The Spire

Sophia Mariani ‘26

Features Editor

On November 29th, a select group of senior English majors were able to present their findings thus far in their process of completing an English thesis. To be selected to write an English thesis, students must apply with their idea and then be approved by the board of English professors. The writing of a thesis is a long process that extends over the entire academic year, and it requires an impressive amount of dedication. At this recent conference, there were eleven student panelists, each given ten minutes to share their progress. The writers provided a brief background on their topic, including what inspired them to choose it. They were then able to share a small portion of writing straight from their project. After presenting their findings, a brief Q&A section was opened up to the audience.

The group of seniors each provided unique perspectives on topics of interest to them or topics that may affect their lives. Their projects also ranged in terms of format. Five seniors are working on creative theses and six are working on critical theses. Creative theses are either written in the format of a novel, screenplay, series of short stories, or a book of poems. The critical theses focus on analyzing texts and making an argument based on them. 

One senior, Julianna Mariani, shared some insight on her thesis. Mariani is currently working on a historical fiction immigrant narrative that is loosely based on her grandmother’s journey from Italy to the United States. She shares, “Writing an English thesis is a challenge and it takes a lot of hardwork and commitment. However, it is an extremely rewarding task that is preparing me for what I want to do after college- which is simply to write.” Many writers are writing about topics that they feel passionate about and are personally connected to. A thesis is an opportunity to fully delve into a topic and commit time to deeply understanding it, with the support of an advisor and the English department.

All of the seniors at the presentation are committed to their work and have already done great work at this mid-point in the academic year. They will have a chance to present another, more finalized, update on their projects at the Academic Conference toward the end of next semester. It will be interesting to see how much more progress is made by this group of individuals given another few months of dedication to their projects!

Copy Edited by Will Donahue ’24