You have to choose (in consultation with your tutor) a text which interests you, and then (again in consultation with your tutor) to focus on one particular aspect of this text. You study this text with this aspect in mind and then write an essay on it IN COLLEGE.

Your lecturer is not allowed to see a draft version of the essay before you sit the assessment. However, they will need to see a detailed plan of your essay.

Three, out of many, examples of suitable subjects for a Personal Study would be: the relationship between two characters as it changes in the course of a novel; the theme of jealousy in a play; the effect of the use of a certain kind of narrator in a novel.

Non-fiction may theoretically be chosen instead of fiction, but you are advised not to choose non-fiction. The teaching in this course is geared towards fiction: you must study the techniques of fiction in order to pass the exam in May.

What are the rules about the Personal Study?

For the Personal Study, you write this essay under supervision, in college, in one hour. You should bring in up to 2 A4 pages of notes, including a skeleton outline of the intended structure, and also the text itself, with annotations if you want, but may not bring in a rough draft of the essay.

You will find the date when you have to do this on your assessment schedule.

You must hand in your outline, plus the notes, with the Personal Study.

The length of the essay will probably be about 650-800 words.

How is the Personal Study marked?

The essay is marked internally, in college, on a pass / fail basis. This means that it is not awarded a mark which contributes to your eventual exam grade. This eventual grade depends entirely on the externally marked exam, which you sit in May.

If you should fail it, then you have the opportunity to redraft it according to the suggestions of the marker. You may do this with the original attempt in front of you.

(Remember, however, that you do have to pass four internal assessments, of which the Personal Study is one, as well as the May exam, in order to be awarded Higher English. These are all sat in college, under exam conditions, and you have been given a schedule of the dates of these. Should you fail any of these internal assessments, there is ONE reassessment opportunity for each assessment. Absence counts as failure unless in exceptional circumstances, and these should be justified by documentary evidence, eg medical certificate.)