THE MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY
MMU CHESHIRE
2014-2015
BA (Honours) English
&
BA/BSc Combined Honours English
FURTHER INFORMATION FOR NEW ENTRANTS
A message from the English team in the Interdisciplinary Studies Department at MMU Cheshire
Dear English Student,
Welcome! We look forward to welcoming you in person in the autumn; until then, this letter
will help to introduce you to our (now your) programme. You must be feeling very excited – and
perhaps a little apprehensive – about this new phase in your studies and life. To help you out, we
have put together a list of things you will need to have with you in week 1. Purchase these as soon as
you can so that you have them ready before we start our classes.
You must arrive in week 1 with the following:
1. You must purchase the correct edition and volumes of the Norton Anthology of English
Literature (outlined below). The publisher is W. W. Norton and Company and the General
Editor is Stephen Greenblatt. This collection of texts spans from the beginnings of storytelling in the British Isles to the present day. All of your primary reading materials for the
main, first year core units – which are called ‘The English Canon’ and ‘Introduction to
Poetry’ – are included in these 6-volumes. You will also use this anthology on other units
throughout your three years with us. Please purchase:
 Vol. A. The Middle Ages, edited by Simpson and David, ISBN 978-0-393-91249-4.
 Vol. B. The Sixteenth Century and The Early Seventeenth Century, edited by
Greenblatt, Lewalski, Logan and Maus, ISBN 978-0-393-91250-0
 Vol. C. The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century, edited by Noggle and Lipking,
ISBN 978-0-393-91251-7.
 Vol. D. The Romantic Period, edited by Lynch and Stillinger, ISBN 978-0-39391252-4.
 Vol. E. The Victorian Age, edited by Robson and Christ, ISBN 978-0-393-91253-1.
 Vol. F The Twentieth Century and After, edited by Ramazani and Stallworthy, ISBN
978-0-393-91254-8.
You should purchase the 9th edition of this anthology (2012 publication), as earlier editions
contain different texts and have different page numbers. You should also be aware that there
is a two-volume version of this anthology. While it is possible for you to use the two-volume
9th edition, staff will be teaching from the six-volume version and the weight of the twovolume version makes it difficult to carry to class. This set of six books is readily available
through on-line sellers. The most economical way to purchase it is generally as two sets of
three books (saving as much as 30%).
Package 1: Volumes A, B, C; ISBN 978-0-393-91300-2
Package 2: Volumes D, E, F; ISBN 978-0-393-91301-9
2. You will also need A4 paper for taking notes at lectures and seminars. You may find a laptop
or tablet helpful for taking notes, but these are not required. You do not need to own a
computer as you will have access to computer labs for conducting research and writing.
3. In order to help you begin to focus your thoughts before joining us, please take some time to
complete the attached exercise and bring it with you to the Induction Week English activity
held on Wednesday of Induction (Freshers’) Week.
You will be studying four units (MMU’s term for modules or classes). All English students,
whether they are Combined or Single Honours study two units: ‘The English Canon’ and
‘Introduction to Poetry’. We ask that all English students prepare for two of these before they arrive.
The English Canon will introduce you to key texts from the Canon. In other words, you will study
important texts from the Anglo-Saxon period through to the First World War, which have shaped
literature in English as we know it. Because Freshers’ Week will be very hectic and full of activity,
please prepare for your first English Canon lecture by reading the section entitled ‘[Introduction] The
Middles Ages to ca. 1485’, pages 1-28 from The Norton Anthology, volume A The Middle Ages. We
also strongly recommend that you read ahead and familiarise yourself with two of the longer texts we
will be studying in term 1: Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf (vol. A, pages 36-108) and
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (vol. B, pages 1187–1250). Instead of trying to ‘analyse’ these, just get
a rough idea of the stories and, most importantly, simply enjoy them. We will look into them in-depth
together.
Introduction to Poetry will help you build skills of close analysis and focuses on poems from
the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In preparation for it, please read ‘[Introduction] The
Twentieth Century and After’ pages 1886-1913 from The Norton Anthology, volume F The Twentieth
Century and After. We would also like you to flip through volume F, reading random pieces of poetry
in the collection. Read some of the poems aloud. See what words, images, themes and techniques
catch your eye and ear. Are there poems you particularly like or dislike? Why? You could spend
every free moment of the summer doing this, but we ask that you simply do so for a few hours,
immersing yourself in the feel of twentieth century poetry.
I hope this has whetted your appetite, and we are very much looking forward to meeting and
getting to know you in the autumn. Most inquiries you may have should be directed to Admissions in
the first instance, but if you have questions about the texts, do feel free to contact me.
Happy reading!
Dr. Rachel Dickinson (Programme Leader for English) r.dickinson@mmu.ac.uk
Dr. Kirsty Bunting k.bunting@mmu.ac.uk
Dr. David Cooper d.cooper@mmu.ac.uk
Activity: Bring this to the subject meeting in Induction Week
Beginning in the Induction Week and throughout your degree, we will introduce you to key
concepts in the study of literature. Before you begin to look at what others think, you need to
have a clear sense for yourself of what you think, what your reading habits are… and you
need to begin to consider how and why these have been shaped. Try to answer the following
questions, noting down your responses. Do not worry about giving a ‘right’ or a ‘wrong’
answer; this is not a test, it is simply a way to get you thinking about your relationship with
literature. We are not looking for long essay answers at this stage, just a brief sense of your
thoughts.
1. What is your favourite novel? Tell us why you particularly like it.
2. Do you prefer novels, short stories, plays, poems, biographies, graphic novels
(comics or manga), or some other form of written text? Why?
3.
Do you have a favourite literary period (e.g. contemporary, Victorian, medieval)?
4. What type of story do you like best – detective, science fiction, romance, thriller,
children’s literature; or something else entirely?
5. Think about your writing habits. Do you write regularly (e.g. blogs, status
updates, letters, personal journal/diary, fiction, poetry)?
6. Were you read to as a child? Do you think this affected your relationship with
books then? And now?
7.
What is your experience of being taught literature? What texts and/or teaching
methods worked best for you?
8. What is your favourite film? Why?
9. What is your favourite film that is an adaptation of or closely linked to a work of
fiction? What aspects of the adaptation were particularly successful… or
unsuccessful?
10. List what you think are the five most famous or important books of all time.
11. List what you think are the five most famous and/or important authors of all time.
12. What do you think is the most over-rated text or author? Why?