Flying High
The focus for this week is going to be my experiences with my chosen university course, from the staff, to the modules, to my advice for anyone currently studying or is thinking about studying this course.
As previously mentioned, I studied BA (Hons) English from 2017 to 2020, later achieving a First-Class Honours degree. (I’m still in shock at that result!) I have yet to officially graduate, so fingers crossed that the ceremony in the Lincoln Cathedral next April can go ahead! It would be a huge shame if the Class of 2020 missed out!
I had always enjoyed studying English from a young age, from when it was still called Literacy in primary school to English at secondary and sixth form. Even though I toyed with Creative Writing and Media courses, I ultimately followed my heart to pursue the written word at university, since not only was I greatly interested in the mechanics behind novels, poetry and plays, as I still am today, but I knew that English is the basis of any career, a vital tool in whichever path I would eventually choose. But I was never really into the classics before I attended university, my favourite genres including Young Adult and African American fiction, two of my favourite books including Julie Kagawa’s Talon series and Andrea Levy’s Small Island. I had studied the greats like Charles Dickens, who I have grown to love, and Shakespeare at GCSE and A Level, but I wanted a course that provided something a little different, as well as delving into the literary canon. The course at Lincoln was perfect for me; in second year I was simultaneously studying postcolonial and zombie literature, which is something you don’t usually mix together!
This became one of my favourite aspects of the course, since English incorporated elements of history, psychology, sociology and politics. I have always balanced my studies, with something fun weighing out the harder study material. For instance, while core modules focused on a particular historical era (such as Victorian, Edwardian and Georgian literature) I was able to choose other optional modules that I was particularly interested in, including Science Fiction, Writing for Science Fiction and Fantasy, the Literature of Childhood and After The End: Reading the Apocalypse. This made my rather lengthy reading list more enjoyable to read, since I was delving into a mix of language from different centuries, countries, styles and genres. Which brings me onto my first piece of advice - read as much as you can over the summer! Each module had over fifteen books to read, multiplied by four modules per semester and two semesters overall in a year meant a LOT of time spent reading in my room. But, as I learnt in second year, reading the books over the summer, when you have more time, is much easier for you and decreases your stress levels when you’re reading up on other secondary sources for the next seminar. Of course, some of the books are really long and it can take you a long time to understand them - Ulysses for example was one huge headache - but I always found that if you got through as much as you could before the seminar, understanding the plot, style and messages behind the text, you couldn’t go far wrong. It’s hard work trying to finish all texts in a module, so whenever I found that I was running out of time, I made sure to at least finish the texts I knew I was going to write my assessment on, since that way I was prioritising my time.
There are many variations of English at Lincoln, other joint honours courses including English and Drama, English and Journalism, English and Creative Writing and English and History. I can’t speak for them but I personally know that the staff in the English department have been awesome over my three undergraduate years, especially during this pandemic when teaching was moved online. No matter what questions I had or advice I needed, every module supervisor was always happy to answer my emails, especially when it came to the assessments that formed a higher percentage of my grade, such as the dissertation. This goes for any course, but I would highly recommend that you email or visit a tutor during their office opening hours if you have any questions - however this last part may not be able to happen, now, due to social distancing. It always helped me, no matter what the question or worry was about. You are taught by the experts for a reason, and, for my course at least, they are some of the funniest, friendliest people. Everyone has their off or busy days, so don’t be disheartened if they don’t respond right away. They’ll catch up with you.
Another part of the course that I especially liked was the contact hours, which gradually decreased from twelve, to eight, to six as the years went on, as well as the reading weeks in between the holidays. These were very useful when it came to catching up with reading or planning for assessments, since I could spend more time reading rather than being sat in hours and hours of lectures.
Speaking of, make sure that you leave plenty of time for your assessment writing and planning. I know that many people have different methods of preparing for assessments. Some of my friends prefer the added pressure of completing an essay on the day, or hour, it’s due, which is great if that works for you! But I personally gave myself two weeks to finish an essay, with one week to research and plan then one week to write. Most of the time I only needed three to four days to write the essay because I spent so long on a plan. Find the method that best suits you and you can’t go far wrong, but I would strongly recommend spending a lot of time on the plan first. The hard work is basically done after that point.
I can honestly say that I really enjoyed my course and I am so glad that I chose it. You are forced to study English in primary and secondary, so it was nice to work with and bounce off ideas with like-minded people who have a similar passion for words, whether that be reading or writing them. I definitely feel like I have grown as a person and a writer, and I can’t wait to see what my fellow course mates and friends achieve in the future! I know that I will enjoy my Masters course even more and I look forward to making more and meeting up with old friends!
This is where I leave you this week. As always, feel free to ask any questions or drop any ideas you’d like to read on future blogs. I’m off to the twenty-fourth century now, where a dystopian society awaits to be brought to life! (Watch this space for its progress…)
Until next time,
Emily