Run by School of Languages, Literatures, Linguistics and Media

30 Credits or 15 ECTS Credits

This module builds on the student's first semester experience of Open Essay(1). They aim: (1) To help students develop their autonomy as learners, through guidance from an experienced researcher. (2) To help students gather knowledge of the current state of scholarship in a given field of literary research. (3) To help students structure a complex argument in secondary form. (4) To help students employ a mixture of primary and secondary evidence in an essay. (5) To help students learn to frame working hypotheses, to evaluate them in the light of counter-arguments and counter-evidence, and to revise them. In doing this, they relate abstract principles and concepts to particular literary texts. (6) To help students design a small-scale programme of literary research.

Each module is taught by up to six individual supervisory tutorials, one hour each, the exact timing across the semester to be agreed between tutor and student. QXE4012 is taken by all students taking the English MA.

threshold

Is able to summarise existing critical positions; is able to present an argument supported by appropriate evidence from both primary and secondary sources.

good

Is able to develop ideas and techniques found in existing critical work, and is aware of relevant theoretical questions; structures his/her argument clearly.

excellent

Writes persuasively, with precision and circumspection, demonstrating the potential to produce fresh critical insights into the chosen text(s), and to place these insights into the context of the main lines of relevant critical traditions; aware of relevant theoretical questions.

1. The ability to structure a complex argument in essay form, the length of the essay not exceeding 5000 words.
2. The ability to incorporate primary and secondary evidence in an essay, as appropriate to the chosen topic, and to document it using a specified system of annotation.
3. The ability to present an argument that takes due note of the current state of scholarship in its field.
4. The ability to write persuasively and unambiguously.

Type	Name	Description	Weight
	essay		100

		Hours
	6 one hour supervisory tutorials

Optional in courses:

• Q3AC: Diploma English year 1 (DIP/E)
• Q3AS: MA English Literature year 1 (MA/EL)
• V9AC: MA Medieval Studies year 1 (MA/MS)
• Q2W9: MArts English Literature with Creative Writing year 4 (MARTS/ELCW)
• Q320: MArts English Literature year 4 (MARTS/ELIT)