Undergraduate Studies
The English Honor Sequence
Honors in English
To graduate with "Honors in English," students must have a
3.3 GPA or above in English and overall and take a two course sequence beginning with English
4996: "The Honors Seminar in English" and completing with English 4995: "The Honors Thesis."
The courses may not be taken simultaneously or in reverse order (despite the numbers being
out of sequence). 4996: "The Honors Seminar" fulfills the Capstone requirement for graduation,
but only students who complete both 4996 and 4995 are eligible to graduate with departmental
honors.
English 4996: The Honors Seminar in English
English 4996: "The Honors Seminar" is a designated Writing Intensive
course and will stand as the Capstone experience. 4996 is designed to enhance
the knowledge and skills (interpretive, theoretical and research) that will be
required for the independent work students will pursue when doing their
theses. In addition to developing the skills required for writing the thesis
during the term, Honors Seminar students are encouraged to begin planning
their topic for the thesis. Before enrolling in 4995, students are required
to have an advisor for their thesis work in the next semester with a topic
already selected.
English 4995: Honors Senior Essay
At its most basic, the Honors Senior Essay is a long
paper that represents three credits of independent work
at the end of a student's undergraduate career. The official
departmental description is as follows:
The Honors Senior Essay is a research paper of 25-40 pages in length
required of English majors who take their degree with departmental honors. Each student
enrolled in 4995 will develop a topic and approach for the essay in cooperation with a
faculty advisor selected by the student, with assistance from the Honors director if needed.
Preferably the advisor will have expertise in the area of the student's chosen topic.
The essay should include a significant component of research in its preparation and
composition.
The description provides a general picture, but many
students who enroll in 4995 still have questions about how to develop and write this kind
of essay. This handout is intended to answer to some of the most common questions.
Choosing a Sub-discipline
The English Department at University of Missouri-Columbia is
home to a diverse array of sub-fields and -disciplines. While most
undergraduates pursuing honors will conduct literary research for
their Honors Senior Essay, we encourage students to also consider
Senior Essays in Creative Writing, Rhetoric and Composition,
Linguistics and Film Studies. It is presumed that previous advanced
coursework in the discipline and some exposure to topic precedes all
Senior Essay topics.
Students interested in a Creative Writing option for their Senior
Honors Essay project must:
- have successfully completed the first semester in the Honors Seminar,
- have successfully completed the three-course sequence in the genre chosen for the project,
- have arranged with a CW faculty member to direct the project prior to registering for the Senior Honors Essay course.
The length and character of the Senior Honors Essay project will
be determined in discussion between the student and the CW faculty member
serving as project director, but all such projects will be comprised of an
extended CW portfolio (an extended fiction or nonfiction work, or a collection of
stories, poems, or shorter nonfiction works) introduced by a critical essay that
places the new creative works in the context of the informing tradition(s)
that precede them.
Students wishing to apply for the Creative Writing option of the Senior
Honors Essay must submit to the creative writing office a writing sample of
10-20 pages accompanied by a letter requesting the option, identifying the
faculty member with whom he or she wishes to work, and indicating the focus
and argument of the proposed critical essay to be undertaken.
The deadline for a spring semester project will be October 15, and
the deadline for a fall project will be March 15.
Please note: No faculty member is obliged to direct any projects, and
should agree to direct only those students whose accomplishment meets their
individual expectations for a senior honors student in creative writing.
Students who are unable to find a Creative Writing project director will
need to consider other options.
Choosing a Topic
Ideally, if you've elected to take 4995 you already have a topic in mind.
In any case it should be one that reflects your own interests and aptitudes.
Don't expect your advisor or anyone else to assign a topic to you. Given the
range of disciplines within the department, the range of possible topics is
nearly endless. In some cases you might choose to expand on work you've done
previously, perhaps in a previous course with the advisor you've selected. Or
you might decide to tackle an area that's relatively new to you. All of these
approaches are workable.
Choosing an Advisor
The best advisor is one whose knowledge and interests readily embrace the topic
you've selected, and who can thus provide solid, well-informed guidance during the
essay-writing process. This may be a professor who already knows you as a student,
but it certainly doesn't have to be. Most professors in the department will be glad t
o act as 4995 advisors on projects that fall within their areas of expertise, so don't
be afraid to ask. The instructor for 4996 should discuss the process of choosing an
advisor and offer suggestions on appropriate topics and faculty. If you need additional
assistance with choosing or approaching a potential advisor, please contact the Director
of Undergraduate Studies.
Working with Your Advisor
An "independent" project is not a "solitary" project.
English 4995 gives you a special opportunity to develop
a regular one-on-one relationship with a faculty member
during the course of a semester; take full advantage
of this opportunity! The most successful senior essays
are those based on close, frequent communication between
student and advisor. Choose your advisor as soon as
possible, and plan to meet at least monthly with him or
her during the semester. Discuss your essay topic and
the terms of your project in detail with your advisor.
Develop a mutually acceptable agenda or schedule for
the semester. Make sure that you have a clear idea of
the advisor's expectations of you. If he or she wants
to see multiple drafts or revisions of your essay, be
ready to provide them. If he or she wants you to take
certain approaches to research, make sure you're prepared
to follow those approaches.
What Not to Do
The approach to avoid at all costs is one in which you
meet with an advisor once at the beginning of the semester
and then submit a totally unreviewed essay a few days
before grades are due, to a professor who has very little
idea (and may no longer care) about what you've been
doing for the past three months. This approach has been
tried more than once--to nobody's satisfaction, particularly
the student's. Don't assume that your advisor has an
intuitive understanding of your activities, or trusts
you to hand in polished work at the end of the semester,
or is too busy to be bothered. These kinds of assumptions
defeat the purpose of both the Honors Essay and the Capstone
experience.
The Honors Essay Community
Although you will be working independently with your advisor,
the Director of Undergraduate Studies will try to set up some
times when all those writing Honors Essays in a particular
term can meet to share experiences of the writing process. These
meetings are intended to help sustain the community already built
in the Honors Seminar the previous semester.
Honors Essay Abstracts
Students are requested to submit an abstract of their work at the
completion of English 4995: "The Honors Senior Essay." The abstract is
a formalized summary or precis of the materials, argument, and
methodology used in the senior essay. The abstract should be from
250-500 words in length. If you have any questions about writing an
abstract, please consult your faculty advisor or the online resources
listed below:
Senior Essay abstracts should be submitted electronically to your faculty
advisor or the director of undergraduate studies,
John Evelev, at the
end of the term. Abstracts will be published in an
online archive on the
departmental website.
Grading Procedures
You will complete your project under the direction of your faculty advisor
and submit your final paper to him or her. Officially, the Director of Undergraduate
Studies administers the English Honors program and in some cases the students will be
listed as enrolled in a class with that person. But the Director has no input into
the final grades on the essays or direct contact with the students' work during the
semester and each student should make sure that they are enrolled on myZou with their
faculty advisor. Please consult with the undergraduate advisor,
Mary Moore, with any questions about registration.
The Director is, however, always available for consultation on general issues
related to the Honors Essay.
Assistance at Ellis Library
If you have questions about library research on your essay, please make
the acquaintance of Anne Barker, the Humanities librarian at Ellis
(882-6324, barkera@missouri.edu).
She's a very valuable resource and will be more than happy to assist you!
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