Thesis and Dissertation

All theses, including those in creative writing and music, are expected to conform to the basic university guidelines for margins, paper, and copy quality.  The thesis should contain an abstract, an introduction, and a review of the literature or critical essay that unifies the presentation and sets the tone for the creative work.  The introduction should provide the rationale for the acceptance of a Creative Thesis. 

The following elements are required for acceptance of a Creative Thesis:

• Title Page

• Approval Page

• Dedication (optional)

• Abstract

• Acknowledgments (optional)

• Table of Contents (see example at bottom of page)

• Introduction

• Creative Section

• List of References

• Vita

CHECKLIST FOR BODY OF THESIS

• Separated into chapters with chapter titles.
• Appropriately formatted according to chosen style manual, such as APA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian, etc.
• Headings and subheadings are consistently formatted throughout the document.  Do not change heading structure midway through the document.
• A subheading at the bottom of the page must have at least one line of text beneath it.  Otherwise, the subheading may be moved to the next page.
• Do not use numbering systems to designate sections and subsections.  For example:
  • Part 2:  Structure of the Elements
  • Part 2. 1:  List of elements
• Text is double-spaced throughout.  Do not insert extra blank lines or spacing to separate text. 
• You may insert blank lines at the bottom of one page in order to keep a single Table from breaking, or when inserting a Figure.

Special instructions for Creative:

• First chapter contains an Introduction to the document with a review of the literature or critical essay unifying the presentation and sets the tone of the work.  The introduction should provide the rationale for the acceptance of a Creative Thesis.  A list of references may appear either directly after this section, or at the end of the document before any Appendices or the Vita.
• Is divided into Chapters. 
• Last chapter is a Summary or Conclusion of all research.
• A comprehensive listing of all references appears in a Reference/Bibliography section.  If no sources are referenced in the Creative section, then a list of references at the end of the Introduction section is sufficient.

An example of a Creative Thesis Table of Contents is below.  The table of contents illustrates the basic format of a Creative Thesis.