1
NUIG, English
1BA 2014-2015
NUIG English
1BA Student Handbook, 2014-2015
CONTENTS
2 – Introduction
4 – Format of 1BA English
6 – Notes on EN126, Tutorial Course & Essay Deadlines
7 – English Department Style Sheet
13 – Plagiarism Policy
15 – Assessment Guidelines
17 - Student code of conduct
This Handbook contains most of the basic information you need to know for First Year English in NUIG. You should consult it regularly. Staff and tutors in the Department will assume that you know the material contained in it. We recommend you read the handbook fully and carefully, as it is your responsibility to acquaint yourself with its contents. When you need information about First Year English, you should look in one of the following three places:
- English department’s website
- Blackboard (the online site where you will find information about all your First Year English courses, including booklists, essay topics, lecture schedules, etc.)
- This 1BA handbook
If you have a serious question or problem that cannot be answered by either the departmental website or Blackboard, then you should come to visit the Head of First Year English, Dr O’Cinneide, in person during her office hours (Tuesdays 3-4pm and Thursdays 12-1pm). Please use e-mail only as a last resort.
About 1BA English
Welcome to First Year English at the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG). What is English as a university subject? First, let us say what it is not. It is not a passive study of a pre-existing dead body of knowledge about ‘English’. It is the active creation of knowledge about literature and culture in English wherever it is or has been spoken and written: e.g. England, the United States, Ireland, Canada, India, Scotland, Africa, Australia, Wales, South Africa.
Reading:
You will read the very first things written in English – extraordinary poems written on the skins of animals (vellum) – and you will read literature written today in digital glyphs on the internet - e-books, graphic novels, blogs. You will read epic religious poems (Paradise Lost), erotic lyrics (John Donne, Aphra Behn, Robert Herrick, Allen Ginsberg), epistolary novels (Pamela), literary criticism, literary history, satire (Swift), children’s fiction (the Narnia books), the plays of Shakespeare, Romantic poems (by Shelley, Keats, Blake, Wordsworth), the novels of Jane Austen, the Brontes, Dickens, Margaret Atwood, Nabokov, J. M. Coetzee, plays by Ibsen, Lori-Parks, Beckett, books about being queer (James Baldwin, E. M. Forster, Jeannette Winterson), books about celibacy (Confessions of a Young Man), books about religion (The Faerie Queene), about war, love, sex, murder, insanity, work, creativity, money, family, loneliness, virtue, friendship. You will learn about fiction and non-fiction, about the difference (and kinship) between lies and fiction, about poetics, about the theatre, about style (high and low, and in-between). You will learn about the ways in which literature actually gets made by flesh-and-blood human beings, who change what they write, who scribble, make notes, erase, revise, abandon, persevere, write in bed (Proust, Joyce), in the car (Nabokov), at their desks; great writers who sometimes gnash their teeth over what they write. You will read things that will make you laugh (Flann O’Brien), cry (Troilus and Criseyde), hope (Whitman), despair (1984). You will read things that cannot easily be understood (Ulysses). And those are just a few of the possibilities.
You will have big questions to consider – what is literature? How is it different to history or philosophy or politics? How does it intersect with other areas of life? How does it relate to life? Is it a mirror, a slice-of-life, or an independent created alternative world? Or, as M. H. Abrams put it, is it the ‘mirror’ or the ‘lamp’? Does literature educate us, or ‘merely’ entertain us? Is it moral, immoral or amoral? Does it reflect the personality or life-story of its author? What, if anything, is it good for?
And you will have precise questions to answer: when was a certain work written? Who wrote it? What, as far as we can tell from her letters, her documents, her notes, was the author doing in the rest of her life when she wrote it? Who influenced her work? Whom did she influence? What does it mean? Why did she revise it? What are the differences between the earlier and later versions? What can you infer from these differences?
But the most important point is that ultimately you will have to formulate your own questions, ones that perhaps your lecturer might never ask. And perhaps the questions you generate will take you on quite a different path, leading to different kinds of knowledge than the ones envisaged above.
Talking, thinking and writing:
As you read, not after, but as you read, you will make notes, talk, think and write about what you read. The job of everyone in the university – both lecturers and students – is to think, to pose questions, to create knowledge. That is your work. There is no static final or definitive end to ‘information’ about a writer or a work of literature. Students of English generate new questions all the time, and then they try to answer them. You can do this in your very first essays – by thinking for yourself, actually thinking hard about the thing (poem, play, short story, novel, essay) in front of you. From your first to your last week in the English department, you will be writing about what you are reading and what you are thinking about what you are reading. The study of English leads to the enrichment of your knowledge, your skills as a thinker, writer and reader, and your whole personality. And as you enrich yourself, so you enrich the university, your classmates, and your subject. You don’t receive an education. You make it.
