1 27-Sep-13

English Literature
Honours Handbook

2013-14
2 27-Sep-13



Contents:



Welcome and Key Contacts 3

Honours Degree Programmes 4

Honours Core and Option Courses 7

Honours Core and Option Course Allocations 9

Honours Core and Option Course Assessment 11

Feedback 16

Plagiarism 19

Assessment Information for Visiting Students 19

Support from your University Careers Service 21

Links to important information 22


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WELCOME!

Welcome to Honours study in English Literature. This handbook, and the Honours
pages for Current Students on our website, provide the information youll need to
navigate your way successfully through the later years of your studies with us, so
do take the time to familiarise yourself with whats here. If you still cant find what
youre looking for, contact the English Literature office in the first instance.

The vast majority of Honours students in this department have been very
successful at coming to terms with the challenges of third and fourth years, and we
are confident that you will too. In these years well be aiming to help you become
confident, capable independent learners, and to aid you in developing and honing
your critical and intellectual skills. So as you go on, youll find more and greater
opportunities to set the agenda for yourself, culminating in the Dissertation work
you may well be undertaking with us in your fourth year. By the time you leave
Edinburgh, we hope youll be an acute critic and an alert thinker undaunted by the
practical, professional, or academic challenges still in front of you.

If were to help make that happen, youre going to have to play your part. Youll
need to prepare for your courses and classes fully and in good time. Youll also be
expected to participate properly in the collaborative work youll be undertaking in
your Autonomous Learning Groups. Youll need to make sure that you attend all
your classes, that you contribute to class discussions, and that you tackle the
coursework required of you with due attention. Therell be a lot of independent
reading for you to do, too. For our part, we will make sure that we deal with any
questions or problems that you may have as promptly and as fully as possible.

Professor Penny Fielding
Head of English Literature

KEY CONTACTS

Third Year administrator: Mrs Anne Mason
650 3618; anne.mason@ed.ac.uk

Fourth Year administrator: Ms Sheila Strathdee
650 3619; S.Strathdee@ed.ac.uk

Director of Undergraduate Study: Dr Andrew Taylor
650 4584; Andrew.Taylor@ed.ac.uk

Chair of the Board of Examiners: Dr Dermot Cavanagh
650 3606; dermot.cavanagh@ed.ac.uk

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HONOURS DEGREE PROGRAMMES

SINGLE HONOURS ENGLISH LITERATURE
SINGLE HONOURS SCOTTISH LITERATURE
COMBINED HONOURS ENGLISH AND SCOTTISH LITERATURE


Course Credits
3
rd
Year Semester 1
Core Course (Medieval to Renaissance) 20
Option course 20
Critical Practice : Criticism
Critical Practice: Poetry
10
10
3
rd
Year Semester 2
Core Course (Renaissance to Romanticism) 20
Option course 20
Critical Practice: Prose
Critical Practice: Performance
10
10
3
rd
YEAR TOTAL 120
4
th
Year Semester 1
Core Course (Romanticism to Modernism) 20
Option course 20
4
th
Year Semester 2
Core Course (Modernism to
Contemporary)
20
Option course 20
4
th
Year Semesters 1 and 2
The English Literature Dissertation 40
HONOURS TOTAL 240

Note:
All units are examined in the year in which they are taken.

Note for Single Honours Scottish Literature students:
In selecting courses in 3
rd
and 4
th
Years, Single Hons Scottish Literature students
must include at least 6 courses with Scottish content, a list of which will be made
available when courses are being selected in the previous session. One of these
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courses should be the Dissertation, which must therefore be on a topic appropriate
for the degree.

Note for Combined Honours English and Scottish Literature students:
In selecting courses in 3
rd
and 4
th
Years, Combined Hons English and Scottish
Literature students must include at least 4 courses with Scottish content, a list of
which will be made available when courses are being selected during the previous
session. Students are encouraged to undertake Dissertation work in Scottish
Literature, in which case the Dissertation may count as one of the required courses
with Scottish content.

COMBINED HONOURS ENGLISH LITERATURE AND ANOTHER
SUBJECT (EXCLUDING MODERN EUROPEAN LANGUAGES)
COMBINED HONOURS SCOTTISH LITERATURE AND ANOTHER
SUBJECT (EXCLUDING MODERN EUROPEAN LANGUAGES)

Course Credits
3
rd
Year
Option courses in both semesters 40
Other subject 40
1-4 Critical Practice courses and/or other
subject
40
3
rd
YEAR TOTAL 120
4
th
Year
Option courses in both semesters 40
Other subject 40
English Literature or other subject Dissertation 40
HONOURS TOTAL 240

Note:
All units are examined in the year in which they are taken.

