Module ENGL3011: DISSERTATION

Department: English Studies

ENGL3011: DISSERTATION

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None, except for Combined Honours students, where a total of 5 modules of English must be studied across Parts I and II of the Final Honours Examination. The Dissertation will count as one of the 5 modules and must not be the only English module taken during the final year.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To allow a student to make an in-depth study of a particular topic, author, or genre, and permitting a student to write at some length.
• To encourage the development of argument, the marshalling of evidence, the reading of the relevant criticism, and the appropriate bibliographical and presentational skills.

Content

• The dissertation permits a student to present the result of individual and unsupervised work.
• It allows the development of a specific interest, and trains skills of argument, writing, and presentation.
• These are all discussed in an introductory lecture, which deals with: (1) Choice of subject, (2) Ways of treating it: argument, structure, (3) Presentation, bibliography, etc.
• Following the introductory lecture, a student will consult an assigned tutor, for five sessions, who will give advice on background and specific reading, on the possible argument and structure, and on the limits of enquiry possible within the prescribed length. In Epiphany Term, students are permitted to take 500 words of their draft dissertation for oral comment by their tutor.
• The dissertation is normally unsupervised after that point.

Learning Outcomes

• Students studying this module will develop:
• expertise in, and knowledge of an area of literature from the medieval to the modern period
• knowledge of a substantial number of authors and texts from different periods of literary history
• appreciation of the power of imagination in literary creation
• knowledge and understanding of the distinctive character of texts written in the principal literary genres, the novel, poetry and drama
• knowledge of linguistic, literary, cultural and socio-historical contexts in which literature is written
• knowledge of useful and precise critical terminology
• awareness of the range and variety of approaches to literary study

• Students studying this module will develop:
• critical skills in the close reading and analysis of texts
• informed awareness of formal and aesthetic dimensions of literature and ability to offer cogent analysis of their workings in specific texts
• sensitivity to generic conventions and to the shaping effects on communication of historical circumstances, and to the affective power of language
• to articulate and substantiate an imaginative response to literature
• ability to articulate knowledge and understanding of concepts and theories relating to literary studies
• skills of effective communication and argument
• awareness of conventions of scholarly presentation, and bibliographic skills including accurate citation of sources and consistent use of scholarly conventions of presentation
• command of a broad range of vocabulary and an appropriate critical terminology
• awareness of literature as a medium through which values are affirmed and debated

• capacity to analyse critically
• ability to acquire complex information of diverse kinds in a structured and systematic way involving the use of distinctive interpretative skills derived from the subject
• competence in the planning and execution of essays
• capacity to initiate and frame an appropriate topic for independent study
• capacity for independent thought and judgement, and ability to assess the critical ideas of others
• skills in critical reasoning
• ability to handle information and argument in a critical manner
• information-technology skills such as word-processing and electronic data access information
• organisation and time-management skills

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• One-to-one consultation sessions (including feedback on 500 words of the dissertation in Epiphany Term): provide students with carefully guided advice on general subject areas, research, shaping arguments and developing bibliographic skills without jeopardising the student's capacity for independent learning.
• Plenary lecture: the plenary lecture, given in the Easter term of the second year, deals with: choice of subject; ways of treating the subject in terms of argument and structure; presentation and bibliography.
• The three lecture/workshops are intended to cover essential skills and allow students to bring specific issues along for discussion. These might include: questions about good practice, research methods, presentation, structuring an argument, using footnotes. The workshops are scheduled after the supervision sessions in Michaelmas Term and are intended to reinforce advice given in earlier sessions. They cover: research skills and library resources; engaging with critics/methodologies; presentation and bibliography. They also provide a forum where students can engage with and learn from each other and share and discuss commonly experienced challenges and problems in writing a piece of work of this length.
• Dissertation: tests the student's ability to argue, respond and interpret, whilst demonstrating subject-specific knowledge and skills such as appreciation of the power of imagination in literary creation and the close reading and analysis of texts. The dissertation also tests the student's capacity for independent thought and judgement, an ability to assess the critical ideas of others, and the ability to present word-processed work, observing scholarly conventions.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

None

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University