Arriving at your first lecture or seminar for your first module of your first year of uni can be daunting and confusing. Which is why Lit.Soc have put together some reviews of the modules that will be welcoming you to Warwick. Have a read to get a brief idea of what’s in store for you!

 

You can find out more about first year modules on the Warwick English Department website here.

 

​

EN101 The Epic Tradition

 

Yes, this module is ‘epic’ in scale and ‘epic’ in nature (sorry couldn’t help myself!). The reading is heavy and the plots get perplexing at times, but after a while you do get used to it, and even enjoy it!

 

Now you’ve bought The Iliad, you’ve skimmed The Odyssey, and have successfully used Virgil, Milton and Walcott as door stops… so what next?! Well the module focuses on a few key themes: the hero, battles, men and gods, journeys to the underworld, fate and free-will. There’s also some cool Greek terminology you’ll learn throughout the year such as kleos, metis and xenia which will earn you extra brownie points if you use them in your essays!

 

For the assessment, lots of commentary practice on random passages in the texts is highly recommended. If you constantly think about the themes and motifs in the module, then you’re definitely on the right track.

 

Click here to go to the department’s webpage for this module

 

 

 

EN121 Medieval to Renaissance English Literature

 

The closest you’ll come to learning another language if you’re taking the pure English Literature course, prepare yourself for translation lessons because, yes, you will be taught the basics of Middle English and be tested on it!

 

Don’t fear though! Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an enjoyable read once you get past the fact that there’s eight different ways to say ‘man’ in Middle English. Attending the translation sessions and continuous practice will really help you, and SparkNotes, of course.

 

Once you’ve passed the Medieval era and are well into the grand Renaissance of England, you’ll feel more comfortable knowing you can understand the text, and a crossover with The Epic Tradition will occur once you start reading Spenser’s The Faerie Queene. Definitely start brushing up on your poetry reading skills, as much of what you study in the second term will be poems of various kinds.

 

Click here to go to the department’s webpage for this module

 

 

 

EN122 Modes of Reading

 

If you love your theory, then you’ll be in the right place once you’re seated in the lecture hall. Covering aspects of feminism, marxism, post-colonialism and other theoretical perspectives, you’ll study texts and theories side-by-side each week to discover new understandings of how to read literature.

 

In the first lecture , the module convenor said that ‘you have to get used to being comfortable with being uncomfortable’ – and that is the best way to describe this module. The theory is complicated and confusing, you may grasp some bits of it and be leaved totally puzzled by other parts, but the lectures on this module are fantastic. At some point during the lecture you will have a light bulb moment when you suddenly realise what de Beauvoir, Spivak or Jameson were talking about!

 

With several theory modules available to chose from in your second and third years, this module gives you a good idea of what studying theory is like at Warwick.

 

Click here to go to the department’s webpage for this module

 

 

 

EN123 Modern World Literatures

 

 

MWL divides students; some absolutely love it, whereas others aren’t too keen. But that is one of the beauties of MWL; you can discover where your interests lie.

 

Throughout the module you read some of the modernist ‘greats’ such as Goethe, Shelley, Conrad and Kafka as well as some lesser known modern writers such as Soseki and Ngugi. Unlike other modules, there is little direction, which at first can leave you feeling a little lost.

 

No one really understands what modernity is (including the tutors and lecturers) and racing through a text a week is daunting when you are used to annotating a text cover to cover at A-level. However, unlike at A-level, you need not know everything about the texts; you can concentrate on what interests you and the seminar tutors are there to support and guide you.

 

NB: This module is optional for English Literature students, as a language module can be chosen to be studied instead.

 

Click here to go to the department’s webpage for this module

 

 

 

EN124 Modes of Writing

 

 

This module is all about finding your feet in terms of writing creatively. Weekly assignments and peer-feedback the backbone of this module, which is designed to lay the general foundations for all kinds of writing, from poetry to non-fiction.

 

The tutors, like the students, all have a decidedly strange streak (this is almost a pre-requisite for the course) that can manifest itself in obscure poems, an overgrown crack-den or bizarre literary connections. Enjoy the eccentricities and keep an open mind.

Once the initial self-consciousness about reading work aloud to a room full of people subsides, the seminars become lively and interesting, with conflicting opinions and styles played off against each-other. I advise making the most of free time (an hour and a half per week is not overly taxing) to write. Write anything, in any form about any subject, but get it written.

 

NB: This module is for English Literature and Creative Writing students only.

 

Click here to go to the department’s webpage for this module