Candy, L. 2019. The Creative Reflective Practitioner: Research Through Making and Practice. London: Routledge.
Collins. H. 2018. Creative Research: The Theory and Practice of Research for the Creative Industries (Required Reading Range). 2nd Edition. London: Bloomsbury.
Durant, A. 2005. How to Write Essays and Dissertations: A Guide for English Literature Students. London: Routledge.
Smith, H. 2009. Practice-led Research, Research-led Practice in the Creative Arts (Research Methods for the Arts and Humanities). ¿Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press; Reprint edition.

PC Projector
Video/DVD
Library
Internet
The Blackboard virtual learning environment will be available (where relevant) to support this module. Details will be supplied in the module handbook.

1. Communicate sustained critical or creative ideas using techniques relevant to your chosen discipline.
2. Deploy established techniques of enquiry and research to carry out a project within English or Creative Writing.
3. Identify a range of solutions to creative and/or critical problems. Demonstrate intellectual openness and an understanding of the ambiguity of knowledge.
4. Apply knowledge and understanding to the writing of a critical or creative work using established methods and techniques, some of which are at the forefront of a discipline.
5. Describe and comment upon current developments in your chosen field, or equivalent advanced scholarship; critically evaluate arguments, assumptions, abstract concepts to make judgements.

Students will negotiate a project with the guidance of a supervisor, establishing elements which may include (but not limited to) a written project, a digital project, a literary event, a work placement-based project. Additional elements may be plans, evidence and reflection. Weighting of individual elements to be negotiated.

Portfolio 1- Learning Outcome 1, 3, 4
Portfolio 2 – Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 5,

In this major Negotiated Project, students will have the opportunity to build on the creative and academic explorations of the previous years’ study by devising a major project suitable as a launch pad into either further studies at MA level or the professional sphere.

A project can be undertaken in one of many varied but established forms in either English or Creative Writing:

All modes of Creative Writing in prose, poetry, script or stage play (this includes adaptation and such outlying forms as biography, memoir or travel writing; scripts for computer games, graphic novels, documentaries or podcasts). Project ideas that do not fit into the categories mentioned should be discussed with tutor/module leader.

All modes of academic writing appropriate to the study of English Literature (this includes all writing about writing: creative or academic writing about literature, or conventional English dissertation subjects, such as those established in English modules studied on the course).

In semester 1, as part of Portfolio #1, students will formally present their idea for approval by a supervisor, who will assess the suitability and feasibility of the project with reference to its value as an academic exercise and/or as a creative/commercial work. Students will then work independently, with supervision as required, in whichever form has been agreed, to produce a portfolio of work in development. For critical dissertations, this would be a draft chapter; for creative theses, this could the opening section of the work.

Portfolio #2 will consist of both the Final Project and, depending on the project, may also include a report which can be critical, reflective, or creative-industry-oriented.

This final year Negotiated Project is designed entirely around students’ career aspirations. Having studied English and Creative Writing, there are many directions in which you could continue when you leave. The form and scope of your final project will be limited only by the time and word-count constraints of a university course. Whether you want to start to write a novel or critique a Shakespeare play, produce a podcast or a documentary script, or put on a literary event this project will allow you the freedom to do so, with the support of a supervisor from the English and Creative Writing team.

An introductory lecture will establish the necessary intellectual approach to this module and provide an overview of the module structure. Guidance will be provided as to the various ethical and industry conventions that must be understood before undertaking a major creative or academic work (discussion of such things as copyright law, ethical considerations around authorship or the conventions around permissions, etc.). With guidance from supervisors, students will initially research their chosen form and decide on their approach.

Supervisors will be free to design an appropriate schedule of formative assessments for each student, unique to their project. There will be a peer review/feedback element built into the course so that students receive some real-world experience of producing a creative or academic product for a wider (and critical) readership.