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Department of English,
Royal Holloway, University of London Egham Hill, Egham Surrey TW20 0EX
Telephone +44 (0)1784 443215
MA in Creative Writing Course Booklet
2017-18
3
This course booklet should be read in conjunction with the Postgraduate Taught handbook which can be
found on your Departmental website http://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/english/home.aspx where it will be
possible to follow the hyperlinks to relevant webpages.
Creative Writing MA: Introduction
The Creative Writing MA course offers three pathways, all distinct but all containing
common elements. The pathways are Fiction Writing, Poetry Writing and Poetic
Practice.
The course is designed to encourage students to develop and reflect on their work as
creative writers, in the context of contemporary and well-established literatures.
Students will be expected to make the most of their existing experience, but also to
discover ways of going beyond the merely personal, and writing with an engaged
sense of society. At the same time as they learn to stretch their imaginations, they will
also be encouraged to develop their technical and analytic skills, and in the process, to
sharpen their self-criticism of their writing practice.
The programme offers three distinct routes towards the completion of the MA in
Creative Writing. Established and emerging contemporary genres of the novel and
poetry are explored in our Fiction and Poetry workshops which are guided by peer
critique and the professional expertise of our course leaders. Our Poetic Practice
pathway foregrounds the reading and writing of contemporary experimental practices
in poetry, contemporary theory and visual media. On this course students will study
contemporary experimental writing practice in the UK and North America and will
develop their own practice alongside a reading of these contexts. They will explore
poetic production on and off the page in a range of fields – including contemporary
avant-garde poetries, bookarts, visual poetries, sound and electronic media – as well
as installation, performance and site-specific writing.
4
It is not possible for students to switch from one pathway to another in mid-course, or
to mix and match. Each strand of the Creative Writing MA may be done full-time or
part-time.
All Creative Writing pathways are taught in 11 Bedford Square or in Senate House, in
the heart of London’s Bloomsbury.
Staffing Head of Department: Prof. Juliet John <Juliet.John@rhul.ac.uk>
Director of Graduate Taught Programmes: Dr. Sophie Gilmartin <sophie.gilmartin@rhul.ac.uk>
Director of Graduate Studies: Dr. Will Montgomery: <Will.Montgomery@rhul.ac.uk>
Director of the MA Creative Writing: Susanna Jones <Susanna.Jones@rhul.ac.uk>
Deputy Director MA Creative Writing: Prof. Redell Olsen <redell.olsen@rhul.ac.uk>
2017-18 MA Seminar and Workshop Leaders:
Fiction: Susanna Jones <Susanna.Jones@rhul.ac.uk>, Dr. Nikita Lalwani
<Nikita.Lalwani@rhul.ac.uk>, Prof. Lavinia Greenlaw <Lavinia.Greenlaw@rhul.ac.uk>
Poetry: Prof. Jo Shapcott <Jo.Shapcott@rhul.ac.uk> and Prof. Lavinia Greenlaw
<Lavinia.Greenlaw@rhul.ac.uk>
Poetic Practice: Prof. Redell Olsen redell.olsen@rhul.ac.uk and Prof. Robert
Hampson <r.hampson@rhul.ac.uk>
Staff are available for individual meetings throughout the year by appointment – please
send an email or speak to us directly after your seminar to arrange a time to discuss
your work or answer your questions.
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Department Administrator for the MA in Creative Writing: Lisa Dacunha: Lisa.Dacunha@rhul.ac.uk
Direct line: 3215 Outside: [+44 (0)1784 443215]
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Further details about the staff teaching on the MA Creative Writing: Susanna Jones BA (Royal Holloway), MA (Manchester) (Course Director MA CW) is
an award-winning novelist and has worked abroad, in Japan and Turkey, as an English
teacher and radio script editor. She was lecturer in Fiction Writing at the University of
Exeter from 2003-5. Susanna is the author of four novels, The Earthquake
Bird (2001), Water Lily (2003), The Missing Person's Guide to Love (2007) and When
Nights Were Cold (2012). She has also published short stories and book reviews. Her
writing has been translated into 20 languages and won awards including: The CWA
John Creasey Dagger (2001), John Llewellyn Rhys Award (2001), the Betty Trask
Award (2002) and Book of the Year (for the Hungarian translation, 2004) and Fiction
Uncovered (2012). In 2014 she was the recipient of the inaugural Jerwood Fiction
Uncovered/British Council residency in Korea. Areas of interest: The novel;
contemporary British and Japanese fiction; mystery and suspense; historical fiction;
writing and the environment.
