Information for MA Students
Thesis
Proposal
1) MA students in the thesis track should
submit their thesis proposal by the beginning of their 2nd year of
study (meaning after completing one half of the course requirements).
The Graduate Authority requires that the proposal be accepted (by
the department MA Committee) no later than the end of the second year
of studies (including summer). 2)
The student may approach a potential thesis adviser, or may contact
the head of the MA committee. Either way, the committee must approve
the choice of adviser (in some cases, dual advisers). The committee
will make every effort to match the best possible adviser with the
student's research interests. If for any reason no reasonable match
is possible, the MA committee will help the student find a new research
topic or a new adviser.
3) The thesis proposal must be typed, double-spaced,
and between 500 and 2500 words; with a provisional title; a well-defined
research topic; a working or preliminary bibliography; a general
outline of chapters or main sections; and indicating the name of
the adviser.
4) The finished proposal must be submitted
to the department office, and the date of submission recorded. The
MA committee will decide on a second reader of the proposal.
5) If the adviser or the second reader requires
any revisions, the student will need to make them and re-submit
the proposal to the office.
6) The MA committee will confirm the final
acceptance of the proposal and will record this acceptance, the
date, the adviser's and the second reader's names and evaluations
of the proposal. Both our department and the Graduate School will
keep this information on file.
T O P
Thesis Guidelines MA Students
 Please
see Thesis Proposal Guidelines
Thesis
guidelines
MA Thesis, Department of English Language and Literature The
analytical depth, extent of research, and breadth of knowledge demonstrated
in the MA thesis must exceed significantly that of an MA Seminar
paper. The work must demonstrate original thinking, proper research
methods, logical structure of argument, and language that expresses
complex ideas clearly and correctly.
Length: 80 - 150 pages (about 20,000 - 40,000
words).
It is the student's responsibility to complete
the thesis within the time-frame permitted by the University, and
to follow the rules set down in the Shnaton and on the homepage
of the Graduate Studies Office.
While the proposal should be approved in
the second year of study, the student should not begin writing the
thesis itself until all the coursework, including the foreign language
requirement, is complete, with final grades. The student does not
attain the status of "research student" (thesis-writer)
until that time. Note: the minimal passing grade in MA courses is
70; but the required grade average in the coursework is 76. 76 is
the pass mark for the thesis.
Once the adviser accepts the completed thesis
and formally notifies the office, the student must submit the thesis
to the Graduate Studies Office, which will explain the format for
final printing and binding. Once the thesis is bound, the student
should submit it in multiple copies to the English Department office.
The MA Committee will forward copies to the adviser and to a designated
second reader, for formal evaluation and grading.
Both adviser and second reader may require
revisions or corrections. If so, the student must carry them out
and resubmit to the English Department office.
The final grade is the average of the adviser's
and the second reader's grades.
T O P
Comprehensive Exam
In the student's second year of
MA studies-after having completed half the course requirements-the
student may consult with the MA Committee, which may recommend an
adviser, or may speak directly with a potential adviser from the English
Department. Once the adviser agrees to take on the student for the
Comprehensive Exam, the adviser must notify the MA Committee, which
must give its approval. It is the
adviser's responsibility to help the student decide on a broad topic
for examination, and to prepare the Bibliography on which the student
will be examined. Please note that the topic must be "comprehensive,"
a major area of study in either literature or linguistics. Both
adviser and student should make sure that the student has had some
MA-level coursework in that area.
The student is eligible to take the examination
only after completing all the coursework, including the foreign
language requirement. The adviser should not set a date for the
exam without consulting the MA Committee, which will check the student's
status in the program.
Once the student has been declared eligible
for the exam, the time and place should be arranged through the
Department co-ordinator.
The extent of the examination should be five
to six hours (literature) or four to six hours (linguistics), which
may be spread out over two days. Usually, students are permitted
to bring books and articles with them, and sometimes notes as well.
If the adviser wishes to see sample exams from previous years, s/he
should consult the MA Committee.
Once the student takes the exam, it must
be handed in to the English Department, and the date recorded. The
Department co-ordinator will then return the exam to the adviser,
for grading. The adviser submits the graded exam to the Department,
so that the date and the grade may be recorded. The MA Committee
then selects a second reader, who grades the exam and returns it
to the Department.
Please note that the teachers do not return
the exam directly to the student.
The passing mark is 76, and the final grade on the exam is the average
of the first and second readers' grades.
In the rare case that a student fails, the student is entitled to
a Mo'ed B.
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