The junior essay is a 6,000-word essay (not including notes and bibliography) that each junior writes during the second semester of junior tutorial. Junior essays often serve as preliminary explorations of the senior thesis topic, but in most cases they do not. The major goal of the essay is to provide experience in doing the kind of sustained research, thinking, and writing that the senior thesis demands. In the junior essay, you should explore a topic, developed in consultation with your tutor and connected to work that you are or will be doing in junior tutorial, that you find interesting and important. Interdisciplinary methods are strongly encouraged, though some topics will inevitably lend themselves to more historical or literary approaches.
You will work on your essay starting early in the second semester. When finished, it will be formally read by your tutor and by a second tutor; each reader independently comments and assigns a grade of Honors, High Honors, or Recommended for Review. As with the sophomore essay, outside evaluations give you the opportunity to address a less predictable audience in a more professional setting. The comments you will receive are short versions of the kind of formal comments we write for senior theses, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the essay and its achievement as a research project. A grade of High Honors recognizes some special virtue in the essay, and a Recommended for Review indicates that the reader found something in the essay that he or she thinks should be addressed specifically with the writer in order to make the senior thesis as strong as possible. Most of the grades are Honors, and this means you are doing the very fine honors-level work we expect of you. The essay and the comments become part of your permanent file.
Some practical details. Remember that this is a formal essay. The final draft should be carefully proofread for errors in spelling, grammar, and syntax. All sources should be properly cited and also included in a bibliography of works consulted. For note and bibliographic forms, consult Writing with Sources which you received in Expos. Another very helpful resource is Kate L. Turabian's A Manual for Writers, which discusses various styles of citation as well as other issues about writing. This and some other useful books about writing are available for your use on the bookshelf in the main office.