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Department
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MA Thesis Prospectus
Length: Three to four pages, double-spaced, plus bibliography.
Introduction: Describe the context of the subject of your thesis in order to set a background for the problem or gap in the literature that your thesis will address.
Thesis statement: For example, 鈥淭his thesis seeks to...鈥� In the thesis statement, you make a claim, and you set out your specific perspective that you can support and defend with evidence. The thesis statement will guide your thesis; all content of the thesis will support the thesis statement.
Arguments: Present an outline of your arguments to support your thesis, set in the specific context of your subject.
Helpful phrases: 鈥淚 will explore鈥︹��; 鈥淭his thesis will establish鈥︹��
Counterclaims: This includes what has been argued in earlier texts, other literature, that your work addresses differently, and why.
Methodology: State the discourse or approach, methodologies or theoretical framework, which you align yourself with and that will frame your thesis, e.g. a decolonizing discourse and methodologies. If a key text(s) helps to situate your work it could be referred to here. However this does not need to be a literature review.
Guiding Questions: If there are specific questions that guide your research, you could include a section here to present them briefly.
Chapter Outline: If you know the structure of your thesis, you could present an outline.
Bibliography: A strong bibliography is important; aim toward twenty-five to thirty titles.