Cirrus@Austlit

The English Honours year is a time when a sound and broad knowledge of the discipline of English can be established. Building on and complementing undergraduate study, and avoiding narrow specialisation, English Honours is both a fitting culmination of undergraduate study in English and a pathway to higher degree work in English. In the core and elective courses, Honours students have the opportunity to develop an understanding of the nature of criticism and the often unspoken assumptions that underlie various modes of critical analysis. In the thesis, produced in the second half of the year, Honours students are initiated into the practice of scholarly and literary research. The thesis is both an end in itself, proving the student‟s capacity for independent research and the ability to sustain a critical argument in the context of contemporary debate, and it also provides invaluable preparation for postgraduate research.