Chainani said over the last few years, some authors have reformatted fairy tales to re-cast women's roles. Chainani described it as a movement to "make wicked women not so wicked."

Many of the Hoopes winners agree that the secret to their success lies in the topics they chose.

"The more obsessed you are with your topic, the more fun your thesis will be to work on," Kenah said.

Chainini credits the English department with allowing him to choose a "radical" topic which fascinated him.

For many, the Hoopes prize was a fulfilling end to a long and difficult process.

"[The process] was frustrating at times," said Susannah L. Hollister '01, who won a Hoopes prize for her thesis on the relationship between cartography and poetry. "But it's the best academic experience I've had at Harvard."

The recipients of the Hoopes Prize, all seniors, are Judith Batalion, Lauren K. Brozovich, Aaron D. Goldberg, Susannah L. Hollister, Jie Li, Priya H. Patel, Michael H. Tang and Benjamin D. Tolchin of Adams House; Elizabeth D. Chao, Jeremy U. Gaw, Charles C. Lin, Benjamin J. Morgan, Wesley T.W. Shih and Blythe Yee of Cabot House; Andreea S. Balan, Long Cai, Isabel de Sola, Grace Kao, Ciprian Manolescu, Pawel M. Nowak and Shauna L. Shames of Currier House.

In Dudley House, Ulka S. Anjaria, Anne P. Bourneuf, Jonathan C. Hall, Vera Keller, John T. Maier, Jonathan E. Shapiro and Michael W. Weller; in Dunster House, Megan E. Frederickson, Jeremy M. Kurzyniec, Courtney H. Leimkuhler and Brian O'Meara; in Eliot House, Corinne S. Crawford, Sanmay Das, Joseph C. Gfaller, Rebecca P. Gogel, Christine M. Nichols, Robert A.D. Pike, David J. Ryu and David M. Shapiro.