404 Senior Thesis Critical Writing Workshop
ENGLISH 404 SENIOR THESIS WORKSHOP NICHOLS
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Required texts for this class will be copies made by each student of sets of three (3) different draft materials (approx.10-15 pp. each set) for distribution to members of the class well before our weekly workshops. These copies will be returned to their authors (with comments) by each student before the end of each workshop week. In addition, students should familiarize themselves carefully with the following useful web-links as they begin research and writing:
Research Guidance: Waidner-Spahr Library
MLA Format and MLA Citation Guide
Scholarly and Academic Research: Finding Journal Articles
Google Scholar: link to wide-ranging scholarly web resources
This course will seek to extend the work we began in 403 into a weekly research and writing workshop. The workshop will let each student develop, research, and write a major essay on an approved literary topic. In addition, students will provide input for each other throughout the semester through discussion comments and written comments on draft materials. Each student will read and research as widely as necessary in order to conceive, develop, write, and accurately document a coherent and well-focused thesis essay of 35-50 pages. Students may make use of the full services of the Waidner-Spahr Library, outside libraries, and the Writing Center in order to complete this project.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Students will be required to attend all classes, hand in all written work on schedule, and complete the final course project no later than Monday, APRIL 21 at 5:00 p.m. Students will read and comment on other students’ work based on the attached schedule (pp. 2-3). Each student will be responsible for meeting all of the deadlines included on this schedule. Students preparing draft materials for each week’s workshop will be required to have copies of those materials in the mailboxes of members of the class (and the professor) no later than the Friday before the workshop. Students receiving these draft copies will then be required to return them to their authors by the Thursday following the workshop. Each student will participate in two full-class workshops with his or her own work and one workshop with only the members of his or her workshop group. The final project will be 35-50 pages of your written text, not including title page, endnotes, or works cited, prepared in Times New Roman font, 12 pt. type, and one-inch margins, prepared in the correct MLA format (see copies of PMLA, MLA Handbook, the Purdue online OWL, and earlier 404 projects in the English Department or the Waidner-Spahr Library). Note that MLA style has changed in recent years, and you are responsible for adopting the most recent version (it describes the form of each “work” cited at the end of the citation: Print, Film, DVD, Videodisk, etc., and web sites by the date constructed and the date consulted, without URL.) Here is a site from Cornell University’s library that offers one of the simplest and most direct versions of current MLA format and “Works Cited” style:
http://www.library.cornell.edu/resrch/citmanage/mla
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Grades will be based on the following scale. All written and workshop components of the course must be completed in order for you to pass the class (i.e. you cannot skip one of your own work-shopping or draft sessions or of your classmates):
Workshop Comments/ Draft Final
Participation Materials Project
20% 30% 50% = 100%
Do not hesitate to contact me during the semester to discuss our workshops, your research, your writing, or your grade.
Workshop Schedule and Deadlines
January
21 T Workshop: bring a draft prospectus for every class member (15 copies)
23 TH Prospectus comments due in mailboxes (HUB#s and Nichols) 24 F Final Prospectus copies due in mailboxes ________________________________________________________
28 T Workshop: Final Prospectus critiques and approval 30 TH Final reflections on prospectuses and project plans (e-mails) 31 F Group #1 drafts due in mailboxes ________________________________________________________
Feb 4 T Workshop Group #1 (full-class discussion)
6 H Class comments returned to Group #1
7 F Group #2 drafts due in mailboxes
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11 T Workshop Group #2 (full-class discussion)
13 TH Class comments returned to Group #2
14 F Group #3 drafts due in mailboxes
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18 T Workshop Group #3 (full-class discussion)
20 TH Class comments returned to Group #3
21 F Group #1 drafts due in mailboxes
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25 T Workshop Group #1 (full-class discussion) 27 TH Class comments returned to Group #1 28 F Group #2 drafts due in mailboxes ______________________________________________________
March 4 T Workshop Group # 2 (full-class discussion) 6 TH Class comments returned to Group #2 7 F Group #3 drafts due in mailboxes
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SPRING BREAK 8-16 ________________________________________________________
18 T Workshop Group #3 (full-class discussion)
20 TH Class comments returned to Group #3
21 F Group #1 drafts due to Group #1 only
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25 T Workshop Group #1 (Group #1 only: McClures Gap Road)
27 TH Group #1 comments returned to Group #1
28 F Group #2 drafts to Group #2 only
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April 1 T Workshop Group #2 (Group #2 only: McClures Gap Road)
3 TH Group #2 comments returned to Group #2
4 Group #3 drafts to Group #3 only
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8 T Workshop Group #3 (Group #3 only: McClures Gap Road)
10 TH Group #3 comments returned to Group #3
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11 F-21 M Writing, editing, and printing (have a finished copy in hand by Friday April 18) ________________________________________________________
April 21, Monday, PROJECT DUE: (one unbound copy to EC 305 by 5:00 p.m.) NO LATE PAPERS*
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Friday, May 2 at 3 p.m. An unbound copy for the archives and a bound copy for the English department must be submitted to the English department academic coordinator–Kelly Winter-Fazio–by 2 p.m. on the last day of classes – (make sure the date and professor’s name are on the cover sheet of these copies)
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Official guidelines on the departmental 404 lateness policy and College policies:
By uniform English Department policy, all final drafts of 404 theses are due on Monday, April 21nd , at 5:00 PM.
