Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies A Few Days In…

Dr Liz Barry Director of 1st year undergraduate studies (term 1) Office H537 EnglishDUGS@warwick.ac.uk

Student Prize Presented by Professor Catherine Bates, Head of English 2009-10 winners: Francesca Fletcher (1st year 2009-10) Byron Heffer (2nd year 2009-10)

Careers and Skills Support Stephanie Redding

Student support Senior tutor: Professor Karen O’Brien Personal tutors Warwick Mentors (student mentors to show you the ropes: Drop in 4-5pm Tuesdays H507; email warwickmentoring@hotmail.co.uk)

The California Exchange Programme Dr Daniel Katz

The Undergrad Handbook Departmental contacts Lecture times and locations Examinations, assessment, regulations The First Year – structure, how it works, why it’s important, what to do if you have problems How to register for your modules online if you haven’t already done so. Work – essays, presentation of work, support. AND LOTS MORE!

Structure of the First Year Mediaeval to Renaissance Literature Epic Tradition Modes of Reading Literature in the Modern World OR a language module Middle English and 16th century literature, focusing on Chaucer’s contemporaries and Elizabethan poetry Includes study of Homer and Virgil in translation, Milton and Walcott An introduction to the practices of criticism, incl. form, genre and literary inheritance. 20th century literature including literature of war, writing in the 1950s and 60s, postcolonial writing. There is information on everything I’m going to say in the Handbook – do refer to it and make sure you’ve read it, and in particular the sections relevant to the things I’ll talk about today.

1st Yr Modules Med/Renaissance Lit: Lecture Tues 12-1pm; seminars; assessment: exam Epic Tradition: Lecture Thurs 12-1pm; seminars; assessment: exam Modes of Reading: Lecture Thurs 10-11am; seminars; assessment: coursework essays LMW: Lecture Mon 5-6pm; seminars, assessment: essays and ‘seen’ exam

Requirements You should have a personal timetable by now from the English office. It is required that you attend lectures and seminars, and submit non-assessed and assessed work on time and presented appropriately. Non-assessed essays: given to your seminar tutor; assessed essays to be handed in to the English office (H506) with appropriate coversheet, and submitted electronically, before the deadline. Penalties such as extra work may result if you don’t attend the required seminars – these are crucial to your development as a scholar and critic! If you have a legitimate reason for missing seminars, or getting behind, it is crucial you tell your personal tutor and seminar tutor so they can defend you and you can if things get serious or your work suffers. Essay titles/instructions will be issued several weeks before a deadline. Make the most of your teaching time. Make sure you devote enough hours to reading outside contact time. Treat it like a job – the best job you’ll ever have. You’ll get so much more out of it if you feel on top of the work and able to offer your views and analysis of the works you’re studying. Things move fast at this level – if you get behind, it’s harder to catch up and you’ve already missed out on that week’s book or play.

Online module registration (EMR) Once you have your personal timetable, it is crucial that you register for your modules online, and indicate the examination method for each. (Instructions in 1st induction pack; assessment codes pink sheet or handbook p. 17.) By the end of week 2: you must register, print off TWO eMR sheets (the one showing your module choices, and the one showing your assessment methods), show them to your personal tutor, who will sign them, and then hand them in to the English office. The next three slides will show you how the relevant pages should/will look. No further changes can be made once you’ve shown your tutor the form, so get it right! All the information is clearly laid out in the handbook – it’s relatively straightforward in the first year, so count yourselves lucky! Make sure you’ve talked to your personal tutor about what you’ve done and show them your form. They need to sign it, and then you need to take it to the office.

RLF and Academic Writing An Academic Writing programme, convened by Dr Rochelle Sibley, (room H539) – workshops during the year. Two Royal Literary Fund (RLF) fellows, Philip Caveney (novelist) and Elizabeth Speller (poet and non-fiction author), are available (room H513) to assist you in developing an effective writing style. This is an absolutely fantastic resource – acclaimed and well established professional writers giving you one-to-one feedback and advice on your own academic writing – do use it! Once in a lifetime opportunity… Extremely lucky to have them. Details on the door and on the departmental website under Warwick Writing Programme and then Academic Writing.

IT Services

Warwick Arts Centre Tickets and offers available, and how to get hold of tickets Volunteer and Paid opportunities Contact information

SSLC Elections Staff-Student Liaison Committee Your representation and link to the academic staff and university Chairs: Isobel Duncan and Melissa Chandler Elections