Doing a thesis is like… a decade of answers

Abstract

This article analyzes the images that graduate students construct about thesis writing, based on 338 phrases collected between 2012 and 2024 in 18 academic writing courses and workshops held at different Argentinian and Uruguayan universities. Grounded in the framework of literacy practices, this qualitative interpretative research applies thematic analysis to identify patterns of meaning. The findings reveal eight main categories: construction or creation, journey or adventure, physical exercise, family life, subjective and transformative process, negative experience, ambivalent experience, and intellectual activity. The study amplifies previous findings by documenting new forms of representation—such as the ―thesis as marathon‖ or the ―thesis as family legacy‖— and by deepening the understanding of the emotional, practical, and identity-related dimensions involved in academic writing. The metaphors show that the thesis is simultaneously conceived as a challenge, a burden, and an opportunity for personal transformation, what reflects the complex interplay of individual, institutional, and sociocultural factors going through this practice. Overall, the findings confirm that thesis writing at the postgraduate level cannot be understood without considering the symbolic, affective, and contextual dimensions that configure it. It is concluded that recognizing these diverse senses allows to design situated pedagogical proposals that strengthen supervision and foster more reflective, collaborative, and collectively
sustained writing experiences.