Professor Lavinia Greenlaw's poetry includes The Casual Perfect (Faber 2011) and
A Double Sorrow: Troilus and Criseyde (Faber 2014). Her first novel, Mary George of
Allnorthover (Flamingo 2001), received France’s Prix du Premier Roman Etranger. Her
third, In the City of Love’s Sleep, will appear from Faber in 2018. Her two books of
creative non-fiction are The Importance of Music to Girls (Faber 2007) and Questions
of Travel: William Morris in Iceland (Notting Hill Editions 2011). Her immersive sound
work, Audio Obscura, a study of interrupted perception, won the 2011 Ted Hughes
Award. In 2016, she wrote and directed a short film, The Sea is an Edge and an
Ending, an exploration of dementia and the present tense. She taught at Goldsmiths
College before becoming Professor of Poetry at UEA. She is writing a book about
seeing and not seeing further.
Professor Robert Hampson has also had a long involvement in contemporary poetry
as both a critic and practitioner. He co-edited The New British poetries (with Peter
Barry, 1993) and Frank O’Hara Now (with Will Montgomery, 2010). His own poetry has
been published widely since the 1970s. Stride published Assembled Fugitives:
Selected Poems, 1973-1998 in 2001, and Shearsman re-published his long
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poem Seaport in 2008. His most recent poetry publication is the sequence An
Explanation of Colours, which was published by Veer in 2010. His critical
work on Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford is highly regarded. He has
written Joseph Conrad: Identity and Betrayal (Macmillan, 1992), Cross-Cultural
Encounters in Joseph Conrad’s Malay Fiction (Macmillan, 2000), and Conrad’s
Secrets (Palgrave 2012); the co-edited collections Ford Madox Ford: A
Reappraisal (with Tony Davenport, 2002), and Ford Madox Ford and Modernity (with
Max Saunders, 2003); and various Penguin editions.
Dr. Nikita Lalwani has published two novels, Gifted (Viking, 2007) and The
Village (Viking 2012). Gifted won the Desmond Elliot Prize for Fiction, was shortlisted
for the Costa prize, the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year and long-listed for the
Man Booker Prize. The BBC Radio 4 dramatised adaptation of Gifted won a Mental
Health Media Award and the Italian translation won an Eduardo Kihlgren prize. The
Village was a winner of the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize. She has published
essays, journalism and reviews on subjects including giftedness, asylum/immigration,
creativity, penal reform, HIV/AIDS, documentary journalism, surveillance and Indian
cinema in The Guardian (UK), The New Statesman (UK)and The Times(UK), AIDS
SUTRA ( an anthology of essays published by Random House) and Bookslam Vol. III
among other publications. In 2012 she was a judge of the books section of the Orwell
Prize for political writing. She has appeared on BBC’s Hard Talk and ITV’s politics
show The Agenda and is a trustee of human rights organisations LIBERTY. She is a
member of the Folio Academy and has contributed to live discussions and panels for
the Folio Sessions, the Royal Literary Fund and English PEN at the British Library, as
well as performing at literary festivals in the UK and internationally. In 2016 she
interviewed Zadie Smith for the London Review of Books launch of Swing Time, a
live event that garnered over ten thousand views on Facebook Live, and she also
conducted a live masterclass with comedian Stephen Merchant, co-creator of iconic
comedy dramas 'The Office' and 'Extras'. In 2017 she appeared in the flagship BBC 2
documentary 'Seven Days of Summer', discussing the partition of India in 1947.
Professor Redell Olsen (Deputy Director MA CW) is a poet and text based artist.
