What is English Language and Literature?

The English Language and Literature course gives you the chance to study writing in English from its origins in Anglo-Saxon England to the modern literature of the 20th and early 21st centuries.

As well as the literature of the British Isles, it includes works from many other parts of the world, and gives you a considerable degree of choice over which periods and topics you would like to concentrate on. But you can, if you wish, still opt to cover the full historical sweep of English literature.

Studying literature at Oxford involves the development both of sophisticated reading skills and of an ability to place literary texts in their wider intellectual and historical contexts. It also requires you to consider the critical processes by which you analyse and judge, to learn about literary form and technique, and to study the development of the English language.

English at Oxford

The Oxford English Faculty is the largest English Department in Britain. Most Oxford colleges have at least two Fellows in English, who are responsible for tutorial teaching in their own college but also give lectures to all students in the English Faculty. You thus have the opportunity to learn from a very wide range of specialist teachers. Library provision for English at Oxford is exceptionally good. All students have access to the Bodleian Library, the English Faculty library and other faculty libraries, and their own college libraries. There are also extensive electronic resources on the OxLIP Database for English Studies. The English Faculty building has its own computer room and all colleges have computing facilities for undergraduates to use.

In your first two terms you will be introduced to the conceptual and technical tools used in the study of literature, and to a wide range of different critical assumptions and approaches. At the same time you will be doing tutorial work on either Victorian or modern literature, and on either Old English or Middle English literature.

In the final term of the first year you may choose a special topic, or a single author. In your second and third years you will extend your study of English literary history in period papers ranging from Middle English to the Romantic age. You will also study Shakespeare, and the history and development of the English language, and choose two subjects from the range ‘special author’, ‘special topic’. Most papers are assessed by three-hour written examinations, but the third-year special author and special topic papers are nearly all assessed by extended essays, as is the second-year paper ‘The English language’. You may also submit a thesis. Submitted work of this kind can thus constitute at least a third of your final assessment.

An alternative syllabus (‘Course II’) is available in the second and third year of the course. This concentrates on Old and Middle English language and literature and also enables you to study related subjects such as archaeology and Old Norse.

Not every college may be able to offer the full range of alternatives within each optional paper in any given year. If you are concerned about this, you should check with individual colleges before making your application.

A typical weekly timetable

Although details of practice vary from college to college, most students in their first year will have one tutorial a week, together with some lectures and classes. This tends to rise, in the second and third years, to three tutorials a fortnight. Tutorials normally involve the writing and discussion of an essay. You will therefore be expected to produce between eight and twelve pieces of written work each term.

Application procedure

Candidates are required to submit one recent example of writing. This should be a marked essay produced in the normal course of your school or college work and should not have been rewritten after marking. Preferably it should be an analytical discussion of a topic or topics in the field of English literature though an English language topic is permissible. It should not be a short timed essay, critical commentary on particular passages of text (practical criticism exercises), or piece of creative writing. Overseas candidates without suitable material should consult the undergraduate admissions office.

Written test

All candidates will take the English Literature Admissions Test (ELAT), normally at their own schools/colleges, on 5 November 2008. Separate registration for this test is required and prospective applicants should refer to the test website (www.elat.org.uk ) for further information.

What are tutors looking for in the interview?

Successful candidates will tend to be those who can give evidence of wide, enthusiastic and thoughtful reading. Tutors appreciate that you may be nervous in interview. You should not be afraid to defend your views or to suggest authors whose work you would particularly like to discuss.

Careers

English graduates go on to a great variety of careers, including writing, the theatre, broadcasting, publishing, journalism, teaching, advertising, administration, librarianship, management and law.

Foundation Certificates

Students who wish to apply for the part-time Foundation Certificate in English Language and Literature should apply to the Public Programme Division, Oxford University Department for Continuing Education, Rewley House, 1 Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JA by 31 July 2008 (for entry in October 2008). Late applicants will be considered if places are still available.

Course summary

1st year Courses

Four papers are taken:

• An introduction to literary studies
• Victorian or modern literature
• Old English or Middle English literature
• Special author or special topic (including Victorian or modern literature)

Assessment

• First University examinations (moderations) unclassified
• Four written papers (all exams must be passed, but marks do not count towards the final degree)

2nd year Courses

• The English language
• English literature, 1100-1509
• English literature, 1509-1642
• English literature, 1642-1740
• English literature, 1740-1832
• Shakespeare (may be studied in the third year)

Assessment

• Two short extended essays for the English language paper (submitted at the end of the second year but marked at the end of the third as part of the final examinations)

3rd year Courses

• Shakespeare (may be studied in the second year)

Two papers taken from:

• Special author
• Special topic
• Old English literature

Papers taken in the first year may not be taken again

Assessment

• Final University examinations
• Five or six written papers and one or two extended essays; one thesis (optional)

Admission requirements

• See Entrance requirements table, Candidates with English Language only at A-level or with no English A-level should contact their college of preference before applying

Departmental/Subject Open Days

• Website: http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate..

Vocational and other qualifications

• Website: http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses...

English language requirements

• Website: http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses.......

Course brochure available from

• Undergraduate Admissions Office
  University Offices
  Wellington Square
  Oxford OX1 2JD
  Oxford
  UK