An Extended Essay is a piece of writing of between 4000 and 5000 words, inc. bibliography and footnotes
Around 5-6 months’ work: final hand-in end of Week 5 of Trinity
Further information in Mods Course Handbook
These Powerpoint slides available shortly in Nick Attfield’s Weblearn room
Assessment Criteria
A First-Class Mods Extended Essay …
Presentation will normally be of a good standard. The candidate will show an extensive general knowledge of the chosen field, and an ability to handle effectively the range of materials (musical and non-musical, primary and secondary) relevant to the topic. The conclusions drawn will be well supported by the evidence and may offer original insights.
Assessment Criteria
An outstanding First-Class Mods Extended Essay …
The essay will display a degree of independent thought, a refined and critical approach to its sources and a wide knowledge of the relevant scholarly field. It will be meticulously presented and written in a clear and engaging manner.
In other words …
A successful extended essay:
is focused on a clear topic
displays good knowledge of the relevant literature and repertoire
has a central argument
is well organised and presented
Finding a Topic
Choose a topic that excites you and that feels like *yours*
e.g., Taylor Institution Library (modern languages), Pitt Rivers Museum (ethnography)
British Library (www.bl.uk)
COPAC – British and Irish university libraries portal www.copac.ac.uk
European Libraries www.theeuropeanlibrary.org/portal/index.html
Online resources: general
First ports of call
The New Grove Online www.grovemusic.com
Audio resources
Naxos online www.naxosmusiclibrary.com
Classical music internal.oxford.classical.com
General sources of information
Royal Holloway Golden Pages www2.rhbnc.ac.uk/Music/Links/index.html
includes lists of conferences, dissertation abstracts, composer home pages, etc.
Online resources: journals
JSTOR www.jstor.org
Remember that JSTOR doesn’t have everything! Use in conjunction with paper copies and other databases, e.g. …
Current periodicals (not on JSTOR)
Access via www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/eresources
Online resources: databases
RILM: Abstracts of music literature
RISM: Inventory of musical sources after 1600
RIPM: Retrospective index to music periodicals
Access these key databases and other online resources via:
www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/oxlip
Online resources: beware!
Treat with great caution:
Wikipedia (it’s not moderated or checked)
Other unmoderated sites
Other unattributed articles
In some instances blogs, Facebook pages and other online ‘ephemera’ can provide, for example, supporting anecdotal evidence, but handle with care and signal its status clearly
Other resources
Ethnographic fieldwork: is this necessary? Do you have access permission? Plan well in advance.
Sociological / psychological fieldwork: is this necessary? Do you have access permission? Plan well in advance. Questions of confidentiality.
Oral histories: how do you gain access to subjects? Plan questions well in advance. How will you record responses?
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is intellectual theft – the representation of the ideas of others as your own
Make sure you acknowledge fully in footnotes all material you have taken from other sources (including online material), whether or not you have quoted it directly. An entry in the bibliography is notsufficient.
University Plagiarism Code
All undergraduate and graduate students must carefully read regulations 3, 4 and 5 in the Proctors’ Disciplinary Regulations for University Examinations below. These make it clear that you must always indicate to the examiners when you have drawn on the work of others; other people’s original ideas and methods should be clearly distinguished from your own, and other people’s words, illustrations, diagrams etc. should be clearly indicated regardless of whether they are copied exactly, paraphrased, or adapted. Failure to acknowledge your sources by clear citation and referencing constitutes plagiarism. The University reserves the right to use software applications to screen any individual’s submitted work for matches either to published sources or to other submitted work. In some examinations, all candidates are asked to submit an electronic copy of essays, dissertations etc. for screening by ‘Turnitin’. Any matches might indicate either plagiarism or collusion. Although the use of electronic resources by students in their academic work is encouraged, you should remember that the regulations on plagiarism apply to on-line material and other digital material just as much as to printed material.
Guidance about the use of source-materials and the preparation of written work is given in departments’ literature and on their web-sites, and is explained by tutors and supervisors. If you are unclear about how to take notes or use web-sourced material properly, or what is acceptable practice when writing your essay, project report, thesis, etc., please ask for advice.
If university examiners believe that material submitted by a candidate may be plagiarised, they will refer the matter to the Proctors. The Proctors will suspend a student’s examination while they fully investigate such cases (including interviewing the student). If they consider that a breach of the Disciplinary Regulations has occurred, the Proctors are empowered to refer the matter to the Student Disciplinary Panel. Where plagiarism is proven, it will be dealt with severely: in the most extreme cases, this can result in the student’s career at Oxford being ended by expulsion from the University.
