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English in 1st Arts

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  • 10-05-2005 8:16pm
    #1
    lilchicken
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6 ✭


    Could anyone who has done or doing english tell me what its like?


    Is there any 'creative' writing involved?
    are the texts you have to read complicated or boring?
    can you easily get bogged down with the amount of reading?
    are you required to be opinionated about the texts? (eg in tutorials)
    does it improve your writing skills?


    or any other info you can offer...thanks.


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    #2
    lateasever
    Closed Accounts Posts: 180 ✭✭lateasever


    doing it right now
    dont its crap
    seriously, all old english and linguistics, and im gonna fail the exam, and im not even an idiot. definately the hardest arts subject
    no creative writing whatsoever
    it sucks


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    #3
    lateasever
    Closed Accounts Posts: 180 ✭✭lateasever


    god i regret picking english
    plllllleeeeeeaaaaasssssseee dont do it


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    #4
    arbeitsscheuer
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,391 ✭✭✭arbeitsscheuer


    mwa-ha, I was gonna pick English in first year!!! Don't regret not picking it.

    Although...

    Politics is sh*te as well, definitely DO NOT PICK IT!!!! I hate it more than... blue cheese.


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    #5
    Mr.Nice Guy
    Registered Users Posts: 45,594 ✭✭✭✭Mr.Nice Guy


    SebtheBum wrote:
    mwa-ha, I was gonna pick English in first year!!! Don't regret not picking it.

    Although...

    Politics is sh*te as well, definitely DO NOT PICK IT!!!! I hate it more than... blue cheese.

    I was going to do English as well but I chose politics instead. I have a friend doing English and she says the medieval stuff is really hard.


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    #6
    arbeitsscheuer
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,391 ✭✭✭arbeitsscheuer


    yeah, my mate's in 2nd yr English - the Old and Middle English looks like a f**king nightmare. Seriously, doesnt even look like English... More like feckin German, but I did German and this is just gibberish by comparison...


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    #7
    Chinafoot
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,894 ✭✭✭Chinafoot


    lilchicken wrote:
    Could anyone who has done or doing english tell me what its like?


    Is there any 'creative' writing involved?
    are the texts you have to read complicated or boring?
    can you easily get bogged down with the amount of reading?
    are you required to be opinionated about the texts? (eg in tutorials)
    does it improve your writing skills?


    or any other info you can offer...thanks.

    I'm in second year doing English and History and its tough going with the amount of reading for both subjects but its definitely worthwhile.

    Is there any 'creative' writing involved? > Not really as its based mainly on the texts that you will read, but if you are interested in that aspect of it there is a creative writing group in the college.

    are the texts you have to read complicated or boring? > There is a good mix of everything as the course is divided up into different sections. Theres Shakespeare, Chaucer and then the more contemporary stuff. Its not all Old English and Linguistics,although they are part of the course. Some of the texts can be tough but there is a fair bit of choice come exam time so i wouldnt worry too much.

    can you easily get bogged down with the amount of reading? > Well this all depends on yourself and also on your other two subjects. I did History and Psychology last year and at times the list of books seemed endless but once you actually ENJOY reading it shouldnt be a problem.

    are you required to be opinionated about the texts? (eg in tutorials) > Almost all tutors will expect you to make some contribution to the tutorial discussions. Personally i hate speaking in front of people i dont know and in first year i was always very nervous in my other tutorials, but i found it a lot easier in English than with my other two subjects which were mostly fact based. In English its your opinion that counts. You could read something completely differently to someone else, that doesnt necessarily make your opinion less valid than theirs. So dont be afraid to speak up.

    does it improve your writing skills? > Without a doubt, yes. you will have essays to do throughout the year and your writing skills will definitely improve. Mine have certainly come a long way since the start of first year.

    Personally I would recommend it once you enjoy reading and are prepared to put the work in.....which i didnt really this year! :p


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    #8
    lateasever
    Closed Accounts Posts: 180 ✭✭lateasever


    o seriously dont listen to her, its bad so bad
    the exams are completely random, they can ask anything

    hey peachy how dju pass paper two, gimme some help im dyin here


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    #9
    lateasever
    Closed Accounts Posts: 180 ✭✭lateasever


    im talkin first year btw


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    #10
    lateasever
    Closed Accounts Posts: 180 ✭✭lateasever


    plllllleaaaaseeeeeee


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    #11
    ferdi
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,598 ✭✭✭ferdi


    i failed first english last year


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    #12
    lateasever
    Closed Accounts Posts: 180 ✭✭lateasever


    for f**ks sake, im gonna aswell, and the repeats, and then my life will be over so i might aswell kill myself unless someone helps me


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    #13
    lateasever
    Closed Accounts Posts: 180 ✭✭lateasever


    seriously im gonna cry


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    #14
    arbeitsscheuer
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,391 ✭✭✭arbeitsscheuer


    Stop double-posting Lateasever, it's f**king annoying. Post everything you want in one message, and if you hav any extra stuff to add, edit the original post.

