Writing the Successful Thesis and Dissertation: Entering the Conversation - Softcover

Clark, Irene L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0131735330 ISBN 13: 9780131735330

Publisher: Prentice Hall, 2006

Synopsis

A complete, step-by-step, practical overview of the process of writing successful theses and dissertations

 

Every year thousands of graduate students face the daunting–sometimes terrifying– challenge of writing a thesis or dissertation. But most of them have received little or no instruction on doing it well. This book shows them how in ways no other book does. It combines the practical guidance and theoretical understanding students need to complete their theses or dissertations with maximum insight and minimum stress. Drawing on her extensive research and experience advising hundreds of graduate students, Dr. Irene Clark presents a solid overview of the writing process. Clark shows how to apply innovative theories of process and genre and understand the writing process for what it is: your entrance into a conversation with the scholarly community that will determine your success or failure. This book offers useful strategies for each phase of the process, from choosing advisors and identifying topics through writing, revision, and review. Coverage includes

 

·  Getting started: overcoming procrastination and writer’s block

·  Understanding the genre of the thesis or dissertation

·  Speaking the “language of the academy”

·  Writing compelling proposals

·  Developing and revising drafts

·  Constructing effective literature reviews

·  Working with tables, graphs, and other visual materials

·  Working with advisors and dissertation committees

·  Avoiding inadvertent plagiarism

 

Experience based, theoretically grounded, jargon free, and practical, Writing the Successful Thesis and Dissertation will help you become a more effective writer–and a more meaningful contributor to the scholarly conversation.

 

Preface xi

Introduction: Writing a Thesis or Dissertation: An Overview of the Process xix

 

Chapter 1: Getting Started 1

Chapter 2: So What? Discovering Possibilities 17

Chapter 3: The Proposal as an Argument: A Genre Approach to the Proposal 33

Chapter 4: Mapping Texts: The Reading/Writing Connection 63

Chapter 5: Writing and Revising 83

Chapter 6: Writing the Literature Review 103

Chapter 7: Using Visual Materials 125

Chapter 8: The Advisor and Thesis/Dissertation Committee 139

Chapter 9: Working with Grammar and Style 155

Chapter 10: Practical Considerations 175

 

Index: 193

 

About this title

About the Author:

Dr. Irene L. Clark is Professor of English and Director of Composition at California State University Northridge, where she is also in charge of the Master’s degree in Rhetoric and Composition option. She has published in College Composition and Communication, Profession, Composition Forum, and The Writing Center Journal, and has written several books that focus on writing and the teaching of writing, including Concepts in Composition: Theory and Practice in the Teaching of Writing, Writing in the Center, and The Genre of Argument.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Preface

Preface

Writing the Successful Thesis and Dissertation: Entering the Conversation is intended to help graduate students complete theses or dissertations by providing both theoretical understanding and practical instruction. It derives from my experience as a Writing Center director, working with students from a variety of disciplines; from my role as a thesis advisor to students in the English department at my own university; and from workshops I have given in Holland to graduate students in the social sciences. It is also based on research I have conducted with students and faculty at several universities that has helped me develop strategies that students find helpful. Its goal is to help you write your thesis or dissertation with maximum insight and minimum stress.

Theoretically, this book explains how theories of process and genre can provide important insights into writing a thesis or dissertation in terms of function and form. Practically, it offers suggestions for undertaking the various components of the process: reading and engaging critically with complex texts, discovering ideas, writing a compelling proposal, developing and revising drafts, constructing the review of the literature, working with tables and graphs, and using various cuing and organizational strategies to maintain manageability and coherence. It also discusses administrative issues, such as selecting and working with an advisor, maneuvering through graduate committees, and avoiding inadvertent plagiarism.

The "process" approach to composition on which this book is based has become common in the study and teaching of undergraduate writing, particularly in the United States. Whereas in the past writing was "assigned" and students were expected to produce a text or "product" that was given a grade, the process approach recognizes an important truism about writing: It does not occur effortlessly, and few, if any, writers produce an excellent text without a great deal of thinking, drafting, rewriting, rethinking, redrafting, and so on. Yet theses and dissertation advisors often do not use a process approach when working with graduate students. Professors who serve as advisors may have little difficulty identifying (or complaining about) inadequacies in their students' theses or dissertations, but they sometimes do not define rhetorical goals and genre requirements, perhaps because they have not consciously articulated these goals and requirements for themselves or because they feel that they shouldn't have to do so. Given this approach, students are left pretty much on their own to figure out what is expected of them.

Most graduate students, however, cannot "intuit" what is expected in a thesis or dissertation, and because they worry about appearing inadequate, they may ask few questions and embark on the process without a clear sense of purpose. Some are non-native speakers of English, grappling with unfamiliar terminology and language structures. Many have little idea of what is considered "knowledge" in their field, have only a general notion of a topic they may like to explore, are unaware of what is involved in transforming a topic into a workable research question, and don't know what sort of proposal is likely to be successful. Thesis anxiety causes some to avoid writing as long as possible, engaging in extensive reading and note-taking as an avoidance strategy or procrastinating in other ways. Some develop writing blocks, even if they have never had difficulty writing at other times.

Moreover, even thesis or dissertation advisors with the best of intentions have only limited time to devote to graduate students' writing needs; therefore, it is in your best interest to study the process on your own. Writing the Successful Thesis and Dissertation: Entering the Conversation can serve as your guide, helping you gain insight into what a thesis or dissertation is intended to do and become aware of how its form derives from its function. When you understand the genre of the thesis or dissertation and learn strategies to help you write more successfully, you will become a better writer and scholar who is able to enter the scholarly community and participate meaningfully in its conversations.

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About this edition

• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0131735330
• ISBN 13: 9780131735330
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240