Module ENGL44160: Creative Writing Dissertation Project

Department: English Studies

ENGL44160: Creative Writing Dissertation Project

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• The final portfolio will allow students to demonstrate their ability to put what they have learned in the structured workshops into practice when working independently. They will be asked to produce (ie. draft and edit) original poetry or imaginative prose with a full, advanced awareness of the technical and aesthetic choices made in the process of writing.
• The self-critique will encourage the development of sophisticated argument, the reading of relevant criticism and contextual material, and the appropriate high level of bibliographical and presentational skills.
• The dissertation will provide a foundation for training in higher research at, e.g., doctoral level, and will provide professional development (e.g. developing a sample of work for possible submission to publishers).

Content

• The final portfolio will consist of either poetry or prose produced after the completion of the structured workshop-oriented module: it will therefore reflect the extent to which the student has progressed during the course of their MA studies.
• The self-critique allows the development of a specific research interest and of literary analytical skills.
• In preparation for the MA Dissertation, each student is entitled to four 45-minute individual consultations with a nominated supervisor. Each student is entitled to individual feedback from their supervisor on a draft of 4,000 words of imaginative prose or six pages of poetry.

Learning Outcomes

• advanced knowledge of the aesthetic decisions made by writers who have influenced the student's own work, and the relationship of those decisions to matters of form and intellectual and historical context;
• expertise in, and in-depth knowledge of, an area of literature in English related to the student's creative practice;
• sophisticated appreciation of the power of imagination in literary creation, and the ways in which literary works;
• knowledge of a linguistic, literary, cultural and socio-historical context in which literature is written.

• Creative writing skills: the application of the student's critical skills to their own creative practice;
• informed and sophisticated 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;
• advanced skills of effective communication and argument;
• expertise in conventions of scholarly presentation, and bibliographic skills including accurate citation of sources and consistent use of scholarly conventions of presentation;
• awareness of literature as a medium through which values are affirmed and debated.

• practice of writing poetry or imaginative prose;
• advanced capacity to analyse critically;
• high degree of competence in the planning and execution of written work;
• capacity for independent thought and judgement, and acute ability to assess the critical ideas of others;
• information-technology skills such as word-processing and electronic data access information;
• professional conduct skills, e.g. observing professional academic standards, including correct referencing of sources;
• professional organisation and time-management skills.

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

• Individual supervision sessions provide students with carefully guided advice on shaping creative work and developing skills without jeopardising the student's capacity for independent learning. Please note that these sessions will not be centrally timetabled and should be organised directly between the student and their tutor.
• The final portfolio tests the student's ability to work independently on their creative writing while drawing on what they have learned from the earlier modules.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Each student is entitled to individual feedback from their supervisor on a draft of 4000 words of prose or six pages of poetry. This may be submitted to the supervisor as a single document, or in the form of shorter excerpts submitted in advance of supervisory meetings.

■ 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