Note for Scottish Literature Students:
In selecting courses in 3
rd
and 4
th
Years, Combined Hons Scottish Literature [and
another subject] students must select Literature option courses with Scottish
content, a list of which will be made available when courses are being selected
during the previous session. If students undertake Dissertation work in Scottish
Literature, the Dissertation may count as one of the required courses with Scottish
content.


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COMBINED HONOURS ENGLISH LITERATURE AND A MODERN
EUROPEAN LANGUAGE
COMBINED HONOURS SCOTTISH LITERATURE AND A MODERN
EUROPEAN LANGUAGE

Third Year

During the third year abroad students will be required to work on an independent
English Literature Long Essay project, which will be submitted in September when
they return to the fourth year of the degree in Edinburgh. This Long Essay will count
for 40 credits of their third year work, the remaining 80 credits being assigned to the
language. It will be assessed during year four and the mark will appear on the final
degree transcript.

Fourth Year

During fourth year students will take courses amounting to 60 credits in English
Literature and 60 credits in their language subject.

The English or Scottish Literature courses will consist of:

FOURTH YEAR Credits
Semester 1
Option course 20
EITHER Critical Practice: Criticism OR Critical Practice: Poetry 10
Semester 2
Option course 20
EITHER Critical Practice: Prose OR Critical Practice: Performance 10
60


Notes for Scottish Literature Students:

During their 3
rd
Year, Combined Hons Scottish Literature and Modern European
Languages students should write their Long Essay on an appropriate topic.

In selecting courses in 4
th
Years, Combined Hons Scottish Literature and Modern
European Languages students must select Literature option courses with Scottish
content, a list of which will be made available when courses are being selected
during the previous session.
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HONOURS CORE AND OPTION COURSES

CORE COURSES

A core course in each semester of your third and fourth year is compulsory for Single
Honours students. In exceptional circumstances, Combined Honours students may
also be allowed to take a Core course if there are particularly strong reasons for
doing so.

Core courses are grouped by literary historical period, to ensure that you get to
study a range of literature from the medieval era to the present day. The period
groupings work as follows:

Semester 1, 3
rd
year: Medieval to Renaissance

Semester 2, 3
rd
year: Renaissance to Romanticism

Semester 1, 4
th
year: Romanticism to Modernism

Semester 2, 4
th
year: Modernism to Contemporary

Within each period, the courses on offer will focus on genres or kinds of literature,
particular topics or issues, or specific literary and cultural practices. Not all of them
will ask you to engage in primarily historicist accounts of the literature studied.

OPTION COURSES

As well as Core Courses, Single Honours students will take an Option Course each
semester. Combined Honours students will be required to choose a course for each
semester of their Honours years from the list of available Option Courses.

Option courses offer you the chance to study groups of texts from the varying
perspectives of genre, period, theme or topic, theoretical approach or methodology.

Full details of all Core and Option courses running each year, including seminar
schedule, required reading, and days, times and locations of classes are available on
our website at http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/literatures-languages-
cultures/english-literature/undergraduate/current/honours/core-option-2013-2014 .

AUTONOMOUS LEARNING GROUPS

All Option and Core Period courses include a weekly autonomous learning hour in
addition to the two-hour seminar.

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Students will be divided into small groups which will meet weekly to discuss a topic
suggested by the course tutor. Students will be asked to report back to the larger
group.

Autonomous Learning Groups are absolutely integral to the structure of Honours in
this department. These are groups of four or five students, set up by the course
tutor, each of which is required to meet privately outwith the class, in order to
discuss some assigned aspect of reading. Each ALG will have set questions to discuss
or a prescribed task to tackle, so that they can bring to the class an agreed agenda or
consideration. You might regard you ALG as a great opportunity to discuss with other
students those parts of a text which you did not really understand. In this way, you
are not alone in a seminar, and this should contribute directly to your confidence in
speaking in class.

Learn

Your Honours courses use Learn, the Universitys supported virtual learning
environment, in order to give you the essential and background information you will
need to participate in seminars and undertake written assignments. Each course has
a Learn section, which appears as a clickable link when you log on to MyEd. While
different courses use Learn to various degrees, you will at the very least find Course
Information here, and you will be required to submit the electronic copy of your
essay via this interface.

ATTENDANCE

Students are required to be in attendance during term time, attend all classes
(seminars, field-work, etc) as specified in their course programme, and to undertake
all preparation and reading required for them. Failure to attend is a serious matter.

Advance notice of absence should be given to the course tutor and your Personal
Tutor. Health certificates are required for absence due to sickness in excess of one
week, and should be submitted to your Personal Tutor.