Film Poems (Les Figues, 2014) collects the texts for her films and performances from
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2007–2012. Her previous books include: 'Punk Faun: a bar rock pastel' (Subpress,
2012), 'Secure Portable Space' (Reality Street, 2004), 'Book of the Fur' (rem press
2000), and, in collaboration with the bookartist Susan Johanknecht, 'Here Are My
Instructions' (Gefn, 2004). Recent work is available in Infinite Difference: Other
Poetries by UK Women Poets (Shearsman, 2010) and I’ll Drown My Book: 'Conceptual
Writing by Women' (Les Figues Press, 2011). In 2017 she published two bookworks:
Smock and Mox Nox – the latter is currently included in a touring show of artist books.
From 2006 - 2010 she was the editor of How2, the international online journal for
Modernist and contemporary writing by women. The Lost Swimming Pool (2010) a
multi-media collaborative installation in film, sound, text and dance was commissioned
by the Creative Campus Initiative in a disused swimming pool on the campus at Royal
Holloway. She has published critical articles on contemporary poetry and the
relationship between contemporary poetics and the visual arts. In 2016-17 in
association with other members of staff from English and Modern Languages she led
the HARC funded project ‘Nature and Other Forms of That Matter’. Her current
research interests include: feminism, ecology, theory and the history and development
of experimental textual practice in poetry, the novel and the visual arts. She is Director
of the Poetics Research Centre at Royal Holloway redellolsen.co.uk
Professor Jo Shapcott's latest book of poems Of Mutability, was published in 2010,
shortlisted for the Forward Poetry Prize and was awarded the Costa Prize for Book of
the Year. The collection, Her Book: Poems 1988-1998 (2000), consists of a selection
of poetry from her three earlier collections: Electroplating the Baby (1988), which won
the Commonwealth Poetry Prize for Best First Collection, Phrase Book (1992), and My
Life Asleep (1998), which won the Forward Poetry Prize (Best Collection).
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Content and Structure
Term Dates can be found on the College website
http://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/aboutus/collegecalendar/home.aspx
The programme lasts 50 weeks, beginning in September (two years for part-time
students). It has six elements, and students are examined in the first five elements.
These elements are as follows:
(i) Core Course: Workshop in Fiction, Poetry or Poetic Practice
(ii) Core Course: Supplementary Discourses
(iii) Core Course: Reading as a Writer
(iv) Core Course: Creative Writing Project
(v) Core Course: Dissertation on Practice
(vi) Methods and Materials of Research.
Part-time students normally take elements (i), (ii) and (iii) in their first year, and
elements (iv) and (v) in their second year.
Aims and Objectives
The principal aim of the programme is to give students the opportunity to develop their
practice of literary composition, their creative and artistic sophistication, and their
ability to reflect critically upon their own practice. The degree aims to provide a flexible
and progressive structure in which students are able to practise the art of literary
composition, to acquire advanced familiarity and fluency in using literary techniques
for the writing of either poetry or fiction, and to acquire an understanding of and
appropriate skills relating to practice-based research. They will also develop the ability
to reflect critically on their own practice. The emphasis of the programme is on the
student developing his or her own creative writing in the context of contemporary
fiction and poetry, and developing the ability to reflect critically upon writing practice.
The Poetic Practice strand is rooted in the British and North American traditions of
'innovative' or 'experimental' writing and textual practice. The writing builds on postwar
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developments in the modernist tradition, and students are encouraged to consider
their poetry and poetics in relation to other disciplines: fine art, critical theory,
conceptual and art writing. Students are encouraged to engage with the reception and
distribution of their poetic practice through the consideration of the histories and
publications of different poetic communities, through the production of small press
editions, and through engagement with networks of distribution and performance.
The MA programme is designed for students intending to develop their own creative
writing beyond first-degree level. It is also designed for those students wishing to
proceed to MPhil or PhD.
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Outline of Programme
EN5118 Fiction Workshop:
Teaching: One three-hour workshop per week over two terms.
