Recommended Resources

The following books are suggested by the Chronicle of Higher Education as helpful in writing a thesis. The ones with * are those recommended by the Modern Language Association Graduate Student Caucus. Some of these books discuss dissertations which are the requirement for a Ph.D. rather than a master’s thesis. Although the length and depth of a dissertation is greater than a thesis, many of the points in these books will still be applicable to students writing a master’s thesis.

• A manual for writers of term papers, theses, and dissertations. Kate Turabian. University of Chicago Press, 1996.
• Getting what you came for: The smart student’s guide to earning a master’s or a Ph.D. Robert Peters. Noonday Press, 1998.
• How to write a thesis. Harry Teitelbaum. MacMillian, 1998. MLA Handbook for writers of research papers. Joseph Gibaldi. Modern Language Association, 1995.
• Successful dissertations and theses: A guide to graduate student research from proposal to completion. David Madsen. Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1992.
• The clockwork muse: A practical guide to writing theses, dissertations, and books. Eviatar Zerubavel. Harvard University Press,1999.
• The craft of research. Wayne Booth, Gregory Colomb, & Joseph Williams. University of Chicago Press, 1995.
• The thesis writer’s handbook. Joan Miller & Bruce Taylor. Alcove Publishing, 1987.
• *Writing for social scientists: How to start and finish your thesis, book, article. Howard Becker with a chapter by Pamela Richards. University of Chicago Press, 1986.
• Writing with power: Techniques for mastering the writing process. Peter Elbow. Oxford University Press, 1998.