ENG4390 - Master Thesis in English Literature
Course content
The thesis is an independent reasearch project on a subject chosen in agreement with your supervisor. The thesis is written in English and should be 80–100 pages (one standard page is 2300 characters). The thesis will usually be a literary analysis of one or more fictional works by one or more authors that links these works to each other, to the period in which they were written, and/or discusses them in light of certain literary theories.
See also information about MA studies at the Faculty of Humanities.
Learning outcome
The thesis should increase the students insight into literary methodology, and provide detailed knowledge of a defined area in the field of literature written in English.
Admission
Students at UiO must apply for courses in StudentWeb.
International applicants, if you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures for international applicants.
Prerequisites
Formal prerequisite knowledge
Admission to the Master Program in Literature
Teaching
In addition to 4000-level courses, two courses are intended to support the thesis process: ENG4310 - Literary Theory in English and ENG4391 - Writing a Thesis on a Literary Topic
In addition the student will be given individual guidance. You will find “Guidelines for Academic Supervision of Master's Degree Theses at the Faculty of Humanities” here
The agreement of supervision must be filled out and submitted to your student adviser. Note that having a supervisor is an obligatory part of the master thesis and that the agreement of supervision must be approved before the thesis can be submitted.
Examination
The thesis can be submitted by 15. September or 15. November in the autumn semester and 15. February or 15. May in the spring semester.
It will be graded by an exam commision consisting of one internal and one external examiner, and will be graded on a descending scale from A to E for a pass and F for a fail.
A written explanation for the grade will be mailed to the students when exam results are ready.
Other guidelines might apply to students that have been approved for part-time study, please contact the exam consultant if you have any concerns.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Here you find a description of the grades for ENG4390.
The grade is published in Studentweb within eight weeks after the submission deadline. The commission will give the student a written explanation for the grade. The explanation will be mailed to the student shortly after the exam results are ready.