So you want to write a MALAS thesis! Episode 2, the writing…

So you want to write a MALAS thesis!  Episode 2, the writing…

Katelyn May, MALAS Alum

 

Now that you have a basic understanding of what the MALAS thesis is and how to get started, let’s go into detail on how exactly to write the dang thing. Where will you draw inspiration from? What could qualify as an acceptable topic for your thesis? How much time will it take you to craft your masterpiece? Fear not, for all this and more will be answered!

To begin, really take a moment to appreciate the fact that you’re in such an awesome graduate program like MALAS that not only allows but actively encourages you to explore any and every area of research you might be curious about. When I first considered grad school, I thought I would go for an M.A. in English to follow up my B.A. in the same subject. But then I thought about how limiting that would be for me, someone who had minored in Film and wanted to continue exploring that field. MALAS allowed me to do that, and my thesis was an epic amalgamation of my different areas of interest. For me, the thesis was about bringing together my research of culturally significant films through a cinematography lens, whereas other MALAS alums have written amazing pieces on pretty much anything you can imagine: Japanese technology, Vincent Van Gogh, or even garbage in America. 

Whatever you choose to write about, your thesis needs to be culturally insightful, using your topic to make a claim or argument substantiated by significant research. This step can be tricky, as a lot of us aren’t used to the kind of long-form essay writing necessary for the thesis. You will need to develop, support, and defend your ideas throughout the entirety of your writing, which will range somewhere between 50-65 pages. This is where I hit a bit of a snag early on in my writing process. The first rough draft I brought to my committee chair (we’ll talk about committees in another post) was little more than 3 separate essays loosely tied together by the fact that they were all film analyses. Beyond that, I didn’t have much to link the essays to one another, and that definitely wasn’t going to cut it. But it was a solid foundation to work off of. Don’t be afraid to bring in older work and research you’ve done, but don’t think it’s finished either as it is. The thesis requires a lot of editing, revision, cutting, and pasting to make one cohesive final product with a central theme weaved throughout. Without this core concept, your thesis will be little more than a collection of papers. 

Okay, got a little heavy there...In all honesty, don’t be scared if you start writing and editing only to find that what you thought would be the crux of your thesis has started to crumble a little bit. This is okay! It’s all part of the process. Let your ideas change as you write, and go to others for help and input. 

So how long should this whole process take? Well, really it’s up to you, but all I would say is don’t rush it. I graduated a semester early, and in hindsight I feel like I pushed through my thesis rather than taking the time to enjoy the process. Don’t be like me. Take your time and take it in. 

Like I said in my last post, you generally start the thesis process after you have finished 27 units of your program of study. This will typically put you at the start of your 4th semester of the program where you don’t have any other classes to distract you and you can spend the entire semester focused on your thesis. This isn’t a hard-and-fast rule though. Some people (i.e. me) choose to write their thesis during their 3rd semester in conjunction with other classes. Others might choose to write their thesis later, in a summer session or into the next year. Really, the amount of time you take is more up to you and what you’re able to handle, but I would say more often than not people finish by the end of the semester in which they started writing. 

Now, getting your thesis reviewed and published is a totally different beast, and there are stricter deadlines for this part of the process that you’ll have to meet, especially if you’re looking to graduate at a particular time. Again, we’ll cover this later. But for now, I hope you have a better idea of what writing your MALAS thesis will be like, the aspects your thesis will have, and how much fun it will be to write.