Getting ready

There are a few essential things you need to do before you join us, including registering with the University and activating your IT account.

This year, Welcome Week will take place from 16 to 20 September. The first term of the 2024/25 academic year will begin on 23 September. The University Welcome pages are there to help you prepare for your time with us.

The library is here to support your learning throughout your time at University and make sure that you get the most out of the resources and services available to you. Each School or Department has its own Liaison Librarian. Your Liaison Librarian is usually based in the Harold Cohen or the Sydney Jones Library.

Summer reading for new students

The following texts are useful background reading for your modules; the exception is the list for Literature in Time, which provides several texts you will be studying on that particular module. More detailed reading information can be found on your module Canvas pages once you've registered. 

English Language

ENGL106 Attitudes to English

  • Dan Clayton, Attitudes to Language (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018)
  • John Edwards, Language and Identity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009)

ENGL107 Introduction to Language Study

  • Joan C. Beal, An Introduction to Regional Englishes: Dialect Variation in England (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2010).
  • David Crystal, A Little Book of Language (Yale: Yale University Press, 2010)

ENGL105 Introduction to Stylistics

  • Paul Simpson, Stylistics: A Resource Book for Students, 2nd edn (Oxford: Routledge, 2014)
  • Alison Gibbons and Sara Whiteley, Contemporary Stylistics: Language, Cognition, Interpretation (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2018). 

English Literature

Overview

Robert Eaglestone, Doing English: A Guide for Literature Students, 4th ed. (Oxford: Routledge, 2017)

ENGL103 Close Reading

This module does not have 'core' reading as such.  The following texts are not required reading, but may help you to get a sense of what close reading is:

  • David Lodge, The Art of Fiction(London: Penguin, 1992)
  • Terry Eagleton, How To Read A Poem(Oxford: Wiley, 2006)
  • Eavan Boland and Mark Strand, The Making of a Poem(US: Norton, 2001)
  • Andrew Hodgson, The Cambridge Guide to Reading Poetry(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021).

ENGL117 Literature in Time

  • Listed below are a selection of the texts that we will study on this course that you may wish to read in advance; the details include both recommended print editions and links to reliable online versions of those texts.
  • Unknown author, Sir Orfeo; we use the online version available here (NB the text is in Middle English, but there are annotations explaining unfamiliar terms)
  • Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus, ed. David Scott Kastan (US: Norton, 2005); online version available here  (NB there are two versions of the text (‘A’ and ‘B’) - please read the ‘A’ Text)
  • Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal (Penguin Classics, 2015); online version available here
  • Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights, ed. John Bugg (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020); online version available here

Close Reading

This module does not have 'core' reading as such, but if you'd like to get a sense of what close reading is, then we'd suggest looking at the following:

  • David Lodge, The Art of Fiction (London: Penguin, 1992).
  • Terry Eagleton, How To Read A Poem (Oxford: Wiley, 2006)
  • Eavan Boland and Mark Strand, The Making of a Poem (US: Norton, 2001)
  • Andrew Hodgson, The Cambridge Guide to Reading Poetry (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021).

Please note that these are useful background, NOT required reading.

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