Senior Essay & Thesis Requirements

PDF version | Grading Standards for Essays and Theses

A senior essay or thesis must:

• adhere to Colorado College’s Honor Code
• explore a significant historical problem, issue or question in 25-35 pages of text (essay) or 70-100 pages of text (thesis).
• articulate a clear and well-developed argument in response to the motivating question
• research, analyze and contextualize a body of primary sources
• engage in historiographical and/or theoretical debate (developed from broad reading in monographs and journal literature), using this debate to frame the essay’s analysis
• demonstrate the results of revision and reframing in light of readers' comments
• be structurally organized around the development of the essay’s argument and significance, including:
  • an introductory section that identifies the problem, issue or question and its significance, clearly states the essay’s argument, and announces a road map of the essay’s structure
  • the essay’s body, which sustains and develops an argument through the analysis of primary sources in dialogue with theoretical and/or historiographical sources
  • a concluding section that articulates the fullest development of the argument and re-evaluates the significance and possible implications of the argument
• demonstrate effective and accurate use of language
• be footnoted or endnoted in Chicago Manual of Style (unless another style is more appropriate to subject matter) and include a bibliography of works consulted

All students will give presentations of their conclusions at History Day in Block 8.