What is a dissertation, and how does it differ from a term paper and a placement report?

The definition (the syllabus's-own): "a substantial piece of academic writing" undertaken-in- the-tenth-semester (the culmination-of-advanced-legal-study (the independent-research- demonstrated (the critical-analysis-shown (the new-knowledge-or-insight-contributed — the three- demonstrations (the examiner's-checklist))))); The distinction-from-the-earlier-writing: the essay-the-course-given (the topics-assigned (the reading-summarised)) vs. the dissertation-self- chosen (the question-YOURS (the method-YOURS (the answer-YOURS (the supervisor-guides-but- the-work-owns-no-one-else)))); The distinction-from-the-placement-report (the LAW5901's-companion): the placement-observed-institution (the experience-analyzed) vs. the dissertation- investigated-question (the scholarship-advanced (the depth-the-difference (the 200-marks'-weight- the-signal))));