Aims and objectives: The course is designed to develop students' understanding of,
and ability in, fiction writing beyond first-degree level. Students will already have a
writing practice. The student will be expected to embark on an advanced programme
of writing and critical thinking through creative exploration and dialogue with the tutor
and other members of the group. Students will also engage with a range of
contemporary novelists as directed by the tutor. By the end of the course the student
will aim to have produced two fully realised pieces of fiction, for example two short
stories or parts of a novel. The content of the workshops will be dictated by the
presentations of written work by the members of the group, produced in consultation
with the course tutor, and by the critical dialogue that develops from the
presentations. Reading of work by contemporary novelists will also feed into
workshop discussions. All students will produce creative written work for the
workshops and a schedule will be decided at the beginning of each term.
EN5112 Poetry Workshop:
Teaching: One three-hour workshop per week over two terms.
Aims and objectives: The course aims to develop students' understanding of, and
ability in, contemporary poetry beyond first-degree level. Students will already have a
writing practice. The student will be expected to embark on an advanced programme
of writing and critical thinking through creative exploration and dialogue with the tutor
and other members of the group. Students will also engage with a range of
contemporary poets as directed by the tutor. By the end of the course the student will
aim to have produced two portfolios of poetry of 12 pages each. The content of the
workshops will be dictated by the presentations of written work by the members of
group, produced in consultation with the course tutor, and by the critical dialogue that
12
develops from the presentations. Reading of contemporary poetry will also feed into
workshop discussions. All students will produce creative written work for each
seminar. It is expected that seminars will sometimes focus on an individual piece of
work and at other times on a range of work by different members of group.
EN5901 Poetic Practice:
Teaching: One three-hour seminar/ workshop each week in terms one and two
Aims and objectives: The principal aim of the course is to enable students to develop
(and reflect on) their own practice in the context of an understanding of contemporary
experimental practice in poetry from the UK and North America, and to consider how
contemporary poetry and poetics intersect with fields such as conceptual art writing,
sound art, live art, digital poetics, book arts, installed texts and site responsive writing.
The focus of the course is on particular poetic practices that have emerged in the last
fifty years in the UK, USA and Canada: the course involves an engagement with the
poetic practices and poetics evolving within this particular paradigm. The course aims
to encourage individual exploration in the range of contemporary poetic practice: it
aims to develop advanced skills in the reading and writing of poetic practice, to
develop a critical and theoretical language to discuss this practice, to introduce
students to the possibilities of the use of a variety of form and methodologies as part of
their poetic practice and to recognise this in the work of other practitioners. The
emphasis of the course is on the student’s development of their own poetic practice in
the context of contemporary UK and North American experimental and research-based
innovative writing and in relation to current theoretical explorations of poetic practice in
other fields. The course is designed for students intending to develop both their
knowledge of contemporary practice and their own poetic practice beyond first-degree
level.
EN5114 Supplementary Discourses:
Teaching: Teaching: One one-and-a-half hour seminar each week in Term 1.
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Aims and objectives: The course aims to provide students with appropriate critical
and theoretical skills for discussing their creative literary pieces of work in the
workshops. At MA level students will need to demonstrate familiarity with a technical
vocabulary (critical and theoretical) and it is one of the expectations of students at
this advanced level. The course also aims to prepare students for the practical work
project and dissertation. By the end of the course students will have acquired a range
of critical concepts and vocabulary, acquired a range of critical and theoretical
approaches to prose and poetry and acquired the necessary skills to undertake a
sophisticated reflection on the practical work project in their dissertation.
EN5116 Reading as a Writer:
Teaching: One one-and-a-half hour seminar each week in Term 2.
Aims and objectives: The principle aim of the course is to enable students to read as
a writer in order to inform their own literary composition. The course draws on the
theoretical reading of EN5114 Supplementary Discourses. By the end of the course
students will be able to draw on the critical and theoretical approaches acquired in
EN5114; will be able to read from the perspective of a writer rather than as a critic;
and will be able to relate their reading to their own developing practice as a writer.
EN5113: Creative Writing Project: Aims and objectives: The principle aim of the Creative Writing Project is to
enable students to undertake a substantial writing project. They should draw on
and develop the skills and their knowledge of critical and creative contexts
acquired in the first two terms and seek to demonstrate their independence, self-
direction and originality in their approach to its completion. The work will reflect the
student’s own concerns as they have developed out of an engagement with the
taught modules of the course. The form and content of the work produced should
demonstrate an understanding of the student’s own practice in relation to existing
audiences and publication contexts.
