Proposal for a Senior Essay or Senior Thesis in English and American
Literatures, 2012-13
This form asks you to provide us with information concerning your Senior Essay or
Senior Thesis in the English and American Literatures Department, and allows you to
express your preference for an advisor for the project. Please fill out this form and
bring it with you to the Senior Work Kick-Off Dinner, Tuesday September 11 (6:007:30 p.m. in the Atwater Dining Room).
Your name:
I.D. Number:
Email Address:
Month and year of graduation:
Telephone:
Box number:
Note: It is expected that all students proposing to write a critical senior Essay or Thesis
will have completed the junior seminar (either at Middlebury or abroad) as a prerequisite
to the project or will have secured approval for the project from the department chair.
You are strongly discouraged from attempting to take your junior seminar in the
same semester as your senior essay.
Please indicate seminar prerequisite (course, instructor, semester, year) or departmental
approval here: ___________________________________________________.
In addition, all majors in English and American Literatures who wish to elect a creative
senior essay or thesis must have completed two 300-level courses in creative writing,
and must have received a grade of at least B+ in both of these courses before undertaking
an essay; or at least A- in those courses to qualify to write a thesis. The creative writing
faculty will grant approval to write a thesis (two semesters) only to the strongest such
proposals.
Please provide on the next page of this form a preliminary description of your proposed
project, and check the appropriate boxes below for your intended project scope and
schedule:
EL 700 (Critical Essay)
Fall
or
Spring
EL 701 (Creative Essay)
Fall
or
Spring
EL 710 (Critical Thesis)
EL 711 (Creative Thesis)
Spring
Fall
Winter
Fall
Winter
Spring
Description of Proposed Project (100-200 words):
(Students proposing to undertake two-semester creative thesis projects, please attach 10
pages of your best creative prose, or 5-8 poems, to this proposal.)
Proposed Advisor
First Choice: __________________________
Second Choice: ________________________
Third Choice: __________________________
It is your responsibility to find potential advisors for your project. Though it may not be
possible for you to work with the advisor of your first choice, the Department is
committed to helping you find an advisor with whom you would be content to work. See
the Complete Guide to Writing Your Critical [Creative] Senior Essay or Thesis for a list
of possible advisers and their areas of interest.