Attendance at seminars is recorded by students signatures. It is expected that
students will attend all seminars and autonomous learning groups. Failure to attend
without good reason will lead to a deduction of marks from the relevant course
essay which counts as 25% of that course's final assessment.

1 seminar missed - 2
2 seminars missed - 4
3 seminars missed - 6
4 seminars missed
student is deemed to have withdrawn
from the course

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HONOURS CORE AND OPTION COURSE ALLOCATIONS

The allocation of places on our Core and Option Honours courses is somewhat
complex, and may perhaps be opaque to you. We hope that the following
explanation provides more transparency about this process and reassurance about
its equity.

CONTEXT

The department of English Literature has the single largest number of undergraduate
students in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS). We annually need
to find places for 400 honours students, taking either two or four Core or Option
courses with us, out of a range of around 85 choices: this equates to 1200 course
places, to be divided as equally as possible for each year group. This is by far the
most flexible range of choice in the College.

The department is also committed to retaining small group teaching: you can be sure
that there will not be more than 15 students in our Honours seminars. As we are
also required to reserve 3 spaces in each seminar for Visiting Students (in 3rd year)
and for Taught Masters Students (in 4th year), this means that, in practice, there are
12 places for our home students. However, from experience we are aware that
some courses are more popular than others and where possible we offer a popular
course twice in a semester to accommodate student demand.

In order to maintain these kinds of flexibility, the Department relies upon some
reciprocal flexibility on the part of its students: for this reason, we operate a system
of preferences.

PROCESS

Each year the Head of English Literature and the Director of Undergraduate Studies
have to plan which courses will be available in which semester, in order to a)
accommodate student needs and b) balance staff workloads (taking into account the
fact that some members of staff will be working on research projects rather than
teaching for some or all of the semester).

Our administrative staff then produce the Honours Application forms which you fill
in. We ask you to indicate FOUR preferences in each of the Core/Option courses
which are appropriate to your Degree Programme. These are ranked 1,2,3,4, with
the assumption being that 1 = first choice and 4 = fourth.

In order to guide you, and to help us meet your preferences, we indicate which
courses are likely to be in high demand by annotating such courses accordingly on
the Honours Application form. While you will have a good chance of gaining a place
on a high demand course if you make it your first preference, you will be unlikely to
gain a place on such a course if you make it your second or subsequent preference.
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On receipt of the forms, our administrative staff enter the raw data into our Honours
database. This allows staff to see where student demand is highest (and, of course,
lowest). At this point, actual demand may well be at odds with what we had
anticipated and we adapt our provision accordingly, where possible. However, the
raw data in itself does not allow us to see how the general spread of preferences
relates to an individual students specific choices. To ensure that as many as possible
of you gain entry into your first or second preference in any given course/semester
over the year, our administrative staff check each individual application.

By so doing, we are able to ensure that there is general equity across the cohort;
that is, while not everyone will always get all of their first or second choices, we can
guarantee that no-one will be assigned to all their fourth choices.

Arguably, a time-saving alternative would be for us to operate a first-come, first-
served policy, but this would actually disadvantage more students more often than
our current policy, and would not allow us to respond flexibly to fluctuations in
student demand. Other systems might allow us to please some students all of the
time, but only at the cost of displeasing as many to the same extent. Our current
approach allows us to please all students some of the time, which we feel is a fairer
outcome.

SWAP SHOP

While both administrative and academic staff spend a great deal of time trying to
sort out whats best for everybody, in addition we allow for further flexibility by
offering a Swap Shop.

Once the allocations have been made, students are informed of the outcomes. At
this point, any student who has been allocated a course they would prefer not to
take, can sign up in the hope that a space may become free in their preferred option.

The Swap shop is NOT operated on a first-come, first-served basis. The desired
swap can only be accommodated if another student wishes to move out of the
course you would like to move into.

FINAL OPPORTUNITY FOR CHANGE

From experience we are aware that, despite all the work that goes into the process
described above, for various reasons there can be some last minute changes at the
beginning of the Academic Year.

If you are still keen to obtain a place on a preferred course, you should register your
interest with the departmental administrators. This must be done during Freshers
Week and will be operated on a first-come, first-served basis. The administrators
will maintain a waiting list and contact applicants should a place become available.

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HONOURS CORE AND OPTION COURSE ASSESSMENT

BASIS FOR ASSESSMENT

Core Period course (20 credits):
coursework - 25% of final mark
2-hour formal examination - 75% of final mark

Option course (20 credits):
coursework - 25% of final mark
take-home exam essay of no more than 3,000 words - 75% of final mark.

COURSEWORK - ESSAYS

Coursework for Core and Option courses usually but not always takes the form of
an essay. Essay titles are distributed to the class by the end of week 3, and essays
are due in on the Monday of week 9.