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EN5117: Dissertation on Practice: Aims and objectives: The principle aim of the Dissertation on Practice is to
enable students to demonstrate their ability to reflect critically and theoretically on
their own practice and to locate their practice in relation to contemporary writing
practices. Students will be encouraged to engage with the relevant critical /
historical / theoretical contexts for the work produced in EN5113. They should
draw on and develop skills acquired in the first two terms. Work should be
presented in accordance with the academic conventions of essay writing and
follow the MHRA style guide (See Postgraduate Taught handbook).
Element (vi) is designed to inform students about Library and computing
resources and to introduce a variety of the skills required for graduate work. A
summer programme of seminars in the third term highlights specific research skills
that support the completion of EN5113 and EN5117.
Assessment Regulations for students entering in 2017/18
Element (i) is examined by two pieces of work. Each piece of work will be either 5,000
words of fiction for the fiction workshop or 12 pages for the poetry workshop.
Element (ii) and (iii) Supplementary Discourses and Reading as a Writer are examined
by essays of 3,000 - 4,000 words for each course: Element (iv) will be a creative
writing project of either 15,000 words of prose or 24 pages of poetry, and element (v)
will be a dissertation of 8,000 -10,000 words: a critical and theoretical exploration of a
topic relevant to students’ own work and may include a reflection on the student’s own
practice. Element (vi) is not formally examined, but students are assessed on their
knowledge of research methods as part of all other assessments, particularly the
dissertation. Students should submit two copies of all written work as well as
submitting online via Turnitin.
(a) Either two pieces of fiction of 5,000 each or two portfolios of
poetry or textual equivalent of 12 pages, each carrying equal
weighting; (40 credits)
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(b) Two essays of 3,000 - 4,000 words each of equal weighting,
one each for elements (ii) and (iii); (20 credits each = 40 credits)
(c) Project: A substantial piece of creative work of either 15,000
words of prose or 24 pages of poetry or textual equivalent;
this may develop work initiated in the workshops but cannot
include work already submitted for (a) (60 credits)
(d) Dissertation: 8,000 -10,000 words (excluding bibliography,
appendices, etc.), critical and theoretical exploration of a topic
relevant to their own work; (40 credits)
Portfolios
Full-time students: The first piece of fiction or portfolio of poetry will be submitted for
feedback at the beginning of the Spring term, and the second piece of work will be
submitted for formal assessment, along with a revised first portfolio, on the first day of
the Summer term.
Part-time students: The first piece of fiction or portfolio of poetry will be submitted for
feedback on the last day of the Spring term, and the second piece of work will be
submitted for formal assessment, along with a revised first portfolio, at the end of
week 50, in early September at the end of their first year.
Feedback will be given on the first submission, including a provisional indication of the
level of performance (i.e. pass/fail). The first portfolio must be resubmitted at the
same time as the second portfolio for formal assessment.
Essays
Full-time students: The essay for the core courses Supplementary Discourses will be
submitted for formative assessment on the first day of the Spring term; the essay for
Reading as a Writer will be submitted for summative assessment on the first day of
the Summer term.
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Part-time students: The essay for the core course Supplementary Discourses and will
be submitted for formative assessment on the last day of the Spring term; the essay
for Reading as a Writer will be submitted for summative assessment at the end of
week 50, in early September at the end of their first year.
Feedback will be given on the first essay (Supplementary Discourses), including a
provisional indication of the level of performance (i.e. pass/fail). NB: The first essay
(Supplementary Discourses) must be re-submitted at the same time as the second
essay (Reading as a Writer) for summative assessment.
Creative Writing Project and Dissertation
Full-time students: The Creative Writing Project will be submitted at the end of week
50, together with the Dissertation.
Part-time students: Students will submit their Creative Writing Project and the
Dissertation at the end of week 50 in their second year.
