What is a Term Paper or Thesis?

In the Middle Ages, in order to be admitted to a trade guild, a craftsman had to demonstrate his ability by producing a piece of work, called his masterpiece, for examination by the officers of the guild. He was then granted the title of Master of his trade.

When universities were founded, they immediately emulated this practice and began to grant the degrees of Master and Doctor to people who had proved their ability to do scholarly work.

A thesis or dissertation today serves the same purpose as a medieval crafts- man’s masterpiece. It is proof of ability to do a certain kind of work. Specifically:

• To get a doctor’s degree, you must become familiar with current scientific knowledge of your subject, add to this knowledge by making an original discovery, and then report the results in a dissertation.
  
  
• To get a master’s degree, it is sufficient to make a new synthesis or application of knowledge already available, and report the results in a thesis.
  
  
• To pass certain courses, you must write a term paper, which demonstrates that you can connect information and report it in your own words. It is not necessary to make a new discovery or a new synthesis.

To get a degree from an English-speaking university, you must prove that you can write scholarly papers, in English, that reflect state-of-the-art knowledge of your subject.