The word limit for essays is 2,500 including footnotes. Excessively long essays will
not be marked. This limit does not include the list of Works Cited. This should
include all the texts you have cited in preparing the essay (i.e. sources you have
referred to, as well as those from which you have directly quoted). Full details on the
presentation and layout of essays are included in the English Literature Writing
Guide, which can be downloaded from the website.

2,500 words is a challenging word limit, since it forces compression and clarity. The
discipline of editing to this length encourages concision and precision and results in
better essays. The challenge is well worth while since it teaches a skill valuable long
after finals are over.

DEADLINES FOR COURSEWORK SUBMISSION

In Semester 1 Week 8 is set aside as "Essay Completion Week" for course essays. In
Semester 2 this is Week 9.

SEMESTER 1

The final deadline for essay submission for both Core Period and Option courses in
Semester 1 is

2 p.m. on the Monday of Week 9

However, in the interests of good time-management, Single Honours students are
strongly advised to submit the essay for one of their courses before 2 p.m. on
Thursday of Week 8.

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SEMESTER 2

The final deadline for essay submission for both Core Period and Option courses in
Semester 2 is

2 p.m. on the Monday of Week 10

However, in the interests of good time-management, Single Honours students are
strongly advised to submit the essay for one of their courses before 2 p.m. on
Thursday of Week 9.

HOW TO SUBMIT ESSAYS

With the exception of 2-hour examinations, all assessed work should be completed
using MS Word. The essay, including title page, essay and list of Works Cited, must
be saved as a single document, with a page break inserted between each element.
Please ensure that it contains only the essay you are submitting, and that the file is
clearly identified with your name and the title of the course.

When printing out your essay, it is permissible to use both sides of the paper.

Essays should be submitted both electronically and in hard copy. Both electronic
and hard copy submission must be completed by the deadline set for the essay.

Electronic and hard copies must be textually identical. Any submission containing
significant discrepancies between hard and electronic copies will be declared void
and a mark of zero will be recorded.

Electronic submission will take place via the Turnitin interface in your
courses Learn section. You are responsible for ensuring that the connection
over which you submit your electronic copy is capable of uploading a Word
document through Learn, and that you have sufficient time to print out your
hard copy before the deadline. Computer or printing problems cannot be
accepted as a legitimate excuse for late submission, other than in the case of
a general failure affecting the university network.

Hard copies should be left in the wooden course boxes to be found beside
the lifts on the 7th floor of the David Hume Tower. They must be
accompanied by an attached feedback sheet, copies of which will be
available in a marked wall locker on the right-hand side along the seventh
floor corridor of the DHT. A copy of the essay feedback sheet is also
available on the web.

Please make sure you post your essay in the appropriate THIRD or FOURTH YEAR
course box. After the submission deadline the boxes will be cleared and essays
distributed to markers.

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Hard copies will be returned with feedback. The electronic version will be scanned by
software which generates an originality report, to help you and your tutors ensure
that you have referenced your sources correctly.

NOTE: Please retain all coursework after marking. You will need to submit it to the
office no later than Friday, 2nd May 2014. Since all this work contributes to the
final assessment, it must be available for the external examiners in April/May. It is
your responsibility to ensure that your work is available at that time: failure to
submit your work could affect your final mark.

EXTENSIONS ON COURSE WORK ESSAYS

If you are seriously unwell or suffering serious personal difficulties and unable to
finish your course essay by the deadline after which late penalties are applied, you
must apply for an extension in advance of the deadline. You should contact the
relevant course secretary in the first instance. They will put you in contact with the
Undergraduate Director if your circumstances require it. Your request should be
supported by a medical certificate or endorsed by your Personal Tutor where
applicable and possible.

PENALTIES FOR LATE SUBMISSION OF COURSEWORK ESSAYS

It is University policy to penalise late work. Please note that late submission is
penalised not because it causes members of staff any extra work (generally speaking,
it does not), but in the interests of fairness to those students, the vast majority, who
work hard to get their work finished on time. The student who complains about
being penalised for their essay being one hour late is complaining at not being given
an extra hour to complete their essay that other students did not have: that is, they
are complaining about not being privileged over their classmates by the department.

You must submit both hard copy and electronic versions of your work in advance of
the deadline. The electronic version is essential as it will be used to check for
plagiarism. Penalties are exacted on the hard copy submission only, using the
following scale:

after 2 pm on Monday of Submission Week but before 2 pm on
Tuesday
- 5
after 2 pm on Tuesday of Submission Week but before 2 pm on the
following day (Wednesday)
- 10
after 2 pm on Wednesday of Submission Week but before 2 pm on the
following day (Thursday)
- 15
after 2 pm on Thursday of Submission Week but before 2 pm on the
following day (Friday)
- 20
after 2 pm on Friday of Submission Week but before 2 pm on the
following working day (Monday)
- 25
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after 2 pm on Monday zero

If the hard copy of your essay is submitted after 2 pm on Monday of Submission
Week but before 2 pm on Friday of that week, YOU RISK RECEIVING NEITHER A
MARK NOR FEEDBACK UNTIL AFTER THE VACATION FOLLOWING THE RELEVANT
TEACHING PERIOD.