Creative Writing Project
The Creative Writing Project arises out of work developed in the workshops. For those
students writing fiction, this will mean further new chapters of the novel or a portfolio
of short stories; for those students writing a volume of poetry, this will consist of
twenty-four pages of new poetry. For students on the poetic practice pathway this will
consist of twenty-four pages of new poetry or textual equivalent (digital, bookworks
and other formats of submission are acceptable but should be agreed in advance with
the student’s supervisor). It all cases this should be new work not included in
previous portfolios. The aim is that students will have written a substantial manuscript,
either a major part of a novel, a volume-length collection of poems / text based poetic
work, or a volume-length collection of short stories by the end of the degree
programme.
An important dimension of the MA is to give students the opportunity to begin serious
work on a major project that would prepare them for the submission of this work to a
publisher or the basis for an application for a practice-based research of a PhD as
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applicable to the individual student. The Creative Writing Project is a crucial element
in this preparation. It will be researched and written mainly in the third term and
during the summer vacation. It may grow out of or develop from work undertaken in
the workshops; for example, a student writing a novel might present one chapter in
the first term, a second chapter in the second term, and then subsequent chapters for
the Creative Writing Project.
Dissertation on Practice
An important dimension of the MA is to give students the opportunity to begin serious
work on a major project that would prepare them for the practice-based research of a
PhD. The Dissertation on Practice is a crucial element in this preparation. It will be
researched and written mainly in the third term and during the summer vacation. All
students will be supervised for their Dissertation by a member of staff teaching on the
programme. The supervisions will be assigned at the beginning of the third term.
Where expertise from academic staff in the English Department Students may be
required, a student may also be allocated an academic advisor based on campus in
Egham.
Creative Writing Project and Dissertation on Practice Deadlines
Please refer to the Postgraduate Taught handbook for the Dissertation Schedule and
final submission dates. The supervisions will be assigned at the beginning of the third
term. In total you can expect to receive 5 – 6 hours of supervision in total for your
dissertation and project and these will normally take place during the Summer term.
The dates and times for these will be established and mutually agreed with your
supervisor (or supervisors) at the start of your project. Please respect this timetable
that you have agreed. Although they may comment on extracts from the drafts of your
work (approx. 2000 - 3000 words) supervisors are not expected to comment on the
whole submission and certainly not to proof read it for you. It is your responsibility to
attend and produce work for these supervisions at regular intervals and if you cancel
them – especially at short notice - it may not be possible to rearrange a new time. See
the PGT handbook on the timetable for submitting an agreed title for your
18
dissertation (June).
Submission
For each of the course elements you will need to submit: Two hard copies, each of
which should be anonymous throughout and also upload this submission to turnitin by
the date and time specified. A cover sheet with your student number and candidate
number should be attached to your submission. Each submission should be soft-
bound (e.g. wire comb or other secure binding). Please see the PGT handbook for
further details on presentation.
MARKING CRITERIA
Please refer the main handbook for the marking criteria for essays and the dissertation (section 6.14) and important regulations on the style and formatting of written work. For practical work (creative portfolios and the Creative Writing
Project), see below.
2017-18
The full time students will be submitting on Monday 21st May by 12.30pm (turnitin by noon) and by Friday 1st Sept by 12.30pm (tunitin by noon). The submission date for part time students will be Friday 1st Sept by 12.30pm (tunitin by noon).
19
Marking Criteria for Practical Work
The following is intended as a guide to the qualities typically exhibited by work
assigned a mark or grade within one of the bands set out below. Its purpose is to
outline the basic criteria employed the examiners in assessing essays and
dissertations, and so give students both a clearer idea of what is expected of them
and a means of measuring their progress. It should not be regarded as a complete or
inflexible list of the qualities work is required to display in order to be placed in a given
band.
The marking scheme sets the Pass mark at 50% and the mark for a Distinction at
70%. For full details of criteria used to determine awards of Pass, Merit and
Distinction, see below:
High Distinction 85-100% To award a high distinction, examiners will be looking for:
conformity with the requirements of the assignment (i.e. length, format, etc.)
publishable quality. situates itself confidently alongside other work in a similar form/style. formal elements such as rhythm, tone, structure, viewpoint,
characterisation, dialogue, medium and form deployed with sophistication, control and complexity.
work that contains insights of originality, or presents familiar sights in a fresh manner.
takes bold or innovative risks in form and/or content and succeeds. work that engages its reader at a complex, demanding and sophisticated
level and demonstrates an overall understanding of the audience for this work.
