#6

73

i repeatedly referenced handful of specific texts throughout. i heavily researched my topic and credited a lot of books, essays and articles as sources for specific facts and they probably took up half of my references, tbh

#7

completely depends on the context of your argument and the type of texts or media types you’re referencing on throughout

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#8

lol obviously heed your tutor’s advice over mine

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#9

40 seems like a fine number. As long as the arguments run properly and everything is correctly referenced. The worst thing you an do is start adding references for the sake of it.

#10

christ that sounds terrifying. I thought blasting out 4000 words in 5 or so days was bad.

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#11

I’ve got the opposite problem where I have all the time in the world to do it but I just can’t. I’m finding it really easy to get into the habit of not doing it (which is causing me anxiety). I’ve wasted so, so much time not working on it, I have trouble sleeping just thinking about it.

Pretty much every other essay I’ve done has been an all-nighter. I usually work better just bashing out the whole thing in one horrible go (whereas all sorts of distractions and obstacles over the last month have made it difficult for me to be in the mood).

#12

I’m also hoping to get at least a high 2:2 in it. Not aiming for a high 1st or anything like that.

#13

It’s about leaflets. I’m comparing loads of them basically.

Can’t really say much more than that. My tutor likes Pavement so could well be a DiSer.

#14

Three. No more no less

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#16

I would say 40 is a bit low too. I had just over 50 for 9000 words for my Masters. BUT your tutor knows best (assuming he/she is marking).

#17

mine had 18
worst student of all time

#19

I had a pretty small number of sources. Aside from the primary texts, there were only a dozen or so secondary books / critics I mention, a few reviews and so on.

#20

Does a source have to be a whole chapter you’ve read?

Or can it just be a paragraph or even a sentence you’ve come across?

For actual the ‘literature’ part, I’ve made intensive notes on about 20 chapters. The remaining sources are just bits/extracts I’ve read elsewhere, which I thought would be good to explain things I’ve analysed.

Or do I actually have to read, say, 70 entire chapters? Because the idea of that fills me with dread.

I’ve never really got this. I mean a reference just means ‘referring to something’, right?

#21

what system are you supposed to use?

it’s best to reference specific chapters. you’re generally supposed to have read the stuff you’re referencing? so that you know what it is you’re talking about, unless it just happens to be the source of a specific statistic or fact.

in my experience, literature reviews mean fuck all (didn’t do one and i got a first)

#22

43 for me, Clive, in an 8,800 word English lit dissertation. There were very few relevant sources though (was writing about depictions of patriotism/Englishness in late 80s/1990s literature, music and politics. actually should reread it at some point, seems pretty apt in light of Brexit), so I used a few sources heavily and the rest very sparingly. If your central arguments/angle are strong and original enough, you only really need sources to lean on occasionally. Never even considered if I had too many or too few. Listen to your tutor.

Don’t want to freak you out/be a dick, just interested - does your uni not penalise people who hand in work late? A minute late essay at my uni was capped at 40% (the pass mark). Even if it was a 99% essay, you couldn’t get more than that. Or do you have an extension?

#23

Harvard Referencing.

So even if you’re just referring to one bit of useful information you’ve come across in a chapter, all you need to do is refer to the page number then reference that chapter in the bibliography? Without actually having to read the chapter to death? (Because, I mean, there’s more information in there which I don’t find useful)

The idea of citing/referring to about 70 pages each from different books/chapters sounds much, much less daunting than actually having to read 70 whole sources!

I think it’s compulsory for us to. It’s meant to be about 3000 words and it’s like a regular 3000 word essay. So if I’ve studied 20 chapters in detail, then 20 sources for 3000 words is about right, surely?

#24

Yeah, it’s an extension. I’m on extenuating circumstances so the marks aren’t capped.

#25

is there any way you can get in touch with your tutor? best to check with them.

personally, i find using colour coding whilst drafting really helps me with referencing. (a colour for quotes, a colour for texts, a colour authors names, a colour for bracketed text that refers to the bibilography)

http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/harvard.htm this is a well-shared and thorough resource for harvard referencing, although best to use your uni’s preferred style guide if they have one, obvs.

hope someone else can help you with the review :thumbsup:

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#26

No one is going to ask you to give a detailed account of the full argumentation of one of your references so it doesn’t matter. As I said I’ve referenced many texts before purely on the basis of quotations etc. given in other texts. If you’re doing a high-level piece of work (e.g. master’s or phd) you should obviously steer clear of that but it’s not a big deal - I suspect actual published authors do it every now and then too.

Don’t mean to sound rude here but you’re definitely overthinking this.

2 Likes
#27

That’s what I sneakily do. Looks like I’ve done more research than I actually have.

But then I worry the marker will check one of my main sources and notice how many other sources I’ve borrowed from it.

You’re probably right. It’s just absolutely vital I get at least 57 in this. Don’t want to lose marks for reasons such as ‘didn’t display a solid knowledge of mainstream material’.