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One of the distinctive features of our degree is that from the second year onwards, you can design your own course, and focus on the topics that interest you most. The modules taught in the School of English are organized into eleven bands, and of these Bands 5-11 are concerned with Literature. Most of them follow a chronological order; for example, Band 5 comprises modules in Medieval and Early Modern Literature, on topics such as “Paradise Lost and Its Revolutionary Readers”, and “Shakespeare and Childhood”. Band 8, on the other hand, is Twentieth-Century Literature, including modules on “American Fiction” and “Representations of the Holocaust”. In designing your course, you need to balance your modules across all the Literature bands, so as to ensure historical coverage; but as long as you cover all the Literature bands, you are free to choose whichever modules interest you most. Your personal tutor will give you guidance on how best to balance your choices.
The degree in English Literature at Newcastle is distinctive for its wide variety of modules. You can take modules in all periods of English Literature, American literature, postcolonial literature, film, theatre (both writing and performance), children’s literature, creative writing, or do a placement in the cultural industry, student teaching, and even documentary film-making.
And in your first year, you are required to take one or two modules in an “outside subject”; this means any module taught at the university. So if you’d like to continue studying a language you took at A-Level, for example, you can do so. Or you can take a module in Psychology, Philosophy, Archaeology... you name it.
In your first year (Stage 1), all the modules you take are compulsory, and serve as preparation for Stages 2 and 3 of the degree. These include a module called Academic Research, which is designed to help with the transition from secondary school to university. In this course, you will learn how to write an essay at university level, how to research for an essay, and how to present it. Other modules include Medieval Literature, Introduction to Literary Studies I and II, Literary Theory, and Special Topic, currently The Fairytale. Introduction to Literary Studies I and II is a year-long course that offers a historical coverage of literature and film from the Early Modern period to the Contemporary and introduces some of the key skills and competences required in the university-level study of literature, such as engaging with critical debate.
Independent reading is a key part of study on a literature degree and one of the most important aspects of your learning at university. Its importance is one of the reasons that contact hours may seem lower in English than in some other subjects: it is essential for you to have plenty of time to read both primary and secondary texts carefully. Exactly how much reading you will have to do varies from module to module, of course. Most modules comprise about 6-8 literary texts (this can include anything from poetry to novels to plays to film); you will probably be reading at least 100-200 pages a week, if not more. In addition, you will be expected to look at critical material relating to the texts. This may seem daunting, but the lectures, seminars, and student-focused study groups are designed to guide you in your study and reading.
This is another distinctive feature of the degree in Literature at Newcastle, namely the Extended Study and the Dissertation. The Extended Study is a longer essay, mainly designed by you, related to a module you have already taken. So if you particularly enjoyed your course on “American Fiction: 1945-2000”, for example, you can decide to base your Extended Study on a topic relating to it. The Dissertation, which is optional, is a 10,000 word piece, undertaken in the final year, on a topic and argument of your own choosing. You will receive one-to-one supervision and guidance on structure and further reading from your lecturers while doing the Extended Study and Dissertation.
There are many options available if you are interested in doing a course in creative writing at Newcastle. In your first year, you can choose to do up to 40 credits in an outside subject, and this can include creative writing. In your second and third years, you can choose to take modules in creative writing, and/or decide to do a longer project, a “File of Original Literary Work” which can be, for example, a novel or a collection of poetry. Creative writing modules vary from year to year; modules taught this year were “What is a play?”, “Poetry Workshop”, and “Conventional Theatre”. The School of English at Newcastle has a vibrant and well-known group of creative writers who teach.
The English Literature degree is just that, though of course ‘English’ includes, for example, American and Post-Colonial literature and ‘Literature’ extends to film, theatre, creative writing and digital media.
The English Language and Literature degree shares material with both the English Literature and English Language degrees. The proportions are roughly equal in Stage 1, whereas in Stage 2 you can take up to two-thirds in Language or Literature, with one-third in the other. The English Language component is studied mainly using the approaches of modern linguistics and as well as studying the structure, history and varieties of English, it explores the notion of language in general, and our ability as humans to produce it.
It's worth noting that English Language at degree level is very different from GCSE English Language, and from the English Language component in A-Level English Language and Literature; it can also be quite different from A-Level English Language.
The English Language & Literature course in more detail:
In Stage 1 (which has a total of 120 credits):
In Stages 2/3 (which have a total of 240 credits):
English Language and Linguistics at Newcastle are quite unlike GCSE English Language, since they are not directly concerned with your practical use of language (except in the way that any humanities subject is). Rather, it is language itself that is being studied.
They have some topics and approaches in common with English Language A-Level (this varies according to the A-Level syllabus followed), but also bring in new topics and approaches. In a recent survey in which our Stage 2 students looked back on the transition from A-Level, many of them said that they had found degree-level work more analytical or technical and more challenging and satisfying.
English Language is studied mainly using the approaches of modern linguistics, and as well as studying the structure, history and varieties of English, it explores the notion of language in general, and our ability as humans to produce it.
Not directly, though within Q302 English Language you usually have the option of taking a creative writing option as an outside subject at Stage 1, and another module at Stage 2/3. There are also opportunities outside the curriculum to get involved in student journalism and to get advice on creative writing.
There is a lot of common ground (well over half in most cases) between the two programmes:
Having said that, there are differences: