How to Write a Thesis (MIT Press), by Umberto Eco
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How to Write a Thesis (MIT Press), by Umberto Eco
Best Ebook PDF How to Write a Thesis (MIT Press), by Umberto Eco
By the time Umberto Eco published his best-selling novel The Name of the Rose, he was one of Italy's most celebrated intellectuals, a distinguished academic and the author of influential works on semiotics. Some years before that, in 1977, Eco published a little book for his students, How to Write a Thesis, in which he offered useful advice on all the steps involved in researching and writing a thesis -- from choosing a topic to organizing a work schedule to writing the final draft. Now in its twenty-third edition in Italy and translated into seventeen languages, How to Write a Thesis has become a classic. Remarkably, this is its first, long overdue publication in English.
Eco's approach is anything but dry and academic. He not only offers practical advice but also considers larger questions about the value of the thesis-writing exercise. How to Write a Thesis is unlike any other writing manual. It reads like a novel. It is opinionated. It is frequently irreverent, sometimes polemical, and often hilarious. Eco advises students how to avoid "thesis neurosis" and he answers the important question "Must You Read Books?" He reminds students "You are not Proust" and "Write everything that comes into your head, but only in the first draft." Of course, there was no Internet in 1977, but Eco's index card research system offers important lessons about critical thinking and information curating for students of today who may be burdened by Big Data.
How to Write a Thesis belongs on the bookshelves of students, teachers, writers, and Eco fans everywhere. Already a classic, it would fit nicely between two other classics: Strunk and White and The Name of the Rose.
This MIT Press edition will be available in three different cover colors.
ContentsThe Definition and Purpose of a ThesisChoosing the TopicConducting ResearchThe Work Plan and the Index CardsWriting the ThesisThe Final Draft
How to Write a Thesis (MIT Press), by Umberto Eco- Amazon Sales Rank: #35461 in Books
- Brand: The MIT Press
- Published on: 2015-03-06
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.00" h x .50" w x 5.38" l, .84 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 256 pages
Review
Although first published in Italian in 1977, before Eco ( The Name of the Rose) became an internationally renowned novelist, this guide to writing a thesis -- originally aimed at Italian humanities undergraduates -- brims with practical advice useful for writing research papers.... His advocacy of index card files to organize data seems quaintly nostalgic in the age of laptops and online databases, but it only underscores the importance of applying these more sophisticated tools to achieve the thoroughness of the results that he advocates.
(Publishers Weekly)How to Write a Thesis is full of friendly, no-bullshit, entry-level advice on what to do and how to do it, illustrated with lucid examples and -- significantly -- explanations of why, by one of the great researchers and writers in the post-war humanities … Best of all, the absolutely superb chapter on how to write is worth triple the price of admission on its own.
(Robert Eaglestone Times Higher Education)How to Write a Thesis remains valuable after all this time largely thanks to the spirit of Eco's advice. It is witty but sober, genial but demanding -- and remarkably uncynical about the rewards of the thesis, both for the person writing it and for the enterprise of scholarship itself.... Some of Eco's advice is, if anything, even more valuable now, given the ubiquity and seeming omniscience of our digital tools.... Eco's humor never detracts from his serious intent. And anyway, even the sardonic pointers on cheating are instructive in their way.
(Scott McLemee Inside Higher Education)Eco is a first-rate storyteller and unpretentious instructor who thrives on describing the twists and turns of research projects as well as how to avoid accusations of plagiarism.
(Jan Gardner Boston Globe)The book's enduring appeal -- the reason it might interest someone whose life no longer demands the writing of anything longer than an e-mail -- has little to do with the rigors of undergraduate honors requirements. Instead, it's about what, in Eco's rhapsodic and often funny book, the thesis represents: a magical process of self-realization, a kind of careful, curious engagement with the world that need not end in one's early twenties. "Your thesis," Eco foretells, "is like your first love: it will be difficult to forget." By mastering the demands and protocols of the fusty old thesis, Eco passionately demonstrates, we become equipped for a world outside ourselves -- a world of ideas, philosophies, and debates.
(Hua Hsu The New Yorker)Well beyond the completion of the thesis, Eco's manual makes for pleasant reading and is deserving of a place on the desks of scholars and professional writers. Even sections such as that recommending the combinatory system of handwritten index cards, while outdated in the digital age, can propose a helpful exercise in critical thinking, and add a certain vintage appeal to the book.
