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Honors Thesis in Comparative Literature

(Honors Thesis requirements are the same for current and new requirements effective Fall 2007)

General Description

Majors who have an overall grade point average of 3.20 or higher* at the end of their junior year will be invited by the Director of Undergraduate Studies to do honors work in Comparative Literature. In order to receive departmental honors, students in their senior year sign up for a two-semester sequence of independent study courses (CMPL691H, 692H) under the direction of an advisor. The first semester involves regular tutorial sessions relating to the topic with the faculty advisor. In the spring, students defend the completed thesis at an oral examination on the basis of which honors or highest honors will be awarded. Both CMPL691H and 692H may count among the five upper-level courses required for the major.

Requirements

• 3.20 minimum overall GPA
• Major in CMPL
• Presence on campus during Senior Year
• CMPL 691H and CMPL 692H to be taken during Senior Year
• 40-to-60-page thesis, to be completed by March of the Spring Semester, Senior Year. In the case of a December graduation, it would be October of the Fall semester.)
• Oral defense: one-hour meeting with readers by the end of the first week of April to discuss the completed thesis (or November in the case of a December graduation)

Grading and Evaluation

• Student will receive a temporary grade of an S or a U upon completion of CMPL 691H (the advisor will report on progress to the Undergraduate Advisor, who will submit a grade).
• Upon completion of CMPL 692H, final letter grades will be submitted for both courses.
• After the oral defense of the thesis, students will be eligible for honors or highest honors in Comparative Literature.

Examples of Past Thesis Topics

• Protestations of Singularity: The Collage Aethetic in the Autobiography of Roland Barthes and Julio Cortazar's La Vuelta al Dia in Ochanta Mundos
• The Applied Reader: An Application of Reader Response to Dramatic Texts
• Heaven and Earth: An Exploration of Alyosha Karamazov and Cash Bundren
• Concentric Circles: How Spatial Relationships Provide Structure for Meaning in Toni Morrison's Beloved and Gabriel Garcia Marquez' Cien Anos de Soledad
• Public Words and Private Actions: Voice, Gender, and Power in Faulkner and Simon
• Unamuno's Niebla: An Examination of the Interplay between Aestheticism and Existentialism in the Self-Conscious Novel
• Re-Engendering the Canon: The Influence of Gender in the Poetry of Marceline Desbordes-Valmore and Ada Negri
• Brotherhood of Picaros: Lazarillo de Tormes and Invisible Man
• Iphigenia, the Drama of Euripides and Racine: Tragic Mood or Tragic Moment?
• Character Development and Interaction in Turgenev's Virgin Soil and Henry James' The Princess Casamassima

You can review the UNC honors thesis archives and obtain additional information about composition guidelines at UNC's Senior Honors Thesis page on the Honors Program Website.

Additional Opportunities for Funding and Presentation

• Application information for undergraduate research awards is available at the Honors Program page for research grants.
• Various means of obtaining support and opportunities for presenting your work are listed on programs page of the Office of Undergraduate Research, including Applications for Travel Grants to present your work as well as information on the Celebration of Undergraduate Research. Participating in the Celebration of Undergraduate Research qualifies students to apply for up to $700 of support for travel to present their results at a professional meeting.
• The Office of Undergraduate research also provides information on the Research in the Capitol symposium which allows students to discuss their research with Carolina legislators in Raleigh.

Honors Thesis Procedures: Timeline and Checklist*

Spring Semester, Junior Year

• Choose general thesis topic.
• Choose Advisors and discuss the topic further.
• Complete Thesis Application Form by mid semester and return to Director of Undergraduate Studies.
• Register for CMPL 691H for Fall semester.
• Create summer reading list with advisor before classes end: 10-15 works.

Fall Semester, Senior Year

• Take CMPL 691H: one-hour weekly meeting with advisor.
• Turn in 5-page prospectus by fourth week of classes, including general description of topic, approach, thesis, outline of chapters, and bibliography.
• Approval of prospectus by CMPL faculty.
• Turn in a revised draft of Chapter One to Thesis Advisor and CMPL by end of Thanksgiving break.
• Register for CMPL 98 for Spring semester.

Spring Semester, Senior Year

• Take CMPL 692H: one-hour weekly meeting with advisor.
• Turn in draft of second chapter by first week of classes.
• Meet with Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUG) and other honors students in CMPL regarding defense procedures.
• Full Draft of Thesis due to all readers by beginning of Spring Vacation.
• Speak to CMPL Office Manager and readers to schedule a defense date (and to reserve the conference room) by end of March.
• 250-word abstract and key words (for the Honors Thesis Archive) due to Thesis Advisor and DUG for approval by the end of March.
• Oral defense with all thesis readers by end of first week of April.
• Submit your abstract and key words via on-line registration at http://www.honors.unc.edu by end of first week of April. (Please be careful in filling out this form, as you will not be able to alter your registration once you have submitted it.)
• Two copies of final, revised draft of thesis (in official format) due to CMPL Office Manager by last week of classes.

*These dates are all based on the assumption of a May graduation. Different deadlines will apply to a December graduation.

Click here to download print versions of Honors Thesis guidelines, dpartmental application, Honors Program grant application and funding information . Deadline is April 1st for May graduation.