RES-202
Thesis Seminar
Narrowing your capstone topic into a specific, defensible thesis question, and building a full proposal and outline before you start writing.
Topics: Thesis proposal, Outline before writing
Suggested resource: Draw your topic from anything that most engaged you across all four years of this institute.
Week 1: Narrowing Your Capstone Topic
Reading: Revisit RES-201, Week 1
Apply everything from RES-201's thesis-question training to your specific capstone project: what narrow, specific, defensible thesis or project focus will you commit to for your final work, drawn from anything across all four years of this institute that has most engaged you. Resist the pull toward an overly broad topic; a genuinely narrow, well-executed thesis is more valuable, and more finishable, than an ambitious but unfocused one.
Key terms: Applying RES-201 to the capstone, Narrow and finishable over broad and unfocused
Discussion Questions
- What single topic from across this entire institute have you found yourself returning to again and again?
Challenge: Write your capstone's specific thesis question or project focus in one precise sentence.
Week 2: Building a Proposal
Reading: Proverbs 16:3; Proverbs 16:9
Two proverbs, read together, hold planning and dependence on God in proper tension: “Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established” (16:3), and “A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps” (16:9). Careful planning is not a lack of faith, it's the ordinary means through which a committed work gets established; but the planner still holds the plan loosely, expecting God's direction to shape the actual steps along the way. A solid proposal states your thesis question or project goal, explains why it matters, outlines your planned approach and structure, and identifies the sources or materials you'll draw on, functioning as a contract with yourself, submitted to God, for what the finished capstone will actually accomplish. Writing this proposal now, before starting the capstone itself, saves significant wasted effort later by forcing clarity on scope and approach while changes are still cheap to make.
Key terms: Proverbs 16:3 (commit your works), Proverbs 16:9 (the Lord directs the steps), Proposal as a self-contract, Clarity before starting
Discussion Questions
- What part of your proposed capstone project feels least clear to you right now, and what would clarify it?
- How do you hold Proverbs 16:3's careful commitment and Proverbs 16:9's openness to redirection together in practice?
Challenge: Write a complete one-page proposal for your capstone project, opening with a short prayer of commitment based on Proverbs 16:3.
Week 3: Outlining Before You Write
Reading: Practical exercise — no reading assigned
A detailed outline, not just a proposal, maps your capstone's actual structure section by section or lesson by lesson before you commit to full writing or production, catching structural problems while they're still easy to fix. This final week before CAP-201 begins is your last checkpoint: if the outline doesn't hold together clearly, the finished capstone won't either, so it's worth genuinely stress-testing it now rather than discovering the gaps midway through the real work.
Key terms: Detailed outline before full writing, Catching structural problems early, Stress-testing before committing
Discussion Questions
- Where, in outlining your capstone, did you find a gap or weak point you hadn't noticed in the proposal stage?
Challenge: Complete a full, detailed outline of your capstone project, ready to begin full writing or production in CAP-201.
Course Exam
Five questions for review or self-testing.
Q: What should you resist when narrowing your capstone topic?
Reveal Answer
The pull toward an overly broad topic.
Q: What four things should a solid proposal state?
Reveal Answer
The thesis question or goal, why it matters, the planned approach, and the sources you'll use.
Q: Why write the proposal before starting the capstone?
Reveal Answer
It saves wasted effort later by forcing clarity on scope while changes are still cheap to make.
Q: What comes after the proposal, before full writing begins?
Reveal Answer
A detailed, section-by-section outline.
Q: What is this course's 'last checkpoint' for structural problems?
Reveal Answer
Stress-testing the outline before committing to full writing or production.