Master Essay

Opposition

One of the compulsory requirements in order to fulfil and complete the master essay is that a student must act as opponent on another master essay. How this opposition is undertaken differ, obviously, between different seminars, students and supervisors.

However, the following might be a good idea to have in mind when one prepares the opposition and the discussion about the essay.

- Choice of subject, formulation of problem and purpose, delimitations, title.

- The disposition of the essay.

- Theoretical and/or empirical method and choice of material (if any).

- Conclusions (or lack of the same) and their relations to the overall purpose of the essay.

- Originality and independence.

- Formal matters such as references, headings, tables and figures, language (note: this should only be a minor part of the opposition).

The opponent is also supposed to hand over a written summary of the opposition to the seminar leader before the seminar opens.

Note that the essay opposition is part of the overall essay work, and a student might fail her/his opposition. In such case, the opponent should hand in a new written opposition, covering at least three pages, at the latest seven days after the seminar in question.