Unit information: Planning a Creative Dissertation in 2022/23

Unit name	Planning a Creative Dissertation
Unit code	ENGLM0074
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Mimi Thebo
Open unit status	Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)	ENGLM0070, ENGLM0071, ENGLM0072
Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)	Workshop 2 (ENGLM0073)
Units you may not take alongside this one	n/a
School/department	Department of English
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Unit Information

In this unit, students will plan the final stages of writing a full-length manuscript. This may include many elements, such as: research, relevant reading, the creation of ancillary materials (like character sketches, maps, mood-boards, timelines, setting descriptions, etc) as well as a time-based plan. The student will also submit current writing in parallel with their research and planning, with the clear understanding that early drafts may need considerable revision.

A tutor will meet with the student for two hours during the teaching block, usually broken up into three or four sessions of supervision. The student is, at the same time, receiving continual feedback about their manuscript in the Workshop 2 unit.

Your learning on this unit

An overview of content

Guided Independent study forms the majority of the teaching in this unit. Students work with lecturers to evolve a plan for what materials will be produced and what forms of exploration the student will undertake on the unit. There will be several supervision points during the unit, during which the student will receive formative feedback and then there will be a tutorial after summative assessment to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the student’s submission (all supervision to total 2 hours). Please note that the student will also be receiving detailed feedback on the original creative writing in Workshop 2 and that the student will be producing enough original creative writing to submit different portions of the original creative work in both units.

This unit is designed to help you work independently with guidance, responding to one person’s edits, in the same kind of relationship you might have with an editor or literary agent.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

1. Understand the skills required to work independently, including setting goals, managing workload and meeting deadlines.
2. Communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, demonstrating an awareness of voice, idiom, idiolect, simile, metaphor, analogy, rhythm and media-specific restraints.
3. Use and develop information retrieval and analytical skills, including the ability to interpret, evaluate, synthesise and organise material.
4. Recognise and articulate their aesthetic sensibility in relationship to appropriate models and develop an understanding of their own processes of intellectual inquiry.
5. Anticipate and accommodate requirements that may change when creating an original work. Be able to work productively and negotiate creative contexts that are ambiguous, uncertain and unfamiliar.
6. Engage with written and oral feedback.

How you will learn

This is creative practice, led by the student, but supported and informed by the tutorials. It is important to note that in Workshop 2, which runs concurrently, students will have additional feedback about their creative work, and that some of the work submitted for feedback in Workshop 2 may be submitted for assessment in this unit.

How you will be assessed

Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):

You will submit work to your tutor and discuss it with them. This may include them marking up your work editorially, discussing other writing with you (you will be expected to read suggested work), discussing your work with you in line edits or summaries.

Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):

A portfolio of writing to include:

1 x 2500-word summative creative writing assessment (or equivalent, in the case of poetry/script) of original creative writing, to assess learning outcomes (100%) [ILOs 1, 2, 6].

1 x 2500-word formative folder of research, reading notes and/or ancillary material, including a time-based planning element (0%)[ILOs 3, 4, 5]

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 format or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are confirmed by the School/Centre shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the year.  

Resources

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. ENGLM0074).

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 Faculty 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. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.