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Dissertation

Module description

The dissertation project is the culmination of the English Literary Studies Master's programme. It requires you to conceive, plan, research and write-up an independent study.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The dissertation provides you with the opportunity to test your learning, display your subject knowledge and methodological skills, and explore in detail a topic that interests you. You are encouraged to begin to think about your dissertation in one of the introductory workshops at the beginning of the first term of study and to develop and submit an initial proposal by the end of term two (for part-time students, by the second term of the second year of studies). Once the initial proposal has been submitted, you are assigned to a supervisor with interests and knowledge appropriate to the chosen topic. Two dissertation workshops in term three provide you with guidance as you refine these plans and bring your research to completion.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Formulate at an advanced level a research proposal and plan and execute advanced research
• 2. Discuss and analyse at an advanced level literature and related cultural forms appropriate to your chosen area of enquiry
• 3. Critically evaluate at an advanced level current research in the discipline and in your chosen area of enquiry
• 4. Use at an advanced level a range of research techniques and methodologies appropriate to the discipline and to your chosen area of enquiry
• 5. Critically evaluate and revise your own scholarly work in the light of feedback from the supervisor and peers
• 6. Present your dissertation in accordance with the norms and conventions appropriate to the discipline

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 7. Demonstrate a sophisticated and intellectually mature ability to analyse the literature and / or film of the chosen period, culture or form (as appropriate) and to relate its concerns and its modes of expression to its historical and / or cultural contexts.
• 8. Demonstrate an advanced and autonomous ability to understand and analyse relevant theoretical ideas, and to apply these ideas to literary and /or film texts.
• 9. Demonstrate an advanced and precise ability to work from the detail of literary and/or film texts, with a full appreciation of their formal aspects.
• 10. Demonstrate, where appropriate, an advanced ability to digest, select, and organise interdisciplinary material and to trace the development of debate across disciplinary boundaries. e) demonstrate, where appropriate, an ability to devise, research, and execute a programme of archival research.
• 11. Demonstrate a sophisticated and intellectually mature ability to analyse film of different periods and to relate its concerns and its modes of expression to its historical context.
• 12. Demonstrate advanced and precise skills in the close formal, thematic, generic and authorial analysis of different kinds of films.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 13. Through a dissertation presentation, demonstrate advanced communication skills, and an ability to articulate your views convincingly
• 14. Through the dissertation proposal, presentation and the dissertation, demonstrate advanced research and bibliographic skills, an advanced and intellectually mature capacity to construct a coherent, substantiated argument and to write clear and correct prose
• 15. Through research for the dissertation proposal, presentation and the dissertation, demonstrate an advanced proficiency in information retrieval and analysis
• 16. Through the dissertation proposal, presentation and the dissertation, demonstrate an advanced and intellectually mature capacity to question assumptions, to distinguish between fact and opinion, and to critically reflect on your own learning process
• 17. Through the planning and organisation of large-scale research projects, demonstrate independence of thought and confidence in developing ideas and formulating questions
• 18. Through the writing of large-scale research projects, construct work of substantial length, detail, and some originality

Syllabus plan

Workshops:

• Term 2: Beginning and Developing a Dissertation Topic (Workshop)
• Pathway Specific Workshops – Developing and Refining a Dissertation Proposal
• Term 3: Presenting your Dissertation Topic (Dissertation Conference)

Supervision:

You are entitled to three one-hour supervision meetings with your dissertation supervisor and it is your responsibility to contact the supervisor to arrange the meetings. The first meeting should take place early on in the process to discuss the student’s research to date as well as the scope and the content of the dissertation. In the second, the supervisor will give detailed feedback on the 2000 word dissertation proposal that you submit to your supervisor after the dissertation conference. The final supervision should be used to discuss the remaining sections of the dissertation and it should take place later on in the writing process, and in response to an extract of the dissertation (a maximum of 5000 words that builds on and extends the 2000 word dissertation proposal).

Supervision can take place in meetings, on the phone or via skype. It is expected that the formal supervision process will be concluded by 31 July. Since the dissertation is an independent study project, supervisors should not provide any substantial assistance after this date but they will be available to answer questions by email.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 50%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of referral will be capped at 50%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Stephen Potter, Doing Postgraduate Research (Milton Keynes, U.K.; Thousand Oaks, CA : Open University in association with SAGE Publications, 2006) – available as an e-book via the library catalogue.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE page: https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=3021

Key words search

Dissertation, research