A Guide to Writing a Thesis in History and Literature | page 5
Your tutor will not, however, do your work for
you. That is, your tutor will help you nd the right
direction, but don’t expect your tutor to give you all the
answers. Denitely don’t expect your tutor to dictate
to you your research question or provide you with the
structure for your research and writing. Your tutor’s job
is to help you to write the best thesis that you are able
to write. Nothing more, nothing less.
Remember that Hist and Lit tutors will be more
than generous with their time, but they can’t be there
for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In your very
rst meeting with your tutor, be sure to have a frank
conversation about your respective schedules. Talk about
the communication method (email? phone? carrier
pigeon?) and the hours of the day that are best. Talk
about what you and your tutor expect for response times
to emails. Some people check email often; others not so
often. Either is okay. It’s simply important that you and
your tutor agree on what to expect from one another.
How can I help my tutor to help me?
Communicating what you want and need most to your
tutor is actually sometimes more dicult than it sounds,
but it’s crucial for a successful tutor-student relationship.
One way to begin this process is to think carefully
about your experiences in the past and especially about
the comments that you’ve received on your papers
during your time at Harvard. Look for patterns. Do
you have trouble organizing your arguments? Tell your
tutor. Do you have trouble organizing your time?
Swallow your pride and tell your tutor. Are you a strong
close reader, but maybe you have trouble connecting
those readings to larger issues? Tell your tutor. Or may-
be you tend to think big and your tutors and professors
have always told you that you need to do a better job
of grounding your arguments in more evidence? That’s
right: tell your tutor.
Remember most of all that your tutor can’t help you
if you don’t tell her or him what’s on your mind, and
your tutor certainly can’t help you if he or she doesn’t
know that there is an issue that needs attention. The
absolute worst that you can do, therefore, is clam up
and not seek help from your tutor when you need
it. It is unfortunately a very common impulse among
students, so avoid it if you have it. Always keep in close
communication with your tutor, especially if you ever
feel stuck. Whatever you do, don’t ever go AWOL,
either physically or mentally, even if your rst instinct is
to try to hole up and just “get it done” (whatever “it”
happens to be at that stage of the game). It can only
hurt you.
I’m thinking about working with a professor as my
thesis advisor. How do I make this happen, and what
are the pros and cons?
The best match for a thesis advisor is someone who is
interested in your topic and who will be an eective
critic and editor, even if she or he is not an expert on
your topic. Be sure to choose someone with whom you
are likely to be comfortable working on a week to week
basis — to whom you would feel comfortable turning
not only when things are going well, but also if you run
into trouble with your work. This is perhaps the most
important element of a advisor-student relationship,
more important than specic expertise. Keep in
mind that you can always consult about bibliography
with experts in your eld even if they are not your
assigned advisor.
You may not choose for your advisor a Teaching
Fellow or Lecturer who is not aliated with History and
Literature, or a professor from a faculty outside of
Harvard. But if you believe that a member of the
Committee on Degrees or another member of the
Harvard faculty would be your best advisor, go to that
faculty member and present your thesis ideas as clearly
as you can. Ask her or him whether she or he would be
willing and available to advise your thesis.
If you do choose to work with a faculty member,
and that faculty member is not on the Committee on
Degrees, we will provide a concentration advisor who
will keep you in touch with Hist and Lit requirements
and who will help you to prepare for your oral
examination. Note that it will be your responsibility to
negotiate the specic role that your concentration
advisor will play in your thesis work itself.