The author attempts to answer the question in the title by drawing on his experience in teaching a thesis colloquium, part of a series of courses at the University at Buffalo that prepares graduate planning students for work on their theses. In search of a definition the author compares the rhetorical features of the traditional thesis to those of other kinds of culminating master's degree exercises, namely the essay, project, and evocative presentation. He then suggests that scholarly articles written for professional audiences can serve as good models for the traditional thesis. This paper presents a list of questions for guiding the critical reading of these model articles.
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