Students will be required to write an essay for this module,
which will be due on 18 March 09, and this will
contribute 15 marks towards your final scale for the module. If you haven’t
looked at the guideline
for essay writing, please do so before you start planning and writing your
essay. Please take note of the following points.
·
The topic is: ‘ “The English
language is shaped by the community’s needs, rather than the needs of the
individual speaker.” Discuss the statement by focussing on any episode or
aspect of the history of English.’
·
For the essay, outline the key events in one delimited period of the history of English (the pre-English
period; the period of the Anglo-Saxon invasions or settlements; the period of
the Scandinavian invasions or settlements; the early or later Norman periods;
the Middle Ages; the Renaissance or the Shakespearian era; and so on), and link
the external history to the internal history of the English language. You can
choose to focus on the vocabulary, grammar, orthography or discourse. The theme
should be on the connection between the external and internal history of
English. Please also include your full name and tutorial group number.
·
You may use this file
template (click to download).
·
By the time of your deadline, we will have dealt with the
earlier history of English, and you might therefore prefer to make this the
focus of your essay. If you intend to focus on other aspects (which might be
dealt with later, or not dealt with at all, in the module), you might want to
consult your tutor ahead of time.
·
Please limit your essay to 1,000 words; under-writing
will usually mean a dearth of material or underdeveloped material; over-writing
will invite penalties.
·
Please organise and plan your essay as an argument to
support, weaken, problematise, reject, etc. the original statement. Essays that
seem pointless will be severely penalised. Clearly, some exemplification will
be expected. Originality and risk-taking will be rewarded. Your views need not
accord with the tutor’s or lecturer’s.
·
You may use headings, diagrams, charts, tables or maps within
the essay if you wish.
·
Please include either a list of references (ie a
list of works referred to) or a bibliography (ie a list of works
consulted).
·
If you wish, you can consult your tutor generally about the
essay before writing it. However, your tutor will not be able to read draft
versions or specific outlines of your essay.
·
Please submit your essay by the deadline given. If you think
you have special extenuating circumstances that would merit your being granted
an extension, please consult your tutor before the deadline. Essays
submitted up to three days late will be penalised according to the extent of
the lateness. Essays submitted more than three days late will not be marked
unless an extension has been granted.
·
Marked essays will be returned as soon as possible after the
deadline has passed. Essays awarded below 4 marks may be resubmitted if you
wish.
·
Essays should preferably be printed (as opposed to
handwritten – unless you have very neat handwriting) and submitted using A4
paper (8.27″ × 11.69″ or 210 × 297 mm) in your tutor’s mailbox. Tutors cannot
be expected to print out your essays for you, so do not submit electronic
files as email attachments. You may use this file
template (click to download).
How then will essays be marked? We will look out for:
·
General coherence and purposefulness of the essay: this means
the degree to which a theme has been identified, and that this central thrust
is clear.
·
Logical development and argumentation: this means that the
various parts of the essay hang together in a logical fashion and how evidence
is used to support any claims made.
·
Factual accuracy.
·
Fluency; linguistic and stylistic appropriateness.
·
Extent of background reading and amount of effort put in.
Feedback: when your essay has been marked, your tutor:
·
will give an overall comment in words at the end of your
essay;
·
may also give marginal comments; and
·
assign a mark out of 10 for your essay (this will be
multiplied by 1½ to give your CA mark): any essay with 7½ and above is
exceptional (pass with distinction); any essay awarded 6 to 7 marks is
good (pass with merit); any essay awarded 5 to 5½ marks is acceptable
but is weak in some aspects (pass); and any essay awarded 4½ marks or
below is weak in many aspects (unsatisfactory).
Most essays will fall within the 5- to 7-mark range. Please
note that the labels ‘distinction’, ‘merit’, ‘pass’ and ‘unsatisfactory’ cannot
be directly related to the letter grades that you will receive from the
Registrar’s Office at the end of the module.
A
class test will be held during the lecture slot on 2 March 2009. The results of
this test will contribute 15 marks to your final score for the module. The test
will last for 50 minutes and will take up the first half of the lecture slot,
and you will be asked to write short answers to 20 questions, many with parts
to them. The test will be based on material covered in Lectures Nos. 1 to 4.
You may consult any material you have but, of course, you will not be able to
consult other students or to ‘phone a friend’ as a life-line! Your tutor will
return the test to you after it has been marked. You will be given a mark out
of 100 for this test (this will be scaled down to 15 marks for your CA:
multiply the score by 3/20).
