Module Identifier
ENM0720
Module Title
RESEARCH FOR WRITERS
Academic Year
2008/2009
Co-ordinator
Mr Noyes K Grovier
Semester
Semester 1
Other Staff
 

Course Delivery

Delivery Type Delivery length / details
Seminars / Tutorials 5 x 2 hours
 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment Students will produce a portfolio of work derived from one or more of the research tasks set during the course. This may be poetry or prose, or a combination of the two, and there will be an accompanying explanatory/evaluative commentary in all cases. Total length 5000 words (4000 words for a portfolio consisting solely of poetry) of which a minimum of 1000 words and a maximum of 2000 words should be commentary.  100%
Supplementary Assessment Resubmit any failed elements and/or make good any missing elements. Where this involves re-submission of work, a new topic must be selected. 

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this module, students should be able to
1. demonstrate through theoretical discussion, their awareness of the importance of research in a creative context

2. demonstrate, through their own creative practice, their capacity to use research in a creative context

3. demonstrate their understanding of the interaction between research and creative work.

4. identify and evaluate a variety of research resources in relation to their own specific needs

Brief description

This core module has been developed to meet AHRB requirements for a research skills element in MA courses. It will focus strongly on research practice, while insisting on the indivisibility of research and creativity in this context. There are no set texts for this module but MA students receive a substantial advisory reading list including titles relevant to this module.

Aims

The aim of the module is to draw students' attention to the importance of research - in a variety of different fields - as an integral part of the creative process; to give practical advice on research methods and sources; and to explore and analyse that part of the process which sees the raw material of research transformed into imaginative writing. At every stage, as appropriate, allusion will be made to the strategies and achievements of other writers, canonical and less well-known, in this sphere.

Content

Session 1: Theory and practice of research.
This is an introductory session, mapping out, in broad terms, the concerns of the course. It will offer practical advice on research (whether in the library or the field, or through the internet) while at the same time insisting upon the power of the creative imagination to transform the information gathered.

Session 2: Researching history.
Students will be asked to focus on a historical period of their own choice, and each will come to the session with notes on that period, as well as an outline of the way in which their discoveries might be used in a creative context. Research may be from published material or from oral sources, and we shall spend time, as appropriate, discussing the difference between sources. As in all sessions, peer feedback and on-the-spot tutorial guidance will play a major part in the learning process.

Session 3: Researching place (1)
Students will be asked to focus on a place of their own choice, with the advice that they select a place of which they have no personal experience. Each will come to the session with notes derived from library/internet research, as well as an outline of the way in which their discoveries might be used in a creative context.

Session 4: Researching place (2)
Students will be asked to focus on a place of their own choice, with the advice that they confine themselves entirely to research in the field, which may include interviews with the place's inhabitants. Each will come to the session with notes derived from their research, as well as an outline of the way in which their discoveries might be used in a creative context.

Session 5: Researching work.
Students will be asked to focus on a profession (in the broad meaning of the term) of their own choice, researching it by any means at their disposal. Each will come to the session with notes derived from their research, as well as an outline of the way in which their discoveries might be used in a creative context. The session will end with a retrospective discussion of the module and of the students' individual achievements.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 7