If the hard copy has NOT BEEN RECEIVED BY 2 PM ON THE FOLLOWING MONDAY
the essay submission will be declared void and a mark of zero will be recorded,
EVEN IF YOU HAVE SUBMITTED YOUR ELECTRONIC COPY.

FINAL ASSESSMENT EXAM ESSAYS

THIRD YEAR

Exam essays for 3
rd
Year Option Courses are written during the End of Year
Examination period (28 April to 23 May 2014). The precise scheduling of the exam
essay deadlines is dependent on the exam timetable compiled by Registry, and will
be finalised as soon as this is available.

FOURTH YEAR

Exam essays for 4
th
Year Semester 1 Option Courses are written during the
Semester 1 Examination Period (9 to 20 December 2013). For the 2013-14
academic year, 4th Year Semester 1 Option course exam essay questions will be
released at 9 am on Monday 9th December, and the exam essay will be due by 2 pm
on Friday 13th December.

Exam essays for 4
th
Year Semester 2 Option Courses are written during the End of
Year Examination period (28 April to 23 May 2014). The precise scheduling of the
exam essay deadlines is dependent on the exam timetable compiled by Registry, and
will be finalised as soon as this is available.

ALL HONOURS STUDENTS

An exam essay is designed to allow you to demonstrate your knowledge of particular
texts and issues from your course as well as of the broad range of texts and topics
covered. As you will be writing this essay with access to your notes, books and online
resources, it is expected that it will be properly presented and referenced in line with
the requirements set out in the English Literature Writing Guide. However, it should
not involve you in new reading of either primary or secondary texts. You should
aim to have completed your revision for the course before the exam essay questions
are released to you.

The expectation is that within the period allowed, an Exam Essay is at most a five-
day task, and is not expected to take up all the time you may have available for
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academic work during these five days. However, if you have exams in other subjects
falling during a week assigned for an exam essay, you may be eligible for
consideration for an extension on the exam essay deadline. Students will receive an
email from the department with fuller information once the examination timetable
is released.

Exam essay questions are released on the Course Content page of a courses Learn
section, normally at 9am on the Monday morning of the first week of the exam diet.
It is your responsibility to ensure that you can access Learn on the days when
questions are released.

A rubric and full instructions will accompany the questions. Please read these
carefully.

Exam essays for all Option courses must be submitted by 2.00 p.m. on the deadline
day.

Students are strongly urged not to leave final completion of their essays until the last
minute.

Two copies of each exam essay should be submitted by the deadline set.
One electronic copy should be submitted to Turnitin via LEARN for the course.
One hard copy should be posted in the essay submission boxes by the lifts on the 7th
floor of the David Hume Tower. Please make sure you post your essay in Box 3 if
you are a Third Year student, and in Box 4 if you are a Fourth Year student. After
the submission deadline the boxes will be cleared and essays distributed to markers.

FINAL ASSESSMENT EXAM ESSAYS LATE SUBMISSION

As this exercise is a Degree Examination, there is no procedure for the granting of
extensions. Your work must be submitted by the due date. Late submissions count
as defaulting on a Degree Examination, and will normally be marked as zero.

If you are unwell or experience acute personal difficulties whilst undertaking the
assignment, you should contact your Personal Tutor, School Student Support Officers
and the Chairman of the Board of Examiners as a matter of urgency. You should also
obtain a medical certificate covering the relevant part of the assessment period as
soon as possible. Your Personal Tutor or the Student Support Officers will be able to
advise you whether you should make use of the Universitys Special Circumstances
provision, and how to do so.

Computer problems are in no circumstances an acceptable reason for delayed or
incomplete submission.

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FINAL ASSESSMENT EXAMS

Students take a 2-hour formal examination for each of their Core Courses in third
and fourth years.
Past examination papers are available for consultation in the University library.
Copies of English Literature papers can also be accessed via Edinburgh University
Exam Papers Online on the Library website. In the case of new courses, a sample
paper will be given to students during the course.

THIRD YEAR

Exams for all Core Courses will take place during the Final Assessment period (28
April to 23 May 2014). Examination times and venues will be posted on Registry's
website.