Distinction 70-85% To award a distinction, examiners will be looking for:
conformity with the requirements of the assignment (i.e. length, format, etc.)
potentially publishable work a clear relation to other work in the same form, style or genre. formal elements such as rhythm, tone, structure, viewpoint,
characterisation, dialogue, medium and form deployed with some degree
20
of mastery, control and complexity. work that contains insights of originality or presents familiar sights in a
fresh manner. bold, innovative risks in form and/or content which succeed to a
significant degree. a substantial engagement with the reader and understanding of potential
audience for this work.
Merit 60-69% To award a merit, examiners will be looking for:
conformity with the requirements of the assignment (i.e. length, format, etc)
formal elements such as rhythm, tone, structure, viewpoint, characterisation, dialogue, materiality deployed with control and competence, sometimes at the level of a distinction.
work has some relation to work in the same style or genre. some degree of originality risks with form and/or content that may not be wholly successful or which
are limited in scope. work that attempts to engage with the reader and is largely successful,
though this may be inconsistent
Pass 50-59% To award a pass mark, examiners will be looking for:
conformity with the requirements of the assignment (i.e. length, format, etc)
deployment of formal elements such as rhythm, tone, structure, viewpoint, characterisation, dialogue, materiality with hesitancy or inconsistency.
signs that the writer is not familiar with much or other work in the same form or style.
an understanding of the conventions and demands of the form and genre, though it may lack originality and tend toward the routine or derivative.
awareness of the need to engage with the reader, though this may not be successfully achieved.
work that is of an acceptable postgraduate standard
Marginal Fail 40-49% Examiners will award a marginal fail if they find:
non-conformity with some of the requirements of the assignment poorly developed work a poor grasp of formal elements such as rhythm, tone, structure,
viewpoint, characterisation, dialogue, materiality. little evidence of originality work contains errors and confusions work that does not attempt to engage with its reader. Audience is not
considered with sufficient depth or subtlety.
21
work that is slightly below an acceptable postgraduate standard
Fail 0-39% Examiners will award a failing mark if they find:
non-conformity with the requirements of the assignment no grasp or a very poor grasp of formal elements such as rhythm, tone,
structure, viewpoint, characterisation, dialogue, materiality. no evidence of originality incomplete or incoherent work substantial errors and confusions no attempt to engage with the reader. Audience considered inadequately
or not at all. work that is clearly below an acceptable postgraduate standard
Word Limits Work which exceeds the upper word limit set will be penalised as follows:
(a) for work which exceeds the upper word limit by up to 10%, the mark will be reduced by ten percent of the mark initially awarded; (b) for work which exceeds the upper word limit by more than 10% but less than 20%, the mark will be reduced by twenty percent of the mark initially awarded; (c) for work which exceeds the upper word limit by more than 20%, the mark will be reduced by thirty percent of the mark initially awarded.
22
Marking criteria for dissertations and academic work
These are general criteria which apply to all work completed during the course. More specific criteria for individual assignments may also be supplied.
High Distinction 85-100% To award a high distinction, examiners will be looking for:
conformity with the requirements of the assignment (i.e. word-length, format, etc.)
publishable quality the ability to plan, organise and execute a project
independently to the highest professional standards exceptional standards of accuracy, expression, and presentation the highest professional levels of fluency, clarity, and academic style an outstanding ability to analyse and evaluate primary and
secondary sources critically and to formulate questions which lead to original lines of enquiry
exceptional creativity, originality and independence of thought
Distinction 70-85% To award a distinction, examiners will be looking for:
conformity with the requirements of the assignment (i.e. word-length, format, etc.)
