My honours thesis is due in a little over a month and I still haven’t thought of a title. I want something that’s clever (perhaps using a pun or two), but also gives insight into what I’m arguing. Preferably in the form of Thesis: A Brilliant Thesis. Everyone loves colons.
So what is my thesis about?
My thesis is on romance novels. I’m doing a discourse analysis of five of the most popular romance novels, and I’m looking at how they treat the archetypes set up by older romances (for instance, the sardonic hero, the feisty-yet-innocent heroine, the conniving Other Woman) Basically, I’m arguing that these texts grab the old archetypes and reinvent them, so that their old (patriarchal) meanings have been subverted.
In non-jargon?
My thesis is about how romance novels are more feminist than they used to be.
What’s in it for you?
As the title says, you get $5. If I use your title (or a variant thereof), I’ll transfer $5 USD to your PayPal account. If you want, I’ll also credit you in my thesis.
So please help if you can! My thesis has practically written itself (except for the horrible methodology chapter) but I’m stuck thinking of a title - and with the subject matter I know there’s a killer title out there somewhere.
I never really cared for the “Witty Quote”: Subject Matter style of thesis naming, and I deliberately avoided it when I titled my D.Phil dissertation. Having said that, though, I am considering a “Sports Jargon”: Subject Matter title for my still-in-the-research-phase book.
I would eschew a long title, too: you want whoever is looking at the title to understand immediately what it is they’ll be getting from your work. The longer a title, the less clear your objectives in writing your essay are. Also, in the future, if you want to cite your work on your CV, you’ll be taking up less space.
So, my suggestion would be something on the order of:
From Puppets of the Patriarchy to Forthright Feminists: Changing Archetypes in the Modern Romance Novel
Thanks for all the suggestions so far - a lot of them I would never have come up with! I’ve emailed them to my thesis supervisor to get her take on them.
blush If the thesis turns out okay, I’d be happy to email it to you. I’ve “outed” a number of romance fans among other uni students and I’ve converted my thesis supervisor. I chose five books from the top ten lists from All About Romance and The Romance Reader. I wanted the books I chose to be representative of what audiences liked (without having to get the ethics clearance to do audience research!) So the books I’m looking at are:
A Knight in Shining Armor - Jude Deveraux
Dream Man - Linda Howard
It Had to be You - Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Whitney, My Love - Judith McNaught
Lord of Scoundrels - Loretta Chase
I wanted to analyse Jennifer Crusie, but none of hers were in the top 10.
I’m hoping to straddle the border of “witty” and “meaningful”. I’m also trying to eliminate as much jargon in my thesis as possible because I want it to be readable, so a witty title plays into that. Plus, I want it to stand out from the other (boring) thesis titles - maybe it’ll help bump my mark up!
Both will do!
Please keep the suggestions coming - I knew I could trust Dopers to come up with some great titles!
Forgive me, but your question reminded me of old patter from a long ago Irish folk concert by Liam Clancy & Tommy Makem:
“I don’t know what to call my new book.”
"You don’t? Well, let me ask you. Does it have any bugles in it?
“‘Bugles’? No, it doesn’t have any bugles.”
“Well, how about drums? Are there any drums in the book?”
“No, there aren’t any drums either.”
“Ah, well, there’s your answer then. Call it ‘No Bugles, No Drums.’”
OOOOOh, two of my first reads when I entered the steamy forbidden world of Romance Novels. Most excellent choices.
Can I ask a most retarded question? What…uh…is your major? Lit? English? Underwater Basket Weaving? I took a bottle of stupid pills today. Don’t mind me. A list of Top 100 Books For Those Who Like This Kind Thing.
Btw, I have a good friend getting her Ph.d in English Lit (doing something sort of related to you) and I know she would love to read it too! (Not in a she-would-steal-it-type-way but b/c she’s also a secret romance nut)
My email should be in my profile if you’re not too shy about your baby.
I’d love to read it as well! No interesting suggestions for a title, though.
BTW, I didn’t really enjoy any of the books listed in the top 10 - actually, I didn’t care for any of them until you get to #14 (Mary Jo Putney’s One Perfect Rose), and none of them would make my favorites list until you get to #33 (Amanda Quick’s Ravished). For the statistics minded amoung us, I’ve read five out of the top ten, seven out the the top 14, 16 out of the top 33, and a whopping 38 out of the entire list of 100.
I don’t know what this says about me (or my taste in books). Probably nothing very interesting.