FOURTH YEAR

Exams for 4
th
Year Semester 1 and Semester 2 Core Courses are taken during the
during the End of Year Examination period (28 April to 23 May 2014).
Examination times and venues will be posted on Registry's website.


FINAL ASSESSMENT EXAMS MISSED AND INCOMPLETE

If you miss an exam, or are unable to complete it, you should contact your Personal
Tutor, School Student Support Officers and the Chairman of the Board of Examiners
as a matter of urgency. You should also obtain a medical certificate covering the
relevant part of the assessment period as soon as possible. Your Personal Tutor or
the Student Support Officers will be able to advise you whether you should make use
of the Universitys Special Circumstances provision, and how to do so.


FEEDBACK

The marks you receive for your work should always be understood in the light of the
feedback that you will receive at the same time, and both marks and feedback
should be read in the light of the Grade Descriptors published elsewhere on these
pages. All coursework is returned to you with feedback from the tutor or course
organiser; mid-year exams, and the long essay written by students on joint degrees
with Modern European Languages are also returned with feedback during the first
semester of fourth year.

THE IMPORTANCE OF FEEDBACK

Learning is a process of communication between students and teachers, and
feedback is essential to that process. It helps you identify your strengths and
17 27-Sep-13
weaknesses, zero in on problem areas, and devise strategies to improve your
performance. It helps you recognise variability and trends in your own performance,
and where you stand in regard to your peers. Feedback is not an end in itself, but a
tool for advancing the more important goal of learning.

WHAT FORMS DOES IT TAKE?

It is important to recognise the variable forms that feedback takes. There is more to
it than just comments on individual pieces of work.

When we think of feedback, we usually think first of written comments on
specific essays, dissertations and sometimes on exams. Such feedback aims
to give you some explanation of the mark you received, pointing out the main
strengths and weaknesses, and suggesting what would have improved the
performance. As already suggested, such feedback tells you something about
that particular performance, but also about your general academic abilities.

It is important to remember that marks are themselves a form of feedback,
providing a ranking of your performance in relation to others doing the same
piece of assessment, and in relation to general standards of assessment
performance. Grade descriptors are intended to give a guide to how
assessment performance is judged. They provide a basic context for reading
and understanding the meaning of a mark.

Some courses provide opportunities to submit non-assessed work, often as a
preparation for work that will be assessed later. Feedback on non-assessed
work can be just as vital as feedback on assessed work, so you should make
the most of these opportunities.

Particularly at honours level, supervision of dissertations and research
projects involves considerable feedback along the way to producing the piece
of work that will be assessed. In cases like this there is feedback both before
and after the assessment.

One of the reasons you are encouraged to participate actively in discussions
in seminars and workshops is that this is one of the most fruitful
opportunities for feedback, for trying out ideas, exploring your understanding
of material, and raising questions. It is for this reason that our courses
sometimes attach a mark to tutorial performance; on the other hand, when
tutorial performance is not assessed, this provides an ideal environment to
gain feedback without the pressure of formal assessment. Make the most of
it.

HOW CAN STUDENTS GET THE MOST OUT OF FEEDBACK?

First off, as suggested above, you should appreciate the various forms that feedback
takes. Beyond that, here are some suggestions:
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Learn more about study and assessment skills. There is a lot of helpful
literature and guidance available. Two places to start are:
(1) The Library. Books on study skills are generally found under the Library
of Congress call numbers LB2395. You can always ask a librarian for
guidance.
(2) The Institute for Academic Development Study development for
undergraduates:
http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/institute-academic-
development/undergraduate .

Try to consider the various forms of feedback you receive not as isolated
events, but as part of an overall pattern of performance, identifying general
areas of strength and weakness. This should become clearer the more you
are assessed and the more feedback you receive as you progress through
your programme. If you detect a consistent area where you need to improve,
seek advice from tutors and course conveners about what to do.

In the first instance, when trying to understand a mark and any associated
comments, read these in the context of School marking descriptors. Marking
descriptors are necessarily general, but may help put the feedback youve
received in a wider context.

If you know that a classmate has done particularly well, you might ask to read
their essays. They may say no, but they might also be flattered. Doing this
will help you get a realistic picture of what good coursework looks like, what
can be achieved, and what kinds of performance your own work is being
evaluated in relation to.

If you have questions about a mark and associated comments on coursework,
you are always entitled to seek clarification from the marker. For Core and
Option essays, you should approach the course organiser. For other pieces of
Honours work, you should approach the Undergraduate Director in the first
instance.

ENGLISH LITERATURE POLICIES ON ASSESSMENT FEEDBACK

In line with University policy, assessment in English Literature Honours operates
according to the following principles:

Feedback on coursework is provided in written form. You may also ask your
tutor or course organiser for additional comment and advice, where
appropriate.