·
75–100 marks: excellent (pass with distinction)
·
60–74½ marks: good (pass with merit)
·
50–59½ marks: acceptable but weak in some aspects (pass)
·
0–49½ marks: more work needed (unsatisfactory)
Students will need to organise themselves into groups of three
or four within their tutorial groups (depending on tutorial size) for the group
project. Most tutorial groups should contain five or six project groups, and
the presentations will be spread over two tutorial sessions. (If there are
groups who are able to do the presentations in one week, I will organise an
alternative task for these groups in the second presentation week.) The group
composition should ideally be settled before the mid-term break. The group
project will be presented orally in weeks beginning Monday 30/3/09 and
6/4/09, which should be accompanied by a jointly-written report. It
is the written report that will be marked and the same mark will be awarded to
all members of the same group, and this will count towards 10 marks of your
final score for the module. (The oral presentation will be taken into account
for the tutorial
attendance and participation score; see below.) The presentation should
last no more than 15 minutes, and the written report should closely reflect the
oral presentation. Please also include title, a reference list and a paragraph
on the contribution of each group member. Remember that the stipulations about
margin, spacing, language, etc. made in relation to the essay also apply to the
written report. This means that the report should be polished
and in continuous prose (not in point form). The report should not
normally exceed 1,000 words excluding the text analysed, tables and charts.
The aim of the project is for students to work together to
select and analyse a text passage from the set text in the light of the various
points raised in the module. This year’s set text is A Midsommer Nights
Dreame. You should select a passage of no more
than 400 words in length (ideally, shorter than that). Your analysis should aim
to characterise the text (and its use of the English language) in the
(historical and otherwise) context of its production. Your analysis can focus
on one or more linguistic aspects: spelling, lexis, grammar and discourse.
Ideally, different groups should select passages highlighting
different characters, and your tutor might help to arrange it so that each
group within a tutorial group will focus on the following characters or
relationships:
(a) the ‘rude mechanicals’ (the labourers);
(b) the lovers in the woods (Helena, Hermia,
Demetrius, Lysander);
(c) the older characters (Theseus, Hippolyta, Philostrate);
(d) the spirit world (Titania, Oberon,
Puck and the fairies);
(e) a clash between the different worlds.
Remember that the examination will also contain a passage
from the set text. If you prefer to work on something else, you may do so but
you should consult your tutor about this ahead of time. You can select texts
that are set in particular historical contexts that you are already familiar
with (eg literary texts by Chaucer, Shakespeare, Marlowe, Pope, Jane
Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Dickens; or older versions
of the Bible). An excellent source of texts is the Oxford Text Archive,
available at http://ota.ahds.ac.uk/. (This site
gives you some access to classic translations of the Bible: http://www.sbible.boom.ru/engbible.htm. If you want
to look at the Authorised Version of the Bible (1611), I have editions in the
original spelling; please get in touch.) Many of the items there are freely
available, although you will need to supply them with your email and regular
address.
You will be expected to introduce the text and its context
for the presentation, and to make linkages between the textual (including
linguistic) features and its context.
As far as possible, please avoid Powerpoint
Presentations; in the past, groups that have relied on Powerpoint
suffered all manner of hitches. You can use the acetate sheets for overhead
projectors; handouts; and posters. If you need audio or video equipment, please
check with your tutor ahead of time whether these can be made available.
Feedback: when your report has been marked, your tutor:
·
will give an overall comment in words at the end of your
report;
·
may also give marginal comments; and
·
assign a mark out of 10 for your essay (this will be your CA
mark for the report): any report with 7½ and above is exceptional (pass with
distinction); any report awarded 6 to 7 marks is good (pass with merit);
any report awarded 5 to 5½ marks is acceptable but is weak in some aspects (pass);
and any report awarded 4½ marks or below is weak in many aspects (unsatisfactory).
Tutorial attendance and participation
A total of 10 marks will be assigned for tutorial attendance
and participation. If your attendance is irregular, you will receive a very low
score for this, so be forewarned! We expect students to come to tutorials
prepared: this means having gone through the tutorial material and completed
the various readings required. We also expect students to be willing to
contribute to the discussion.
This score will not be released to students, so by the end of
the module, students will be able to work out 40 out of the 50 marks assigned
as continuous assessment marks.
This
will be an open-book two-hour paper held at 1.00 to 3.00 pm on Wednesday, 29/4/09 (venue: yet to be
finalised). The exam will count towards 50% of your final score for the module.
There will be three compulsory questions in the exam:
(a) Question 1 will ask you
to respond to all four short statements relevant to the content of the module.
You will be asked to indicate your position in relation to these statements and
account for the position taken.
(b) Question 2 will involve
the analysis of a short passage taken from A
Midsommer Nights Dreame:
you will be asked to pick out features of the language in the passage and
discuss them.
(c) Question 3 will
constitute an essay question: there is a choice between a more general question
and a more specific question.