Thesis Proposal

[Caligula0305]

I have found a wealth of information on how to write a prospectus but not anything on how to write a proposal for  a thesis (is it even called a proposal or a prospectus as well?)

 

Can anyone tell me how long your proposal was, how many sources you covered in your proposal, and explain how you outlined it? 

 

Does anyone have any sources they can recommend for a thesis in the humanities specifically?

[fuzzylogician]

Before anyone with more relevant information comes along, let me make some general suggestions (since I can't help with the field-specific ones). 

 

First, the same document can be called different things by different programs. What matters is not so much the name, but what the content is required to be. Assuming that this is the only document that you are required to write before the thesis and that the purpose of the document is to lay out the topic, main questions you'll investigate, and some ideas about what you're going to say, I'd say the document you're required to write is the prospectus/proposal. 

 

Second, as for how long the proposal is supposed to be and how many sources is should cover, I am willing to bet that it depends on the program and might vary quite widely. My suggestion is to either consult your graduate student handbook if one exists, or else ask your advisor and/or more senior grad students in your program. I'd also suggest asking either your advisor or those students if there are older proposals you could look at, to get an idea for what they tend to contain. This will probably give you a much better idea about what *you* are required to do for *your* program than knowing what might be required by other programs.

[lyonessrampant]

Okay, so you're English, right? Are you MA?  Or are you Ph.D?  If you're Ph.D., are you looking for how to compile a booklist with a rationale, or are you looking to develop a prospectus for your dissertation?  Those two things should be related but different.  If you're MA, well, it will very much depend upon your program requirements, so you might want to give us a bit more insight into what those are if you want our perspectives.  For example, I did a 1yr MA, which meant I wrote my thesis while doing coursework and it was shorter but more focused than many of my colleagues who were in a 2 yr program.  All this to say, the goals of your program will not the same as everyone else's so give us some idea of their expectations.

[rhetoricus aesalon]

To echo fuzzylogician, I agree that your best resource for this will be your major professor/thesis chair/advisor(s), followed by other grad students in your program. No two schools do this the same, even within the same field, and quite often departments can decide to change these requirements after a few years as well.