French at William & Mary

HONORS THESIS

Please check the Charles Center page on Honors

QPA : the student must have achieved a 3.0 cumulative quality point average or a 3.0 quality point average for the junior year alone. A 3.3 QPA in French is also required.

Initial application : proposal in the spring preceding the senior year.

An Honors Thesis in French offers the superior student an opportunity to work independently, to acquire knowledge in depth of a specific subject, to carry through to completion a substantial piece of research in literary and/or cultural studies or in linguistics, and to acquire a sense of scholarly discipline . The Honors essay should exhibit the candidate's knowledge of the subject, and scholarly and critical judgment. It should not merely collect and present the conclusions of others, but should also show that the student grasped and explored the subject independently and has independent conclusions about it.

The research for an honors thesis should start ideally in the summer preceding the senior year :

• possibilities of scholarships through the Charles Center for the summer (i.e. "Batten scholarships" for example)
• students could be expected to come back in September with a paper which could be part of a chapter/or with a bibliography. The student has then developed a better idea of what s/he wants to do. With a paper in hand, the writing process is de-dramatized. To de-dramatize the writing process even more, I compare a thesis with a series of long papers (each chapter could function as a paper with a well-constructed argument).

The work for an honors thesis should correspond to the work of two 3-credit classes in French at the 300/400 level, plus independent research to do a bibliography.

The thesis will normally be written in French and should run to a length of about 50 double-spaced pages. Quality rather than quantity is the important criterion.

Students should meet with all three readers during the second semester before turning in the final thesis.

Oral examination

Examining committee : 3 people, 2 from the French section and one outside reader. In the event of co-directorship, the committee could include another colleague in French.

If the thesis is unacceptable, the committee always has the possibility of calling off the defense, or at least of preparing the student for a final result less than honors.

Possible questions for the defense :

how did the student come up with the topic ?
how did s/he conduct his/her research ?
ask the student to present the main thesis, and to defend the arguments.
what could be changed if s/he could work further on the topic ?
what makes this thesis a work in literature/cultural studies/linguistics/history ?
how did the student select the books with which s/he worked ?
Check the student's familiarity with contemporary discussions on the topic and familiarity with methods and resources in literary research/or research in linguistics, cultural studies, etc

Results

Honors : clear, well structured argument, awareness of relevant scholarship, acceptable/good written expression, demonstration of independence of thought

High Honors: depth of scholarship, student worked independently, ability to follow through an argument, clarity of presentation that surpasses the requirement for Honors

Highest Honors : original and exceptional

When a student is awarded honors or above, an A is awarded for FR 495 and FR 496.

Unsuccessful Honors Thesis : the grade for FR 495 or FR 496 COULD be an A IF the student made all meetings with the director, turned in work in a timely manner.