There is a three working week turn-around time expected for mid-semester
coursework assessment. If this turn-around time is not being met you should
bring this to the attention of the Undergraduate Director.
19 27-Sep-13

The department is required to retain exam scripts as a record of exam
performance, and cannot return these to students. You may, however, ask to
see your scripts if you wish to do so.

PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is the use of material taken from another writer's work without proper
acknowledgement, presenting it as if it were your own. While it is perfectly proper in
academic study to make use of another person's ideas, to do so under the pretence
that they are your own is deceitful. Plagiarism, whether in coursework or
examinations, is always taken extremely seriously within the university as it is a form
of cheating. Work found to be plagiarised may be penalised, assessed at zero, or not
accepted, and in serious cases may lead to disciplinary action being initiated.

Work undertaken for our courses is designed to help you develop your knowledge
and understanding, and your own powers of analysis and argument. Essays, exams
and exam essays assess these skills. Plagiarism therefore undermines the whole
purpose of the academic study of literature. For all work for the departments
courses, it is important to be aware of, and to acknowledge the sources of
arguments and words. This applies to material drawn from critical books and
lectures, but also from the work of other students (including tutorial or seminar
discussions) and from the internet and other electronic sources. Lectures, tutorials
and seminars must not be recorded or otherwise transmitted, unless there is special
dispensation relating to disability (endorsed by the Disability Office). Tutors will
check web-based material, as well as other sources, where they have reason to
suspect that the writing a student submits does not represent their own ideas, words
and arguments.

While deliberate plagiarism involves an intention to deceive and is easy to avoid, it is
possible to fall unawares into practices which could be mistaken for plagiarism if you
are not familiar with the proper means of using and acknowledging material from
other writers. Inadequate referencing and inappropriate use of others' material
could inadvertently lay you open to charges of plagiarism. Since different subjects
involve different uses of material, and may have different conventions about how it
should be acknowledged, it is important that in each of their subjects students
consult departmental guidelines about the purpose and presentation of written
work in that discipline.

20 27-Sep-13

ASSESSMENT INFORMATION FOR VISITING STUDENTS
ON HONOURS CORE AND/OR OPTION COURSES

FULL YEAR VISITING STUDENTS

Students who are here for the whole year will take their Core and/or Option courses
under the same arrangements as home students.

SEMESTER 1 ONLY VISITING STUDENTS

Any student who is visiting Edinburgh for the first semester only (i.e. not those
visiting students who are here for the full year) is required to write a take-home
exam essay at the end of Semester One for every Honours Core or Option course
taken.

For each Core or Option course in English Literature a Visiting Student here for
Semester One only will write an exam essay of not more than 3,000 words in
answer to one of four questions. These questions will be set via the courses Learn
section. Two copies of each exam essay should be submitted by the deadline set
during Weeks 13 and 14: one electronic copy should be submitted via Turnitin on
Learn and one identical printed copy of the essay should be submitted to the English
Literature essay submission box (No. 3) on the seventh floor of David Hume Tower.
As each essay is the equivalent of a degree exam, no extensions are automatically
available, and late submission will result in the essay being graded at zero.

The English Literature department has arranged two sets of deadlines to spread the
load for those Visiting Students taking two such courses with us.

Exam essay questions for both Core and Option courses will be released at 9 am on
Monday 9th December (the first day of the December exam diet).
Option course exam essays will be due by 2 pm on Friday 13th December, and
Core course exam essays by 2 pm on Monday 16th December.

Please ensure that you do not make irrevocable arrangements to return home until
you are completely sure you know when you will be required to submit your exam
essays.

SEMESTER 2 ONLY VISITING STUDENTS
Students who are here for Semester 2 only will take their Core and/or Option
courses under the same arrangements as home students.

21 27-Sep-13

What Next after University? Support from your
University Careers Service


Honours years are an excellent time to start researching your future after
graduation, if you havent already done so.
Whatever your ideas work, further study, gap year, volunteering, gaining
experiencewhatever stage youre at clued up or clueless, and anything in
between ..the Careers Service can support you in your journey from university
to your future after graduation. We work with students and graduates from day 1, to
2 years after graduation.
We offer information, advice and guidance on:
- Career direction
- Gaining experience
- Job hunting
- CVs, applications and interviews
- Further study
and more.via our website, careers information centre, individual discussion
with a careers adviser, programme of talks and events, and more.
Browse our website www.ed.ac.uk/careers for further information on all of our
services, or call in and see us on the 3
rd
floor of the Main Library Building.
And specifically for English lit students - your own careers blog
http://englitcareersblog.wordpress.com/ - regular postings relevant to English lit
students, to inform and inspire.
Also check out your dedicated English Literature careers pages
http://tiny.cc/k337ew. Discover:
- What recent English Literature graduates have gone on to do
- Your options with an English Literature degree
- After English a website dedicated to helping English Literature graduates plan
for their future after graduation
- and more
Finally look out for notices and emails about Careers Service activity in English
Literature for 2013/4 including regular drop-in sessions for quick career queries in
the foyer of DHT and sessions for specific year groups.
We look forward to working with you on your plans for your future after graduation.