(Times Literary Supplement)About the Author
Umberto Eco is an Italian semiotician, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist. He is the author of The Name of the Rose, Foucault's Pendulum, and The Prague Cemetery, all bestsellers in many languages, as well as a number of influential scholarly works.
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Most helpful customer reviews
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful. Highly recommended for researchers in any field By Mark Bunting See the Robert Eaglestone review dated 19 March 2015 in THES. This is why I bought the book, and having read it, I fully agree with the positive commentary in that review. I have now ordered a copy for my university's library, and I'll recommend it to all of my research students. Eco's specific area of academic specialisation may be very different from yours, but that should not deter you from finding out more about this book: I am a researcher in finance and accounting and still found the book to be remarkably relevant.
27 of 30 people found the following review helpful. Still relevant today By Genevieve D. Reading How to Write a Thesis by Umberto Eco, even an ‘updated’ version in this MIT Press edition, felt like a sweet exercise in futility. There’s something folksy and quaint about being told how to put notes on index cards and properly organize them and being given tips for using the library and talking to librarians. (Not too surprising, as Eco wrote this in the late seventies—almost forty years ago!) But with over twenty-three editions and countless translations, there’s something to be said about this just-won’t-die thesis-writing guide. It endures, even in a world of Dropbox and Evernote and Endnote and online style guides and, of course, the oracle of information—the internet.The reason for this is that Eco’s book actually has a lot more to say to people outside of academia, to those no longer writing long tracts of academic esoterica or using words like ‘juxtaposition,’ ‘asymmetricality,’ or ‘reconfigurations’ in everyday writing.How to Write a Thesis could be easily re-titled ‘How to Live a More Realized Life’ or something along those lines—tongue-in-cheek, of course, as this is Eco and despite all the rhapsody in his prose is actually quite funny. What Eco’s classic tome gives us is the kind of advice you might get from an inspiring college graduation speech. It resonates with wisdom about being more curious, about being more engaged in the world—which is wonderful advice, especially for those who stand on the precipice of maturity, where on one side is youthful idealism and optimism still, and on the other side, lingering over the horizon, is the embittered resignation and indifference of...middle age? Just because you’re not a hot young thing in your twenties anymore doesn’t mean you can’t experience that revelatory process of discovery in other aspects of life.Eco takes on the usual mechanics of the thesis-writing process—coming up with the right research question; outlining; collating notes—and expands on it so that it becomes a jumping off point to exploring the notions of creativity, originality, and attribution. There is a section on developing core ideas and then using those ideas to explore more peripheral ideas; often, the true thrust of a thesis comes in those minor works and footnotes. I also liked his ideas on how to approach the work of others. My favorite rule of thumb from the book is: “Work on a contemporary author as if he were ancient, and an ancient one as if he were contemporary … You will have more fun and write a better thesis.” Eco also has much to say on the obsession with spending too much time compiling information (he calls it the “alibi of photocopies”); it makes for a watered down, unfocused, blurry project. We’re all guilty of this in some way. How often do we bookmark and save articles we come across on the Web and never really get to? Eco is basically saying, ‘Don’t be a hoarder.’ Don’t do the equivalent of bottom trawling and hoping that there will be a prize fish in all the bycatch. One solution: Better outlining and a read-now attitude (don’t stockpile; read soon, and then decide to keep or toss).I know it’s weird to think this but reading How to Write a Thesis felt very homey. It was very much a feel-good book; like being treated to home cooking. It reminds the academic to not be so insulated and narcissistic (reality check: odds are, only a handful of people will ever read your work in its entirety). And it reminds the rest of us of the worth of slowing down and digesting information thoughtfully, with care and consideration (no skimming), and of the the worth of committing to a task.[Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest and candid review.]
19 of 22 people found the following review helpful. Educational, albeit outdated By Christian Tietze It's an educational read, and it's great to reflect upon the workflow of a scholarly writer.Most of the tips are outdated. It was written in 1977 and doesn't take computers into account at all. Chances are you already have software to replace one or more of the various kinds of index cards Eco introduces: for example, they are used for reference management, for taking note of quotes, and for capturing ideas. To read Eco's book will help you understand what you're doing, though. And it may even inspire to tweak your workflow a bit.You may do well without this book if you find well-fitting internet resources. It's like it always is: to change the way you work, you have to take time and reflect upon your habits. Reading a book does a better job at changing habits than searching the web for bite-sized articles on particular problems.(Disclaimer: I read and own the German version and can't say anything about translator's notes about English conventions which are plain to see in Amazon's book preview.)
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