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English Department Honors Thesis Proposal - Literary Study
  Your completed proposal should be given to the English Department Chair by 3 p.m. on the due date.
    Your advisor will inform you of the due date, usually the Wednesday before Spring Break

The English Department requires that students preparing proposals work closely with an advisor in the Department, meeting weekly during the first seven weeks of the spring term.  Your goal is to complete the following tasks.
    1.  Settle on a workable thesis topic.
    2.  Read and discuss at least one substantial text to be studied in your thesis.
    3.  Develop and compose your formal proposal, using the form that follows.
Completing this work by the deadline is essential if you expect the Department to approve your proposal.

Format
Please include the following information on your cover page.

Name:
Month and Year of Graduation:
Thesis advisor:

List courses taken in the English Department (title, term, instructor).
List other courses taken outside the English Department that seem relevant to proposed thesis topic.

Attach a brief discussion (4 - 8 pages) of your proposed thesis topic.  This document should include the following items.

1.  Describe your topic and why it interests you.
        Be sure to name the text or texts on which you will focus your work.
2.  Describe your preparation for dealing with this topic, both the work you have done before this term and the work you've done during this term with your thesis advisor.
3.  Develop and include a complete list in MLA Bibliography form of all the materials you plan to read for your thesis.
4.  Make and include a weekly schedule of your plans for summer work.
    Your summer goal should be to read through and develop useful writing on all of the materials you will deal with in your thesis. You need to set a reachable goal for each week.
    Your plan should be realistic, taking into consideration other obligations you will have during the summer, but it should be substantial. Be sure to consider fully your actual summer schedule, so you can plan around family obligations and your summer job, if you have one.
    You should not plan your thesis to cover more than you can read through during the summer.

At the beginning of Fall term, the English Department will discuss your summer work with your thesis advisor.  The Department will want to see that you have made enough progress to be able to complete your thesis during the fall term.  If your summer work creates doubts, the Department may require you to end the project.