22 27-Sep-13

Links to important information
This section is designed to provide details of common policies which will be
important throughout your studies. Many of these apply across the College of
Humanities and Social Sciences, while others are School-wide policies or are specific
to your subject area. Students are expected to familiarise themselves with these
policies. More information on the statements below can be found by following the
relevant links.

Each title here is a link to the relevant information, and QR codes (readable by most
smartphones; you may need to install a barcode reader app) can be found below.

Plagiarism
Plagiarism is taken very seriously and incurs penalties. Make sure you know what
plagiarism is and how to avoid it.

Marking Scheme
An explanation of the marks and grades applied to coursework and exams.

Attendance Monitoring
We monitor attendance to make sure that students are studying on the courses for
which they are enrolled, and to identify and offer help to students who may be
experiencing difficulties.

Use of Student E-mails
We will communicate with you via your student e-mail account. It is essential
that you check this regularly.

[Special Circumstances] under revision; link to new documents to follow
If your studying or academic performance is affected by circumstances such as
illness, you will find advice here.

Past Exam Papers
You can look at exam papers from previous years here.

Taught Assessment Regulations
Information on the principles of assessment used by the University of Edinburgh.

Entry into Honours
Entry into Honours is normally by achievement of 50% or higher at the first
attempt in all the compulsory second-year courses of your registered degree. See
your Degree Programme Table for more details.

Student Disability Service
Students are encouraged to contact the Student Disability Service as early as
possible in order to take advantage of the help and advice available.

23 27-Sep-13
Careers Service
Useful links to graduate job database (SAGE), year abroad opportunities and
general careers advice.

Student support and Personal Tutors (no link)
Your Personal Tutor will be your first point of contact for all academic matters
relating to your degree programme and choice of courses. Your Personal
Tutor will also provide academic references. All students will have one
mandatory meeting with their Personal Tutor each semester, and group
meetings will also be arranged.
The School Student Support team will be the first point of contact for all
administrative matters and pastoral care. The Student Support team deal with
status letters, degree transfers, concessions and authorised interruption of
studies; they can also offer guidance and information on all support services
available to students at the University of Edinburgh.
Study skills
Students are encouraged to take advantage of the study support offered by the
Institute for Academic Development.

Library and computing facilities
Information on library services, computer facilities and basic computer
training.

Edinburgh University Students' Association (EUSA)
Find out how to seek help from or get involved with your students
association.

School-wide policies

Learn
Learn is the Universitys virtual learning environment (VLE) and is used for
course information, discussion forums, coursework submission and so on.

Student feedback : Course Questionnaires (no link)
Questionnaires will be handed out towards the end of the course. Your views are
important to us. Student feedback allows us to continually improve the student
experience.

Student feedback : Class Representatives and Staff-Student Liaison
Students have the opportunity to volunteer to represent their class/cohort as a class
representative. All class representatives will be invited to attend Staff-Student
Liaison Committee meetings (one per semester) to express any views or concerns
on behalf of their class mates.

Coursework submission
Students must normally submit all essays by the deadline in hard copy and
electronically (using Turnitin, through Learn). Both submissions MUST be
identical. The hard copy will be treated as the primary copy (ie the officially
24 27-Sep-13
recorded submission). All essays will be reviewed by the plagiarism detection
service Turnitin.

Use of dictionaries in examinations
Students whose first language is not English are permitted to use a language
dictionary during an examination. This must be authorised in advance by the
course organiser. Electronic dictionaries may not be used. See your Teaching
Office for more information.


The following links are given as QR codes, which should be readable by most
smartphones (you may need to install a barcode reader app), and also function as
traditional hyperlinks

PLAGIARISM

MARKING
SCHEME

ATTENDANCE
MONITORING

USE OF E-MAIL BY
STUDENTS

SPECIAL
CIRCUMSTANCES

PAST EXAM
PAPERS

TAUGHT ASSESSMENT
REGULATIONS

DEGREE PROGRAMME
TABLES

STUDENT DISABILITY
SERVICE

25 27-Sep-13
CAREERS
SERVICE

LEARN

CLASS REPRESENTATIVES

COURSEWORK
SUBMISSION

USE OF DICTIONARIES

SCHOOL OF LLC