Student will submit an Annotated Bibliography and Literature Review with their final submissions (creative artefact and exegesis) for this unit.

Reference:

Cayla Buttram, David MacMillan III, & Dr. R.T. Koch, Jr 2012, 'Comparing the Annotated Bibliography to the Literature Review', UNA Center for Writing Excellence, viewed 6 Novemmber 2017, https://www.una.edu/writingcenter/docs/Writing-Resources/Comparing%20the%20Annotated%20Bibliography%20to%20the%20Literature%20Review.pdf

The Annotated Bibliography and Literature Review will be assessed based on the way the submission:

1. Establishes creative writing research territory;
2. Establishes significance of creative writing territory;
3. Establishes creative writing research niche. (Briefly reviews what has been found, and then identifies a gap. Discusses what has been found, but points out inconsistency of results.);
4. Motivates next part of creative writing literature review;
5. Further justifies the need to investigate the impact of research methodology on creative writing praxis;
6. Reviews the chronological development of research in creative writing (an approach that is useful at times, but not always the best). Discusses one key paper at a time by describing its methods and key findings, but then identifies weaknesses in the method and/or limitations in the findings. Then discusses how the next researchers tried to address these problems;
7. Presents a flawlessly prepared item including close attention to grammar and a perfected approach to Harvard style referencing.

The exegesis should be constituted by a piece of critical writing focused on the processes of creating the creative artefact. The exegesis will be the result of extensive research into the various aspects of the creative writing project: the characteristics of the genre, the theoretical and literary influence of the context and the shaping elements in a literary work of art. To satisfy the requirements of the degree the exegesis must demonstrate substantial conceptualisation of the characteristics of the genre, the influence of the context and the shaping elements in a creative work.

The exegesis will be assessed as a contextualisation of the research undertaken in the form of critical writing, and not as a separate research paper. In other words, the creative writing component constitutes the research outcome and the exegesis is intended to comment on that research as it was applied to the student's creative process.

The exegesis ('explanation or interpretation') is a piece of 'critical' writing (to distinguish this from the 'creative' writing of the artefact). Typically, an exegesis is no more than 25-33% of the dissertation/creative artefact.

There are a number of possible foci for the exegesis (these may become key headings for the actual exegesis):

• A clear conceptualisation of the project/ dissertation including a rationale (i.e. the exegesis, while it does include a number of components, should focus on the artefact in question - it is not a separate essay that focuses on other things);
• A description of the 'publishable standard' to which the work aspires as measured by industry indicators for the chosen genre and negotiated at the project's outset;
• An outline of the original contribution to knowledge that the artefact and exegesis will make (this is a key examination requirement for a PhD);
• Characteristics of the chosen genre and how the artefact contributes, reworks, experiments with and/or affirms these and why; Any theoretical and/or contextual shaping elements (for example, if using a ficto-critical writing approach, this would need to be explained including some rationale for the choice); Some idea of the method to be used in producing the artefact (i.e. beyond just sitting and writing - what research is needed, how will this influence what is written, timelines, etc);
• Flawless presentation including grammatical correctness and Harvard style referencing

Please see the unit moodle site for more detailed and comprehensive information.

Students are required to submit for assessment a piece of their own creative writing (or a body of work) together with an exegesis. Both the Creative Work (the creative artefact) and the Exegesis must be produced during candidature and under supervision.

The creative writing component should be constituted by a novel, a group of short stories, a play or group of plays, a sequence of poems, or a portfolio of works of various genres.

The writing of the creative artefact is considered an act of research into literary creativity. To satisfy the requirements of the degree the creative artefact must therefore make a significant contribution to knowledge concerning literature and culture, and display mastery of the field.

Examiners of the Creative Writing Dissertation will be asked to indicate whether:

• the creative work makes a significant contribution to knowledge concerning literature and culture, and displays mastery of the field
• the exegesis demonstrates substantial conceptualisation of the characteristics of the genre, the influence of the context and the shaping elements in a creative work
• the complete work contains material worthy of publication in a form suitable to the discipline
• the format and literary presentation of the creative component and the exegesis are satisfactory.