potentially publishable ideas, arguments, or discoveries the ability to plan, organise and execute a project
independently to a professional standard excellent standards of accuracy, expression, and presentation fluency, clarity, and mastery of academic style the ability to analyse and evaluate primary and secondary sources
critically and to formulate questions which lead to original lines of enquiry
creativity, originality and independence of thought
Merit 60-69% To award a merit, examiners will be looking for:
conformity with the requirements of the assignment (i.e. word length, format, etc)
evidence of the potential to undertake original research given appropriate
guidance and support high standards of accuracy, expression and presentation skilful handling of academic style some ability to analyse and evaluate primary and secondary sources critically some creativity, originality and independence of thought some work that is approaching the level of a distinction
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Pass 50-59% To award a pass mark, examiners will be looking for:
conformity with the requirements of the assignment (i.e. word length, format, etc)
the ability to engage in research involving a moderate degree of originality
a competent standard of organisation, expression and accuracy competence in the handling of academic style sound knowledge and understanding of key sources of information the ability to construct coherent and relevant answer to questions work that is at a basic postgraduate level
Marginal Fail 40-49% Examiners will award a marginal fail if they find:
non-conformity with some of the requirements of the assignment insufficient knowledge and comprehension of essential sources of information poorly developed argumentation poor levels of clarity and accuracy in written presentation occasional errors and confusions little evidence of independent thought work that is slightly below an acceptable postgraduate standard
Fail 0-39% Examiners will award a failing mark if they find:
non-conformity with the requirements of the assignment work that is not recognisable as academic writing confused, fragmentary, or only rudimentary knowledge and
comprehension of essential sources of information incomplete or incoherent argumentation a lack of clarity and accuracy in written presentation substantial errors and confusions no evidence of independent thought
work that is clearly below an acceptable postgraduate standard
If in doubt please discuss the formatting and presentation of any non-standard work with your supervisor or course tutor. Please read the PGT course handbook for further information about general the administration, structures and procedures of the MA programmes at Royal Holloway or contact the Departmental Administrator directly: lisa.dacunha@rhul.ac.uk
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Timetable 2017/18 The attached timetable is provisional and will be finalised at the beginning of the term. Fiction students, please note that your classes may be on Mondays or Tuesdays. While will try to accommodate requests for one day or the other, this may not always be possible. Autumn Term
Monday Workshop Supplementary Discourses (EN5114)
Poetic Practice (EN5901) 11-2pm – BSQ0-05 3-4.30pm – BSQ0-05
Fiction Group 1 (EN5118) 2-5pm – BSQ1-03 5.30-7pm – BSQ1-03
Fiction Group 2 (EN5118) 2-5pm – BSQ2-05 5.30-7pm – BSQ0-03
Tuesday Workshop Supplementary Discourses (EN5114)
Poetry (EN5112) 2-5pm - BSQ1-03 5.30-7pm – BSQ0-05
Fiction Group 3 (EN5118) 2-5pm – BSQ2-05 5.30-7pm – BSQ2-05
Spring Term
Monday Workshop Reading as a Writer – EN5116
Poetic Practice – (EN5901)
11-2pm – BSQ0-05 3-4.30pm – BSQ0-05
Poetry - (EN5112) 2-5pm – BSQ0-03 5.30-7pm – BSQ1-03 Fiction Group 1 – (EN5118)
2-5pm – BSQ1-03 5.30-7pm – BSQ0-03
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Tuesday Workshop Reading as a Writer – EN5116
Fiction Group 2 (EN5118)
2-5pm – BSQ1-03 5.30-7pm – BSQ0-05
Fiction Group 3 (EN5118)
11-2pm – BSQ1-01 3-4.30pm – BSQ1-01
Summer Term Dissertation/Project supervision. There are no formal classes in the summer term but we have a programme of visiting speakers and masterclasses. These will almost always be on Monday or Tuesday afternoons. If you have any questions please contact: Lisa.Dacunha@rhul.ac.uk
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Disclaimer
This document was published in September 2017 and was correct at that time. The Department* reserves the right to modify any statement if necessary, make variations to the content or methods of delivery of programmes of study, to discontinue programmes, or merge or combine programmes if such actions are reasonably considered to be necessary by the College. Every effort will be made to keep disruption to a minimum, and to give as much notice as possible.
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