You will have to write a prospectus by the end of this term and you will have to write a thesis by the end of the spring. You probably haven’t done either one of these things before. So we try to take some of the mystery out by talking about real live samples. That is the point of today’s class.
If you want to read more, you can find all of the past PPE theses in the Philosophy library in 208 Pearsons.
Here are the kinds of questions that it would be good to think about.
What worked well? And what do I mean by “worked well?” For instance, does it work well for the reader or is there some other standard I have in mind when I think “that worked well!”
What did not work so well? Plus the same questions about standards.
In what respects would I like my thesis to be like the one I read?
In what respects would I like my thesis not to be like the one I read?
What do I want to achieve by writing a thesis? It’s perfectly legitimate to say “I need it to graduate.” But beyond that, there are a variety of goals for a thesis and most of them are legitimate. It is probably good and healthy to think at the outset about what yours are.
Really, we did this last time. But Jason wasn’t here then, so the list was only complete today. Anyway, here is what everyone is thinking about on the second day of class.