There are five programmes to choose from, as follows:
Single Honours English is a programme of study in English Literature (though students on the course sometimes have the opportunity to do some creative writing and film study). The literature studied on the course covers the period from the late sixteenth century right up to the present day.
It includes, of course, the most famous writers of all (such as Shakespeare, Donne, Milton, Pope, Fielding, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Blake, the Brontës, Dickens, George Eliot, Tennyson, Hardy, Yeats, Joyce Lawrence, Beckett, Pinter, etc.). But it also includes lesser-known writers and authors who have only just published for the first time.
As the programme progresses students get to choose between a range of exciting options, such as The Gothic, Brave New Worlds, American Literature, Science Fiction, Women’s Writing, Colonial and Postcolonial Literature, Crime Fiction, and Literature and Addiction. In the final year students select a special topic of their own choosing to write a dissertation. Though there is some formal examination, various kinds of coursework are the main form of assessment (particularly essays, but also presentations, portfolios, diaries of study and a range of other types of writing).
In most universities, as at Chester, ‘English’ means the study of literature. But ‘English’ is a better title than ‘English Literature’ because the programme includes creative writing, film, literature in English written by foreign authors, and foreign literature in translation.
Combined Honours English is also a programme of study mainly in English Literature. Everything that applies to Single Honours English (above) applies also to Combined Honours English. The crucial (and obvious) difference is that students of Combined Honours English study less literature than those following the Single Honours programme, and therefore have fewer choices of optional modules (though students may do ‘more’ English than their other subject in what we call Level 5 (the second year of full-time study); and they may ‘major’ in English at Level 6 (the final year of full-time study).
Combined Honours English may be studied with a range of other subjects in the University, including both English Language and Creative Writing (see below).
Combined Honours Creative Writing involves the writing of short stories, longer fiction, poetry, drama and other kinds of scripting. The programme aims to give students practical experience of the full variety of different kinds of writing. Specialist options allow students to gain expertise in publishing and editing, writing anthologies and writing in a variety of genres (such as historical fiction, crime fiction and science fiction).
The Department’s approach to the study of Creative Writing includes the study of different kinds of published writing, to help students understand the different forms and genres available to them as writers. As with all Combined Honours programmes students may do ‘more’ Creative Writing than their other subject at Level 5 (Year 2), and may ‘major’ in the final year of study.
Combined Honours Creative Writing may be studied with a range of other subjects in the University, including both English (see above) and English Language (see below). NOTE: There is no Single Honours programme in Creative Writing.
Single Honours English Language involves the study of the English Language. Students will explore the main features of English – its vocabulary, structure and sound system, its history and its uses (from the language of literature to the language of advertising). It also examines the English language in a range of contexts: social, political, psychological, and gender-related.
A range of options in the final year allows students to specialise in such subjects as Language Disorders, Stylistics, Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Second Language Acquisition, Theories of Language, and Language and Censorship. In the final year, students will write a dissertation, choosing their own language topic for specialist study.
Everything that applies to Single Honours English Language (above) applies also to Combined Honours English Language. The crucial (and obvious) difference is that students of Combined Honours English Language study less of the subject than those following the Single Honours programme, and therefore have fewer choices of optional modules (though students may do ‘more’ English Language than their other subject at Level 5 (Year 2), and may ‘major’ in English Language at Level 6 (Year 3).
Combined Honours English Language may be studied with a range of other subjects in the University, including both English and Creative Writing (see below).
Some students doing one of the English Department’s ‘Combined Honours’ programmes will ‘combine’ the study of English, or Creative Writing, or English Language with subjects in other departments. But some students will choose programmes of study entirely within the English Department. Here, then, is a list of all the combinations taught exclusively by the Department of English (remember that ‘English’ means the study of mainly ‘literature’):
- Combined Honours English and Creative Writing
- Combined Honours English and English Language
- Combined Honours Creative Writing and English Language
