Task 6 Natalie Felton

So we have been asked to reflect on how we feel the English degree is going so far…. I find it a little difficult to notice as yet how it has had an impact on me.

After spending two years of studying English at level three on an Access to HE course, reading and writing critically has been in thrust upon me already. I do feel however that the last few months of excitement at the prospect of starting university have been presented with a little disappointment.

Although I still remain excited about the journey I am about to take, I have found that the last 7 weeks have been presented to us as a little brief and quite disorganised. Room timetables are changed weekly and assignments seem to be brief and at times confusing. Luckily enough though the students their selves are happy to communicate with each other and discuss what we believe it is that needs to be completed.

Reading Literature is a stimulating module and so is how English works, it has been enlightening to hear tutors discuss the way in which language works and interpretations of texts. I found “The Road” a very difficult book to read, lectures allowed me to clarify what I felt was hidden within the text.

I too feel that there is a lack of support, I understand that those who attend university are adults who should, at this point be able to work independently. However we all as human beings struggle to grasp certain concepts, and I am unsure if I would find the support I needed if/ when I find myself in such a predicament?

This is just the beginning and I hope as time goes by my confidence in the subject grows and tutors allow us to feel that if needed guidance is available.

Task 6: Research or Plagiarism: Lauren Glover

According to Tory Young, the most valuable resource to avoiding plagiarism is time[1]. Her opinion here is an interesting one; if you take time to read resources thoroughly and research areas you are particularly unsure of, you should be able to complete the task you have been set. It is also essentially important to read carefully through essays before submitting them, taking time to scrutinise and analyse, ensuring you have completed the task with good evidence of coherence. For some students the amount of time is irrelevant; they simply do not understand the task in hand and, in some cases, resort to plagiarism. Passing someone else’s work off as your own, in my opinion, defeats the object of being at university. Surely you are there because you feel academically able to produce work to a high standard and experience a sense of achievement at the end of your degree? As a new English student, Young observes ‘Finding an acceptable critical voice is difficult (p. 36) and I have to agree. You can sometimes feel that your opinion is incorrect or that you are not in a position to be questioning or criticising pieces of work. She continues…You do have a voice not just to admire a text, but to interrogate why, to ask it questions (p.44). Young here is encouraging the exercise of expressing a critical voice when undertaking an English degree in order to succeed to ones full potential at this level. I think that this something that a student develops over the course of their degree as the confidence in their own critical voice grows.

 

1. Young, Tory, Studying Literature, A Practical Guide (Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press, 2008) pp. 36 – 44. Further references to this edition will be given after quotations in the text.

 

Response from Dave

Dear All, I’m sorry its taken me a while to read through your blog. I’ve really enjoyed watching the dialogues develop and I’m hoping you’re taking something from this, as it is working as I hoped it would. Look out for my gerneral responses to the tasks and keep up the blog. Dave.

Task 5, My thoughts on degree level English – Laura Walters

An English degree for me was actually my last resort. I’ve always enjoyed English and been relatively good at the subject but I never thought I’d end up taking English at degree level. However, now that I am here I’m realising this is exactly where I want to be.

I’m finding the course difficult at times, but aren’t we all. The teaching methods are going to take a while to get accustomed with. They say A Level prepares you for Univeristy but I don’t think that could be any farther from the truth. University appears to be about simply getting on with it. Help from lecturers isn’t as available as it was at school and the transition from school to Univeristy is turning out to be a very huge step.

I am enjoying the independence in my study so far and am finding myself analysing people’s writing and language around me. I’m turning into my worst nightmare – a perfectionist. However I think that’s what I’m learning the most so far from my first modules; that you have to work heavily outside of the lecture theatre. I managed to scrape by school without really studying at home, somehow! University is opening my eyes to what it’s like to really work hard at a subject. I also like that everyone who is on my course is here by choice, it creates a completely different educational atmosphere to what we experience at school.

Overall I think I’ve been given a figurative slap in the face by my lecturers – if I don’t do the work myself, I fail. It’s going to take a while to get used too but I think I’m adapting to degree level English quite quickly. I loved reading The Road almost as much as I loved writing about it, I’m thoroughly enjoying the blog setup and I can’t wait to begin new modules and learn more about both reading and writing. I still think I need practice at both of them, but I am only a first year student! 

My thoughts of the English degree thus far, by Louanne Dyer.

I was and still remain completely unsure of what to expect on an English degree, only that I hoped to be exposed to new, exciting and interesting literature. I am now a few weeks into said degree and so far I have found it interesting, interesting in the choice of novels I have been asked to analyse so far. Kafka’s Metamorphosis was a humours read and a good starting point, whereas McCarthy’s The Road was utterly depressing. I do look forward to covering a wide range of texts, but I feel The Road dragged on and dragged on, oh and on.

Writing a blog is something alien to me, I had no idea it would feature on the course and so heavily at that. It would be interesting to know what it was like in your day Dave before computers and writing on a blog, how did your tutors analyse your further writing outside of essays?

