The Senior Thesis, the culmination of the long-range objectives of the English program at Kingswood Oxford, requires students to use all of their acquired reading, writing and thinking skills in an independent research paper with a substantial literary component. An assigned thesis advisor works with a small group of students in class to cover topic selection, methods of research and technical procedures while the student pursues his or her independent research and writing. All Form 6 students are required to write a Senior Thesis during the third quarter.

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• develop an original idea.
• adjust assertions as one researches, reads, and investigates.
• pay close attention to the ideas of published scholars.
• search for the information and ideas that will expand, shape, and hone the original analysis.
• recognize that most of what one reads and writes won’t tangibly appear in the final product.
• independently apply the reading, writing, and thinking skills practiced in the previous years of high school English classes.
• sustain energy and enthusiasm for intellectual pursuit.

The text(s) must allow for a close analysis of both language (or style) and form (or structure.) The writer also must be able to find secondary sources to incorporate into the essay.

Note

As they think about what text(s) to explore, students should ask themselves what they feel capable of analyzing. For example, if a student wants to write about a movie, the student has to explore the form of this visual medium.  The author could analyze: cinematography, editing, color, characterization, sound effects and dialogue, the score/soundtrack.

A Point of View. Shaped Daily.

A thesis may be independent work, but students don’t get there alone. Through questions, conversations, feedback, and revision, teachers help students sharpen their ideas, trust their instincts, and develop the confidence to make their own intellectual choices.

The English department provides writing guides for analyzing different types of texts, while the Writing Center offers additional resources and support throughout the thesis process. And while every student is paired with a thesis teacher, support extends well beyond that one relationship. Students regularly draw on the expertise of other English teachers—seeking another perspective, working through an idea, or finding the insight that moves their thinking forward.

The result is more than a finished thesis. It’s an independent thinker, shaped daily.

Adverbs to live by:

curiously
adventurously
tenaciously
creatively
thoroughly

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