Late submissions will be subject to severe penalties on the thesis grade. Lateness is a very serious matter in 404. The simple answer to this problem is to submit all of your work (draft materials and final thesis) on time (or early!). Here is the Departmental Policy on lateness as well as other general rules for 404:
Rules for Senior Thesis in English at Dickinson
1. The final draft of the senior thesis:
A. Should be a minimum of 10,000 words and a maximum of 15,000 words (35 to 50 pages), not including apparatus (works cited, acknowledgements, etc.), in 12-point Times New Roman typeface with 1” margins. Word count must be appended to the document upon submission.
B. Should correctly follow MLA format, including the works cited pages.
2. Students must submit three copies of their final paper.
One final copy for grading by 5 p.m. on Friday of the 12th week of classes. (If this date is a College recognized religious holiday, the due date will be 5 p.m. the Monday following.) This copy should be double-sided and given directly to the instructor. By department policy, late papers will receive a grade of F.
Two additional copies, due by 3 p.m. on the last day of classes, to Kelly Winters-Fazio, the English Department Academic Coordinator. 1) One copy left unbound on acid-free paper for the college archives for permanent retention. This copy of the paper should be double-sided and printed out on acid-free paper to ensure its longevity. This copy should be left unbound and placed in an individual envelope or folder with the student’s name on the tab. 2) One bound copy to be housed in the English department. This copy of the paper should be double-sided and bound by the Print Center. You may choose a colored cover sheet for the front and back cover page.
3. All three copies should be fully paginated, including any acknowledgments, preface, appendices, and works cited.
4. The title page of all three copies of the paper should include full title, author, date of submission, and the name of the 404 instructor.
5. Grades for English 404 will not be submitted until ALL copies of your 404 paper are received.
Academic Honesty
The Dickinson plagiarism policy will be strictly enforced. This class adheres to the college’s Community Standards, which clearly state: “Students are expected to do their own work. Work submitted in fulfillment of academic assignments and provided on examinations is expected to be original by the student submitting it.” Please review the Community Standards document for more information. Students have failed to graduate from Dickinson on-time based on academic honesty issues in 404; please do not hesitate to ask me any questions you may have about citation, documentation, or academic honesty in relation to your thesis. The most severe penalties (failure to complete the English major; failure to graduate) can result from academic honesty problems in 404. Don’t risk it!
Statement on Disability Services
In compliance with the Dickinson College policy and equal access laws, I am available to discuss requests made by students with disabilities for academic accommodations. Such requests must be verified in advance by the Coordinator of Disability Services who will provide a signed copy of an accommodation letter, which must be presented to me prior to any accommodations being offered. Requests for academic accommodations should be made during the first three weeks of the semester (except for unusual circumstances) so that timely and appropriate arrangements can be made.
Students requesting accommodations are required to register with Disability Services, located in Academic Advising, first floor of Biddle House. Please contact Marni Jones, Coordinator of Disability Services (at ext. 1080 or jonesmar@dickinson.edu ) to verify their eligibility for reasonable and appropriate accommodations.
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Final Advice
As you begin research and writing, consult the bibliographic materials you have already used in 403. Remember that many of our texts for that course included useful bibliographies. Continue to read widely, but remember that you will reach a point within the first three weeks of the semester where you will need to begin writing work-in-progress materials for the class. In addition, remember that the library and I for advice and guidance. Do not overlook the possibility of extending your research into libraries beyond Dickinson and Carlisle through interlibrary loan or personal visits (especially over Spring Break). This work is supposed to represent the culmination of four years at Dickinson and also of all of your work as an English major. Make this a piece of work of which you and I and the English department can be proud.
Also remember that this course is not just about your own research and writing. You are expected to be an active participant in the workshop process. This means that you will need to read work by your classmates with care, make comments on the draft materials they provide, and speak up in our weekly sessions with useful comments and suggestions for improvement. This aspect of the course will form an important part of your own grade (20%). By the end of the semester, I will ask each of you to comment on those members of the workshop whose comments were most helpful and those whose comments were least helpful as the semester proceeded. When this course succeeds, it does so as a shared effort. By the end of the semester, our goal should be that each student has produced a successful piece of work–whatever the final letter grade–and that the class has produced a series of projects we will all be pleased to send to the Dickinson library. Imagine coming back to Carlisle with your grandchild in fifty years to see the product of your spring 2011 labors. Also imagine picking up an academic book in the future and seeing your thesis referred to as a source for a high-powered scholarly argument. Now, get serious about your most important single piece of academic work at Dickinson. Now, get busy!
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