I must say I am enjoying the Myth module as it is the first time I think I have been exposed to it; I certainly do not remember it from school if I have covered it at all. How English works however I have found more of a challenging prospect to undertake. I am fully aware that I need to study the make-up of the English language, but I would have hoped the module was as interesting as the module leaders are excited about it.

I know that I have not even comprehended the tip of the iceberg that is an English degree, so I feel it’s going to be an interesting ride and I look forward to seeing how it would pan out. It might sound as though I am unhappy on the course, this is not the case as I have worked hard to get to this point in my life and I am very happy to be studying here.

Hi Ladies,

Just wondering if any of you know what we’re doing in the workshop this week? The poetry handouts are confusing me – I have no idea what’s what! 

– Laura x

Lauren Glover – How the English degree is going so far…..

At week 7, my experience of the English degree so far has been somewhat mixed. I have found, overall that it has been mostly positive, but there have been some days where I have been worried about my understanding of certain areas or I have concerns over deadlines. However, when these situations have arisen, I have tried my best not to panic and have simply taken a step back, referred to my notes, spoke to my peers or researched the specific topic in greater detail.

On a positive note, whilst being re-introduced to some of the literary terms learned in previous education, I have also discovered new skills and terms and been taught new approaches towards reading as well as critical writing and close reading analysis. This has been something I have particularly enjoyed and felt my understanding here has been much stronger than anticipated. 

Beginning the semester with literary prose was a good way of ‘breaking us in gently’ as most of us not only read frequently, but actively enjoy it and have a good understanding of how to interpret it. The literature we were given to read were two texts that I would have never considered had I not have been asked to read it for study purposes. I suppose it is a way of opening students’ minds to new kinds of reading and interpretation and is something to be embraced. 

If I were to specify a certain area that I found particularly difficult, it would have to be the close reading analysis essay. With all of the literary terms and approaches that we had been taught over the previous weeks, I found it almost impossible to include all of these terms with a short word count of 750. However, this is a form of discipline, and something that we need to adhere to over the course of the degree, so we may as well start as we mean to go on!

As we have now moved on to poetry, I am finding this area a little more challenging. The teaching methods here have been good so far and I feel as though we have been given relevant information as to how to interpret and comprehend individual poems. I have particularly enjoyed the seminar groups, especially poetry, as I find it intriguing to hear the views, opinions and insights of my fellow students.

I find that, as a result of just 7 weeks of degree level learning, I now scrutinise all of my writing, even text messaging and emails. I think it’s natural for your own writing to become more formal and comprehensive because you are surrounded by intelligent and academic individuals.

From here, I hope to continue to learn new skills and explore new avenues as well as improve my writing and understanding to enable me to develop as I venture into the next semester.

Reading and Meaning. Natalie’s work by Lauren

Natalie’s interpretation of the poem is similar to that of the rest of us; it is a thing of beauty and serenity. The reader should stop and absorb the words, capturing its essence, whilst creating an image in the mind. We should allow ourselves to become captivated by the poets creativity and simply embrace what the poet is trying to convey.

She also recognises that, although the poet has given the stanza their own meaning, the reader in turn interprets it in their own personal way. As Young comments (p.23) There may be as many interpretations of a text as there are people to read it. With this view in mind, reading and interpretation is extremely personal as Natalie observes.

Natalie comments on the way in which the poet draws our senses into his words. It allows us to feel the poem as it plays on our emotions, bringing it to life. We should be able to experience it as though it were alive.

Overall, I think Natalie has written an accurate account of the poems meaning and how we should read and understand poetry in general.

Task 4 – Laura’s comments on Natalie’s post

In order to make this stanza make sense, Natalie has related the feelings she gets from the language in this poem to personal feelings. For example, she gets the feeling of serenity from some of the words used and relates this to her own feelings of tranquility. She has looked beyond the literal sense of what has been written and found a deeper and more beautiful meaning by using how the poem has made her feel.
She has added a lot to the stanza as she has taken the literal sense and turned it into something more in order to understand what the author is trying to put across. I don’t think Natalie has overlooked the general purpose of the poem (showing how beautiful poetry is) as she has looked individually at the meanings of phrases in order to get that broader idea of the general purpose of what has been written.

Young describes reading as ‘a process in which the text is locked in a relationship with the reader, dependent upon him or her to provide the interpretation, plug the gaps’. This is exactly what Natalie has done, she’s developed a relationship with the stanza in order to discover it’s deeper meaning and understand it as a whole.

Task 4 Louanne’s interpretation of Laura’s comment.

My interpretation of Laura’s comment of Ars Poetica is that Laura views this poem as beauty personified. Within the stanza she feels an inner peace and appreciation of the simple, yet ignored ordinary events of nature. The gaps I feel Laura has filled are in the deeper meaning of the language she has uncovered in the poem, as well as abbreviating the stanza in such a way that we the reader should realise the art of beauty in our environment. The imagery of this tranquil marriage of beauty and art to Laura’s senses permits the poem to make sense to her.