| Unit name | Creative Dissertation |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ENGLM0077 |
| Credit points | 60 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52) |
| Unit director | Dr. Mimi Thebo |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
none |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
none |
| School/department | Department of English |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
The dissertation is an intensive experience of supported independent study with 4 hours of tutorial, typically split into sessions over the summer. The learning environment is collaborative and intimate, with detailed tutor scrutiny of student work and continual student-led evolution of aims, desires and intentions for the dissertation. The student’s agenda (aims, desires and intentions) is informed by learning in the previous units and the tutor’s role is to use their own understanding of the student’s area of work to support the student’s own agenda for the writing.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This unit is the culmination of study and is designed to prepare students for comparable agent and editorial relationships in professional practice. This is an independent study unit, with intensive one-to-one tutor supervision, to allow and support students to write and revise a significant element of a full-length manuscript as an extended project. Students will work with their tutor to: deliver regular instalments of work; consider critique received and potential revisions in light of it; and discuss progress and editorial strategies, as the writing develops. The aim is to help the student develop experience of writing a sustained and extensive project.
An overview of content
You’ll work independently on an extended piece of writing, thinking about Publishing and Critical contexts and discussing your creative work with a tutor in one-to-one sessions.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
You will apply the knowledge you’ve gained in previous study and in the previous units on the course to a new professional-style practice, where you will be asked to develop more self-motivation and to take responsibility for setting your own writing targets. You’ll become more confident in communicating your aims for your project and negotiating craft decisions and strategies that effectively make connections between your own desires, the needs of publishers/broadcasters and the imaginative experiences of readers.
Learning Outcomes
You will study independently, supported by tutorial time.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
You will work on drafts with your tutor in intensive one-on-one sessions that mirror editorial and agent relationships in the wider world. You will get continual feedback that will help you to develop your creative writing for both the submission of the dissertation and for publication. You will also be supported to discuss and plan your contextualising paper.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
A dissertation of 13,000 words, containing 10,000 words (or equivalent) of the student’s creative work with a 3,000 word paper, placing this creative work in current critical and literary contexts. [ILOs 1-6]
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the form or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are normally confirmed by the School shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the academic year.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. ENGLM0077).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
