Ask Me Help Desk - Writing a dissertation

Writing a dissertation

Hello,
I'm doing a dissertation on a novel. I picked two themes that I want to work on. I set out and outline, but the problem is, I don't know how to do it exactly. I mean, should I just take out excerpts from the novel and analyse them one by one? Or is there another way to do it?

Which novel and which two themes? (Why TWO themes?) What is your thesis statement?

Do you know how to make an outline in general?

The novel is 1984 by George Orwell and my focus will be on totalitarianism and media abuse. I divided my work into two parts: one concerning totalitarianism and its different aspects in the novel ( its definition, structure, thought police.. etc) and the other one concerning aspects of the media in the novel ( newspeak, propaganda, falsification of history.. ). What I want is the way I should write under each title? Would taking quotes from the novel and commenting on them be sufficient? I didn't want to be specific at first because I just want the general way to do a dissertation on a novel. Thanks in advance!

How long is this dissertation supposed to be?

No, quotes from the novel will not be sufficient. The way I was taught how to do a dissertation is first do a literature review and use salient information from various sources to strengthen your thesis, so that you have outside proofs. Then use info from the novel itself as further proof.

Did your instructor give you a dissertation guideline? Or is this one of those homeschooling assignments that you have no background for?

Are you going for a graduate degree? Your dissertation committee should provide you a guideline. They have to approve it and authorize for you to defend it to get your degree, so it's very worthwhile to find out what they want from the start.

If they have no guidelines, as if they have any examples of dissertations they felt were well formatted and organized.

I've helped a number of friends who were expert in their fields but not skills writers to complete doctoral dissertations, but we've always had very detailed instructions to start with from their committees.

Read this --

Essay Outline

I'm guessing you are using the term "dissertation" quite loosely, not as a project on the road to a master's or Ph.D. We used the term "essay" as expository writing about a novel, and that is what I suspect your project is to be.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wondergirl

How long is this dissertation supposed to be?

No, quotes from the novel will not be sufficient. The way I was taught how to do a dissertation is first do a literature review and use salient information from various sources to strengthen your thesis, so that you have outside proofs. Then use info from the novel itself as further proof.

Did your instructor give you a dissertation guideline? or is this one of those homeschooling assignments that you have no background for?

Unfortunately, my instructor did not provide me with any guideline, and they never do it actually; that's why I'm looking for a way to do it online. Could you provide me with one, or an example of a dissertation that I can follow, please?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dontknownuthin

Are you going for a graduate degree? Your dissertation committee should provide you a guideline. They have to approve it and authorize for you to defend it to get your degree, so it's very worthwhile to find out what they want from the start.

If they have no guidelines, as if they have any examples of dissertations they felt were well formatted and organized.

I've helped a number of friends who were expert in their fields but not skills writers to complete doctoral dissertations, but we've always had very detailed instructions to start with from their committees.

Yes, it's for a BA degree. They don't provide us with any guidelines and I couldn't find any dissertations I could take as an example. I'd appreciate it if you could provide me with an example.

Quote:

Originally Posted by onegame

Yes, it's for a BA degree. They don't provide us with any guidelines and I couldn't find any dissertations I could take as an example. I'd appreciate it if you could provide me with an example.

Check the essay outline I posted in this thread or Google keywords such as "sample dissertation outline" (without quote marks) to find one you like the looks of (there are more than one, many in .pdf format).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wondergirl

Check the essay outline I posted in this thread or Google keywords such as "sample dissertation outline" (without quote marks) to find one you like the looks of (there are more than one, many in .pdf format).

Thanks a lot. I have just one last question concerning my outline. Since my focus will be the two themes I picked up, should I devote a whole chapter for the novel and author or should I just write that in the general introduction of the work then devote two separate chapters for the two other themes?

Dissertations don't have chapters. You will want to write an abstract, And you will have to be careful how you present your two themes. Do you plan to merge them in the Conclusion?

Have you looked at outlines yet? I feel like you don't quite have that part figured out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wondergirl

Dissertations don't have chapters. You will want to write an abstract,. And you will have to be careful how you present your two themes. Do you plan to merge them in the Conclusion?

Have you looked at outlines yet? I feel like you don't quite have that part figured out.

I was actually taught that a dissertation or a thesis both have chapters... I think I just confused the terms? :/

Quote:

Originally Posted by onegame

I was actually taught that a dissertation or a thesis both have chapters...I think I just confused the terms? :/

Hmmm, I have never heard that in my academic life. And the definition of dissertation has always been a huge paper on the way to obtaining a Ph.D. A thesis is written on the way to obtaining a master's degree.

I certainly wish you had guidelines. Again I ask, is this a homeschool project?

Let's back up the bus. What is the purpose of this paper?

How long is it supposed to be?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wondergirl

Hmmm, I have never heard that in my academic life. And the definition of dissertation has always been a huge paper on the way to obtaining a Ph.D. A thesis is written on the way to obtaining a master's degree.

I certainly wish you had guidelines. Again I ask, is this a homeschool project?

I asked one of my teachers today and he told me the opposite actually. This 'project' is for my BA degree. We use the French term here 'memoire' to refer to it.

So did you ask the teacher more questions about how to do this?

Which country are you in?