MA Thesis Advice, Commiseration

[EndlessAshley]

Hi everyone,

 

I know that we are all neck-deep in the mire that is waiting (which somehow manages to be a full time job), so I hope this topic is a welcome, if meager, distraction. 

 

I am about a month into researching my thesis. It's an expansion of an old seminar paper, so I think (hope, pray) that my ideas are hardy enough to proceed. As I get into the nitty-gritty, however, I'm noticing that every new book I read spawns another mile-long list of other sources to look into, and I'm starting to get a little overwhelmed. 

 

I've got lots of questions, and I would be really grateful if any other fellow thesis writers or veterans could share some advice! How do you structure your paper, or your time? How do you know when it's time to dive into writing? How did you balance your survey of the field with your original scholarship? 

 

I should mention that my department doesn't really have a system in place in which you have to reach certain milestones by certain deadlines, so I'm kind of in the dark. 

 

And finally, how does one stay motivated while staring down a slew of rejections, and when researching feels a lot like sitting around in your ex-boyfriend's sweatshirt all day, listening to what used to be your song?

[coffeekid]

Do yourself and your writing a favor: make a selection of serious primary sources and stay close to them in your analysis. Yes, you will be able to follow the endnote rabbit hole forever. Most people agree that at the masters level, this is not an expectation for a thesis.

It is somewhat depressing to think of it this way, but for me it was helpful to envision my thesis as a large term paper, as opposed to a short dissertation, which is unfortunately how most people conceive of it. Doing this makes for much more realistic expectations for yourself, your analysis, and your readers.

An important caveat to this, of course, is your department's particular expectations.

[marXian]

I concur with coffeekid.

 

When I was writing my thesis for my English MA, a professor reminded me that you simply cannot read everything. No one can. Figuring out what is going to be most helpful to your project is what's important.

 

I found it most helpful to get a draft completed that I could build from through the comments from my committee. The first and second drafts were awful, and it was tough to read those comments. But writing a thesis is about helping it find its natural resting place, and the only way to do that is to draft so that you can think through the garbage that shouldn't be in there.

[Body Politics]

Starting to write was most difficult for me. I am now about 30 pages in, and I know I'll have to do some more reading for my last chapter, but that's on the backburner for now as I write, write, write...

[EndlessAshley]

Thanks for the advice, guys. Calling a moratorium on research and starting in today, assuming that the areas that need more development will become clearer as I actually work out the argument. And this way, when I panic about how far I have to go, I can console myself with the knowledge that at least I've got X pages down! 

[Body Politics]

This is trivial, but I was really hoping to have one of my favorite scholars as an outside reader for my thesis. I interact with his work significantly, so this wouldn't have been just a 'celebrity dream date,' and it would have been cool to have my ideas reviewed and critiqued by someone whose work has formed the bedrock for many of them.
 

My advisor emailed him (they are good friends, going back to my advisor's doctoral work in the 90's) but hasn't heard anything back yet. He encouraged me to find someone else. I silently encouraged him to either let it ride or email him again. Out loud, I said:

[NTstudent]

I wrote my thesis on a text from Romans, so it was easy to read everything. Honestly, I think you should probably think in terms of narrowing your project rather than expanding. Focus on proving your point and find every flaw or possible rebuttal to your idea and just demolish it. Obviously, this is assuming you're actually right . But there is no sense in re-working your entire argument at 30 pages in, unless your just dead wrong. Originally, I wanted to write a thesis that was a major research undertaking that could have spawned into a monograph (it may one day). But my wise advisor cautioned against it, why not tackle this [a problem we had been discussing and I had come up with a reasonable explanation]. When it came to writing I made it my job to know the text better (or as good as) anyone. Obviously, this advice is for a text-focused project, but in general: Narrow, narrow, narrow your focus. Write, read, re-write, read, repeat.

[EndlessAshley]

My advisor offered some excellent advice the other day (this is his patented dissertation advice, so it may still be helpful if y'all are past this point in your thesis.)

 

After you've done some reading and have ideally been mulling over your topic for quite a while, spend a few weeks writing a 'draft' without any sources or compunction about style. Just get all those ideas that have been swirling around in your head out onto the screen (we're talking, like, a significant number of pages in which you're actually working out the logic and not just free associating). Once you've finished and you've got all the elements in front of you, start structuring your outline from there. That way, when you seek secondary sources to beef up your arguments, you'll know exactly what information you're looking for and your research will be much more efficient.

 

This advice probably won't work for everyone, depending on your own writing style. But as for me, I usually know exactly what I intend to say but don't know the best way to proceed. I have never actually followed an outline that I made prior to writing, and I've been known to spend days stuttering over the first paragraph. The logical sequence fits together naturally once I get going, but it's more something I sense as I'm writing and less something I can plan ahead of time. So I feel like this informal draft is a great (and much less overwhelming) way to dive in. 

[Perique69]

My ThM thesis advisor couldn't stand anything but primary sources.  So I relied very lightly on just 2 or 3 secondary sources.  He wanted my thesis to reflect my thoughts on the primary sources, not my thoughts on the secondary sources.