50 things you don't want to do (or say)

... in your thesis defense.

1. "Ladies and Gentlemen, please rise for the singing of our
National Anthem..."

2. Charge 25 cents a cup for coffee.

3. "Charge the mound" when a professor beans you with a high fast
question.

4. Describe parts of your thesis using interpretive dance.

5. "Musical accompaniment provided by..."

6. Stage your own death/suicide.

7. Lead the specators in a Wave.

8. Have a sing-a-long.

9. "You call THAT a question? How the hell did they make you a
professor?"

10. "Ladies and Gentlemen, as I dim the lights, please hold hands and
concentrate so that we may channel the spirit of Lord Kelvin..."

11. Have bodyguards outside the room to "discourage" certain
professors from sitting in.

12. Puppet show.

13. Group prayer.

14. Animal sacrifice to the god of the Underworld.

15. Sell T-shirts to recoup the cost of copying, binding, etc.

16. "I'm sorry, I can't hear you - there's a banana in my ear!"

17. Imitate Groucho Marx.

18. Mime.

19. Hold a Tupperware party.

20. Have a bikini-clad model be in charge of changing the overheads.

21. "Everybody rhumba!!"

22. "And it would have worked if it weren't for those meddling
kids..."

23. Charge a cover and check for ID.

24. "In protest of our government's systematic and brutal opression
of minorities..."

25. "Anybody else as drunk as I am?"

26. Smoke machines, dramatic lighting, pyrotechnics...

27. Use a Super Soaker to point at people.

28. Surreptitioulsy fill the room with laughing gas.

29. Door prizes and a raffle.

30. "Please phrase your question in the form of an answer..."

31. "And now, a word from our sponsor..."

32. Present your entire talk in iambic pentameter.

33. Whine piteously, beg, cry...

34. Switch halfway through your talk to Pig Latin. Or Finnish Pig
Latin.

35. The Emperor's New Slides ("only fools can't see the writing...")

36. Table dance (you or an exotic dancer).

37. Fashion show.

38. "Yo, a smooth shout out to my homies..."

39. "I'd like to thank the Academy..."

40. Minstrel show (blackface, etc.).

41. Previews, cartoons, and the Jimmy Fund.

42. Pass the collection basket.

43. Two-drink minimum.

44. Black tie only.

45. "Which reminds me of a story - A Black guy, a Chinese guy, and a
Jew walked into a bar..."

46. Incite a revolt.

47. Hire the Goodyear Blimp to circle the building.

48. Release a flock of doves.

49. Defense by proxy.

50. "And now a reading from the Book of Mormon..."

General guidelines

A student writes:

It's written in the BFM BA thesis guidelines that APA style should be used, however, APA does not recommend to use footnotes (in the same guidelines its written that footnotes should be in size 11). So, I got a bit confused. Can I use MLA style where I can have footnotes?

Im sorry if I bothered You for such a stupid question, its just seems that no one knows in BFM the correct way to do thesis.

Thank You in advance!

My response:

As far as APA goes, you can use either footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical citations. I would suggest you use footnotes - Word makes it damn easy (BTW, if you can get a copy of Word 2007, you just select the style - APA, MLA, Turabian, etc. - and it does the formatting for you). Footnotes are easier for the reader to follow along with as they read your thesis.

Once you have written a new footnotes, copy and paste it on to your bibliography page. There is very little you have edit to change it from a reference to a bibliography (for example, in a reference the name is written "Hagi Shein, book, etc." In the bibliography, it's written "Shein, Hagi. Book, etc." They are put in alphabetical order).

Note you DO NOT use MLA style. Use APA.

As far as spacing, go 1.5. Use the computer's default settings for the football/endnote size.

More questions?

Welcome

Welcome to the supplementary blog for BFM 6100. The function of this space is a place for you to ask questions about your bachelor's thesis project, in terms of style and content.

A new edition of your thesis-writing manual (called the "Guide to Academic Writing") is being written this semester. This blog is a chance for you to find out material that is not covered in the manual, as well as ask questions or make suggestions.

Ask your questions in the comments section of the latest post, and they will be addressed by the instructor in future postings.

Guidelines for the bachelor's thesis and the film thesis production are located at the links.