English Lit Degree marks

whitfreak

horrorhag wrote: »

the comments my tutors make never have anything negative to say so it hard to understand where i am going wrong.

I guess the thing that gets me most is that i showed up to every class and did lots of work whereas my friend attended two classes and got a first. i just feel like throwing in the towel. i could have stayed at home rather than gone to my classes.

These are surprisingly common feelings. My housemate used to rant about 65% essays being commented on as good by her tutors, yet the few times she got told where she could've improved it, it would have taken her miles over the word limit. And these were the type of tutors to stop marking at the word limit.... I.e. impossible task.

But have faith, my other housemate for a first overall after averaging middling 2:1 for most of his degree by nailing his disitation. It just seemed that his arguements worked best when allowed to flow over 12k words rather than in a 2k essay.

And lazy but brilliant marks? It will catch up with them eventually (it did with me).

Oldernotwiser

horrorhag wrote: »

I guess the thing that gets me most is that i showed up to every class and did lots of work whereas my friend attended two classes and got a first. i just feel like throwing in the towel. i could have stayed at home rather than gone to my classes.

This is real life; you don't get any marks for effort! (Fortunately)

Rosie75

horrorhag wrote: »

I have read my friend's first which was badly referenced (ALL my tutors say my referencing is better than theirs), and in my opinion did not deserve a first. As for wider reading, i am also known among the faculty for my high standards and original ideas. the comments my tutors make never have anything negative to say so it hard to understand where i am going wrong.

I guess the thing that gets me most is that i showed up to every class and did lots of work whereas my friend attended two classes and got a first. i just feel like throwing in the towel. i could have stayed at home rather than gone to my classes.

A first class mark is not awarded for referencing, attendance, or the amount of reading you do. Wide reading is something that will impress tutors, but it's what you do with that knowledge and information that counts. Can you convert that reading and knowledge into a piece of work that is carefully-structured and tightly-argued, that is eloquently-expressed and offers original insights into the topic? Are you reading what you tutor has told you to, or are you researching independently, perhaps looking beyond the literature section of your library to related fields such as philosophy, art-history, history, politics, sociology, psychology, etc. etc? As people have said, there is a huge difference between a 68 and a first-class piece of work. Students often ask "what do I need to do to get a first?" - if it was that simple and forumulaic, everyone would leave university with one. Focusing on the grade can be very counterproductive and quite inhibiting. The best advice I can give you is to stop worrying about this and instead focus on enjoying your course and really engaging with the modules you are studying. Most of the students I know who get firsts are not actually obsessed with getting a first, but are more obsessed with the subject. It's also worth pointing out that a first is not necessary for any line of work, unless you want to go into academia.

horrorhag

the academic root is what i am aiming for. i m currently in my third year.

I think whitfreak is right in a way. i do struggle with the word limits ( i am already well over half of my allocated word limit for my dissertation and i have still got chapters left to go- not including my introduction and conclusion). And its the dissertation that my tutor believes is of a first class standard.

As for reading around other disaplines, i explore a wider range of disaplines for my reading (and never just strickly english literature texts) to the point where my tutors say they would not expect that type of reading until at least the end of an MA level piece.