[Colour Me Pretty]

Hey guys!

I've just finished my first year, and one of the second years told me it's a good idea to start thinking of what you want to do your dissertation on. Do you just propose any topic? Or is it a topic relating to a module you've already done?


Thanks!

[hobnob]

That varies between universities, I'm afraid. Have you checked your course handbook yet?

[Miss Scarlett]

(Original post by Colour Me Pretty)
Hey guys!

I've just finished my first year, and one of the second years told me it's a good idea to start thinking of what you want to do your dissertation on. Do you just propose any topic? Or is it a topic relating to a module you've already done?


Thanks!

You can propose any topic but you have to demonstrate that you've already done research/work towards it, which is why some unis might look more favourably on a dissertation that relates to a module you've already done.

Start thinking about which "area" of literature you want to study for your dissertation. Would you prefer to study modern literature or early literature?

[evantej]

(Original post by Colour Me Pretty)
[...] I've just finished my first year, and one of the second years told me it's a good idea to start thinking of what you want to do your dissertation on. Do you just propose any topic? Or is it a topic relating to a module you've already done? [...]

The title of the module might give you a clue (e.g. extended essay). Most universities will suggest that your dissertation is an extension of work that you have already done, and most students are satisfied with this as that is what they would have done anyway. But really you can do pretty much anything so long as there is a member of staff to supervise you, especially if you can justify why you want to study something in a wider context.

For example, I did Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground for my dissertation. I justified it in two ways: this is the direction I wanted to move in (my masters degree ended up being in European Literatures so that was true); and it would link up with the core unit in the third year which was nineteenth-century fiction.

Ultimately, the presentation I gave on that unit was a comparison of Dostoevsky's The Double and Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (i.e. the set text) so there was further mingling.

Most staff will be happy for you to do whatever you are passionate about, and it is important for you to do something you really want as motivation plays a big part in your first extended piece of work.

[tea&cake]

You don't really have to think about your dissertation till about April in second year when you email tutors with a rough topic about what you want to do so you don't worry about it yet. The weighing of the dissertations differ a lot from uni to uni so it's probably best to email a tutor or book an appointment with them. Hope this helps


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