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Dissertation

Module description

This module provides you with guidance and supervision while researching and writing an independent Dissertation of 8000 words on a topic in English Literature. The module is designed for final-year students, so a pre-requisite of 120 credits at level 2 is usually required. Likewise, the module requires a strong background in specialist literary and critical studies and so is not suitable for non-specialist students. It may suit some interdisciplinary pathways, in which case you should consult with their Director of Education and potential supervisors.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The module aims to:

• Enable you to operate independently and responsibly, and take a positive and active role in your learning, in the service of the production of a sustained piece of critical work
• Support your research development through a structured programme of lectures and workshops that addresses both practical and conceptual aspects of the research process, as well as through traditional one-to-one supervisions focusing specifically on your project
• View your research projects as part of a process that is founded upon conceptual as well as methodological, expository, and bibliographic training
• The training provided in lectures/workshops and also in specifically tailored supervision meetings involves the production of a formative portfolio of writing that feeds directly into the extended dissertation essay itself

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

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

• 1. Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the chosen subject, building appropriately on the work completed during the earlier years of your programme
• 2. Demonstrate a capacity for independent study and self-directed inquiry and research
• 3. Identify and pursue appropriate, subject specific questions
• 4. Reflect upon research methodologies. Draft, revise and edit written work accordingly.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

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

• 5. Analyse the chosen literature and to relate its concerns and its modes of expression to its historical context
• 6. Interrelate texts and discourses specific to their own discipline with issues in the wider context of cultural and intellectual history
• 7. Understand and analyse relevant theoretical ideas, and to apply these ideas to literary texts

ILO: Personal and key skills

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

• 8. Demonstrate appropriate research and bibliographic skills
• 9. Select and develop an appropriate research topic
• 10. Construct a coherent, substantiated argument at an advanced level
• 11. Write clear and correct prose

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

• Preparation

Following examinations in Year 2 Term 3, students attend the dissertation forum. They then have the vacation and Year 3 Term 1 to consider their area of focus and to discuss it with one or more members of staff. By the Term 1 deadline (end of November), students must submit a completed ‘General Area of Study’ Form, which outlines their proposed area of interest and the kinds of project that they might develop in relation to existing scholarship in this area. Students are strongly recommended to work within the expertise of staff within the Department. Based as much as possible on stated areas of interest, students are assigned to an individual supervisor in Week 10 Term 1.

• Term 2

In weeks 1-2, the supervisor will hold the first of 3 supervision sessions, which may be a group supervision. The two remaining supervision sessions will take place during Term 2 by arrangement between the student and supervisor. They will be initiated by the student in response to their own assessment of their pace, progress, and needs. Also in Term 2, alongside individual supervision sessions, students attend weekly (x10) workshops/lectures, which may cover topics such as Choosing the Best Topic, 2. Beginning your Dissertation, Choosing a ‘Style Sheet’, Conducting Theoretical Research, Conducting Material Research, Writing a Literature Review, Establishing Argument and Building Structure.

• Abstracts, and Editing, and include an optional Workshop

Over the course of the 11 weeks, students will have chances to produce and workshop the discrete   elements that together form their formative portfolio (literature review, critical intervention statement, abstract), as well as to discuss these documents with their supervisor in supervision sessions. By the Term 2 deadline (late March) students may elect to submit (online) a formative portfolio and extract, on which the supervisor will offer feedback. This constitutes the formative coursework for the module. The extract constitutes formative coursework for the module. At the same time, the final title confirmation form should be submitted.

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 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Students are asked to purchase: MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th ed. (MLA, 2009)

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• Resources are developed, under direction, by the student
• ELE – http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=1749

Indicative learning resources - Other resources

• Other resources to be developed, under direction, by the student
• Module supported by dedicated site on the Exeter Learning Environment (e-learning platform)