Each reader of your thesis will prepare written comments. Usually these take the form of a general evaluation of your work, but you may also find that a reader has prepared detailed comments about particular points of substance or style. You will receive these comments, together with your thesis grade, from your advisers following the departmental examination.
(14) The grade of the thesis is the average of the grades given by the two readers. In the case that the two grades are 10 or more points apart, the thesis will be assigned a third reader. This reader will be anonymous and his/her grade will be final.
GUIDELINES FOR THE TRANSLATION THESIS
The translation of a literary work can be a valuable exercise in comparative literature, one that asks the student both to make discriminations and to find common ground between two literary and cultural traditions. An accurate translation demands expertise in the historical structures and particular nuances of the foreign language. A persuasive translation requires a real literary flair and sensibility in the translator's handling of his or her own language.
The Department of Comparative Literature includes the translation of a work or works of literature among the options which the departmental major may consider as a subject for senior independent work. In addition to the translation itself, the thesis should include a critical essay of at least twenty-five pages (ca. 6,000 words) that both examines closely the translated literary text and explores its comparative relationship to other works of its genre, period, and tradition. The translation thesis should be viewed as part of the exercise of criticism and the study of literary history.
Because of its particularly demanding nature, the translation thesis may not be appropriate for all departmental majors. It is, moreover, subject to special departmental guidelines. It is a prerequisite for students who are considering undertaking a translation for their senior thesis to develop their skills in the Translation Workshop sponsored by the Program in Creative Writing. The proposal to write a translation thesis must be handed in by mid-May of the Junior year, accompanied by a ten-to fifteen-page sample of the proposed work. This material will be considered by the Director of Undergraduate Studies in consultation with the student's adviser, and they will notify the student by the end of May whether or not they have approved it as senior independent work in the Department of Comparative Literature. If the project is approved, the student is required to continue working on the translation over the summer, and to hand in a further twenty-page section at the beginning of the Senior year in September. The student will be strongly urged to hand in a first draft of the entire translation component of the thesis to his or her first reader in December before the holiday break. This arrangement will leave the student ample time for revision and for the writing of the critical section of the thesis.
GUIDELINES FOR THE CREATIVE THESIS
In certain circumstances, an original work of poetry or prose may be presented in fulfillment of the senior thesis requirement. A collection of shorter pieces or a single longer work, if accompanied by a substantial critical section, can demonstrate a student's literary understanding and facility with language as amply as any other form of writing.
Students who are considering the possibility of writing a creative thesis must develop their writing skills in at least one workshop offered by the Program in Creative Writing, before the Senior year. The proposal to write a creative thesis must be handed in by mid-May of the Junior year, accompanied by a ten- to fifteen-page sample of the proposed work and the name of an instructor in the Program in Creative Writing with whom the student has worked or discussed the project. N.B.: No proposal to write a creative thesis in the Department of Comparative Literature will be accepted unless it has first been accepted and assigned an adviser by the Program in Creative Writing. The student must also submit both the creative proposal and a proposal for a standard critical thesis to the Department of Comparative Literature, so that the Director of Undergraduate Studies may assign an appropriate second reader if the creative proposal is accepted by the Program in Creative Writing, or suitable advisers for the critical project should the creative proposal not be accepted. The proposal and writing sample will be considered by the Director of Undergraduate Studies in consultation with the student's adviser, and they will notify the student by the end of May whether or not they have approved it as senior independent work in the Department of Comparative Literature. If the project is approved, the student is required to continue working on the fiction or poetry over the summer, and to hand in a further twenty-page section at the beginning of the Senior year in September (for projects in poetry, the length of the manuscript may be more flexible, at the discretion of the Director of Undergraduate Studies and of the student's adviser).The student is strongly urged to hand in a first draft of the entire creative portion of the thesis to his first reader in December, before the winter recess. This arrangement will leave ample time for revision and for the writing of the critical section of the thesis.
