above.) Any student who has not arranged for an advisor will be assigned one in the first week of the thesis course. While every effort will be made to satisfy the student, the coordinator will make the final choice.

B) In certain cases, thesis drafts may be submitted before the beginning of the thesis course term to accommodate an advisor's schedule. The coordinator or program associate chair must approve all early submissions, however.

C) Any student proposing an advisor who is not part of the regular faculty of the M.A. in Writing Program must do so in writing before the beginning of a thesis course. (See Thesis Planning Form above.) If possible, such proposals should be submitted no later than 30 days before the beginning of the thesis course. The proposal should include the advisor's credentials, addresses, phone and fax numbers. The student also must describe any relationship he or she has with the proposed advisor and demonstrate why that person is a good choice. (The student should contact the potential advisor well in advance of the thesis course to determine whether she or he has the time and interest to work with the student throughout the term. Payment questions should be directed to the program associate chair or thesis coordinator.) The coordinator or associate chair must approve the proposed outside advisor, and the instructor will deliver the first thesis draft. Proposals for outside advisors will not be accepted after the first thesis class meeting. Students who contact potential advisors should make it clear to them that the coordinator or associate chair, not the student, makes the final decision on the choice of an advisor.

Theme vs. Serendipity / Introductions: A common student misunderstanding about the thesis concerns subject matter. A thesis is not required to have a common subject, form, or style. Many students submit eclectic collections of various styles of writing on unrelated subjects or themes. Others submit excerpts from a book or a collection with a common theme, subject, or style.

Students are encouraged to write a brief introduction to their work to assist the advisor's review of the first thesis draft. Following professional tradition, poetry introductions are optional. This introduction should point out any common traits in the writing, or it may introduce the varied subjects and forms contained in the draft. Students may learn more about introductions by reviewing final theses on file in program offices.

Style and Form: All final thesis drafts and final theses must be in the proper manuscript form and style, as discussed on the first class night and as outlined in university guidelines. Earlier drafts, including the first draft, are encouraged but not required to be in the proper form. (University thesis guidelines are available at program offices.) All drafts, including the first draft, must have consecutive page numbers. Final drafts or final theses submitted in improper form or style will be rejected.

Grammar and Spelling: Any thesis draft or final thesis with poor grammar, punctuation, usage, or spelling will be rejected. It is the responsibility of the author, not the instructor or advisor, to copyedit a thesis.

THE COURSE
The thesis process described above is conducted individually and outside of the class meetings for the Thesis and Publication course. The class meetings, which include lectures, discussion, and some reading, focus on techniques of revision, the future of writing, the student's future as a writer, the submission and editing of material for the class journal project, a final roundtable discussion of what students learned during the program, and the festive public reading held at the end of the term.

Class Journal Project (PennUnion): This literary class picture is a self-published record of a student's final course in the writing program. Only the work of thesis students is included in the journal, and every student is required to contribute. A student's selection for the class journal must be taken from the first draft of a thesis and must be in a student's chosen concentration. Each class selects the cover art for the journal and may choose to handle other editorial tasks. A publication fee for the course buys five copies per student, with extra copies available for a nominal charge. Students provide paper and computer disk copies of their submissions. Because the journal takes many weeks to produce, students may receive their published copies after the completion of the course.

The Public Reading: Students will rehearse for this final program event, to which friends, relatives, family members, fellow students, and others are invited. The free reading, which includes food and drinks, usually is held on a non-class evening in the final week of the thesis term. Separate readings are usually held in Washington and Baltimore.

Grades: A student's final grade in Thesis and Publication is based on several factors, including 1) meeting all deadlines for thesis drafts and the class journal, 2) the acceptance of a completed thesis, 3) class attendance and participation, especially in the final roundtable discussion, and 4) participation in the public reading. At the discretion of the advisor and instructor, a separate grade may be given for a student's thesis revision effort; this grade may differ from the final course grade. Separate grades usually are not given on the writing quality in a thesis, although the program may designate certain theses as being approved with honors.

Fees: In addition to the course tuition, publication fee, and optional public reading dinner charges, Johns Hopkins students who have been approved for graduation will be charged a graduation fee. The university, not the Writing Program, bills for this fee. For more information, see the Advanced Academic Programs catalog.

Questions? For more information about the thesis, thesis advising, or the thesis course, please contact your faculty advisor.

Copies of Writing Program theses and of PennUnion are available for review at the Washington Center, 1717 Massachusetts Ave., NW, or at the Advanced Academic Programs offices in the Wyman Park Building on the Homewood Campus in Baltimore.

(June 2008)