    Jesus.


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    #15
    lateasever
    Closed Accounts Posts: 180 ✭✭lateasever


    eh, why? why do you care? its nothing except an extra split second moving a mouse, and hell if your posting on here your time aint all that valuable anyways


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    #16
    lilchicken
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6 ✭lilchicken


    um, hi, yeah, would you mind not threadjacking as i don't want my shiny new thread to get locked. thanks. :)

    anyway, thank you for the (on topic) responses. i really appreciate it.


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    #17
    arbeitsscheuer
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,391 ✭✭✭arbeitsscheuer


    lilchicken wrote:
    um, hi, yeah, would you mind not threadjacking as i don't want my shiny new thread to get locked. thanks. :)

    anyway, thank you for the (on topic) responses. i really appreciate it.

    I just wanna point out that I posted assistance to you (scroll up, there ya go, reply #5 :o ) - whereas dumbass here posts completely irrelevant ballsology. Sorry to go on about, but jesus...

    Anyway, most ppl don't like English that much I guess, but I challenge you to find many ppl who actually 100% love their courses. Depends whether you really love English generally, if not then it's probably not for you.


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    #18
    funky penguin
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,352 ✭✭✭funky penguin


    Isn't it changing next year cos of Horizons?

    Are these the Lectures/modules currently being studied?

    Introduction to Early Irish I
    Introduction to Early Irish Literature
    Critical Readings
    Children’s Literature
    Getting Medieval: An Introduction to Studies in Early English
    Literary Genre

    They are the modules listed on the site.


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    #19
    kasintahan
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,010 ✭✭✭kasintahan


    SebtheBum wrote:
    definitely DO NOT PICK IT!!!! I hate it more than... blue cheese.

    Better not dinner with Panda100 then...


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    #20
    OfflerCrocGod
    Registered Users Posts: 6,317 ✭✭✭OfflerCrocGod


    lateasever wrote:
    eh, why? why do you care? its nothing except an extra split second moving a mouse, and hell if your posting on here your time aint all that valuable anyways
    Because it breaks up the flow of the thread and simply pads it out with lots of useless comments. Very annoying. Anyway, to the OP -- DON'T CHOOSE ENGLISH! I hope that's clear enough :)


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    #21
    ozt9vdujny3srf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,152 ✭✭✭ozt9vdujny3srf


    lateasever banned for three days for spam and partly because of the thread asking for website hacks.


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    #22
    pretty*monster
    Registered Users Posts: 1,326 ✭✭✭pretty*monster


    There's no creative writing, no. Most, if not all, English courses in this country forego creative writing, which I think is fair enough, it's not something you can really learn.

    The texts aren't all that complicated, not in first year anyway. Portrait of the Artist was a little complicated I suppose, but we also read Huck Finn, which is easy peasy. Some of them are boring, some of them are interesting. It depends on your interests.

    You can get bogged down by the reading, but it's important to realise that you don't have to read all the texts on the course, the exam questions, despite what latasever said, can be very broad every text comes up in one form or another.

    You are encouraged to form an opinion on the texts (though I'm sure you can get by regurgitating other people's opinions, it's actually easier to make up your own).

    Almost all humanities based courses improve your writing skills due to the volume of essays you have to write.

    I have to say that I was very disappointed with the English course in ucd. I'm keeping it on next year but most people I know aren't. The lectures were pretty vague and the lecturers were unapproachable for the most part.


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    #23
    rain on
    Registered Users Posts: 1,732 ✭✭✭rain on


    the other side of the story:
    i'm in third year english, and I love it so much i've applied for a postgrad in it next year. don't be put off by the old and middle english - middle english gets bearable after a while (hated it in first year, didn't mind it in second year, quite like it in third year) and as for old english.. the only old english stuff I've ever done was three short poems. there's more stuff on the course, but it's easy to avoid it and still do well. (I've never got lower than a 2.1 in exams, and i've been getting straight firsts in continuous assessment for a year and a half now). i have always found the lecturers to be very friendly and approachable.


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