Lectures and Tutorials:
The First Year program in English is designed to introduce you to three central forms in literature (poetry, the novel, drama), and to introduce you to two important earlier periods in English literature (Medieval and Renaissance).
English in First Year comprises two different kinds of teaching – lectures and tutorials. The role of both student and teacher is different in each. In a lecture (the word comes from the Latin ‘lectura’ which means a ‘reading’) an individual lecturer discusses particular books and ideas. Lectures are valuable because they are given by experts on the subject, and provide students with concise access to this expertise. The student’s role is to read the assigned works carefully before the lecture, listen actively (by taking notes, thinking, questioning) during the lecture, and follow up with more reading and any assigned writing after the lecture.Informed attendance at lectures is the most accessible way to gain knowledge about a topic and to deepen your understanding of the literary genres and/or periods in question.
Tutorials are smaller gatherings of students with a tutor. They are more focused than the lectures on the doing of a particular task (e.g. reading a poem, learning a skill, practising writing), and sometimes in their concentration on a particular topic. But the most important difference between lectures and tutorials is that the students do most of the talking in the tutorials – to each other, and to the teacher. Your input as students is central to the work of the tutorial.
There is a third aspect to the First Year program that has not yet been mentioned, and that is the library, and more important, what it contains – the books themselves. As we saw above, the word ‘lecture’ comes from the word for ‘a reading’. Reading, and thinking and writing about what you read, is the very heart of an arts degree, and of a degree in English in particular.
FORMAT OF 1BA ENGLISH – EN124; EN125; EN126
Lectures:
In Semester 1you will take a lecture course (EN124). This course meets three times a week, on Tuesdays at 1 p.m., on Thursdays at 5 p.m. and on Fridays at 1 p.m. You attend all three of these lectures. The course comprises three ‘strands’:
- Poetry 1 (Dr Adrian Paterson)
- Medieval Literature (Dr Frances McCormack)
- Renaissance Literature (Dr Lindsay Reid)
EN124 is examined by means of a two-hour written examination at the end of Semester One.
In Semester 2 you will take another lecture course (EN125). This course also involves three strands:
- Poetry 2 (Professor Sean Ryder)
- Drama (Professor Patrick Lonergan and Professor Lionel Pilkington)
- The Novel (Dr Elizabeth Tilley)
EN125 is examined by means of a two-hour written examination at the end of Semester Two.
Lecture Schedule EN124Semester One / Tuesdays 1-2 / Thursdays 5-6 / Fridays 1-2
Group 1
(surnames A-L) / Medieval Literature
O’ Flaherty Theatre
Dr McCormack / Poetry
O’ Flaherty Theatre
Dr Paterson / Renaissance Literature
O’ Flaherty Theatre
Dr Reid
Group 2
(surnames M-Z) / Poetry
D’Arcy Thompson Theatre
Dr Paterson / Renaissance Literature
IT125
Dr Reid / Medieval Literature
O’ Flaherty Theatre
Dr McCormack
Group 1 always meets in the O’Flaherty Theatre on the main concourse of the Arts Block.
Group 2 meets as follows:
Tuesdays 1-2: D’Arcy Thompson Theatreon the main concourse of the Arts Block.
Thursdays 5-6: IT125(IT Building, off Arts Concourse)
Fridays 1-2:D’Arcy Thompson Theatre
An interactive map of the NUIG campus can be found here:
Lecture ScheduleEN125
SemesterTwo / Tuesdays 1-2 / Thursdays 5-6 / Fridays 1-2
Group 1
(surnames A-L) / Poetry II
O’ Flaherty Theatre
Professor Ryder / Drama
O’ Flaherty Theatre
Prof. Lonergan andProf.Pilkington / The Novel
O’ Flaherty Theatre
DrTilley
Group 2
(surnames M-Z) / Drama
UC102, ArasUi Chathail Theatre
Prof. Lonergan andProf.Pilkington / The Novel
UC102, ArasUi Chathail Theatre
DrTilley / Poetry II
AM150 O'Tnuthail Theatre
Professor Ryder
Group 1 always meets in the O’Flaherty Theatre on the main concourse of the Arts Block.
Group 2 meets as follows:
Tuesdays 1-2:UC102, Aras Ui Chathail Theatre
Thursdays 5-6: UC102, Aras Ui Chathail Theatre
Fridays 1-2:AM150, O'Tnuathail Theatre(Arts Millennium Building)
First Year Orientation takes place the week of the 1st-5th September. Regular lectures in English then begin the following week. Detailed information including course descriptions, calendars of lecture schedules and booklists, will be provided at the first regular lectures in the week of 8th-12th September. (Some material will be available earlier on from Blackboard, or see the noticeboards/document holders in Tower 1.)
Head of First Year English: Dr Muireann O’Cinneide
Office location: 501, Third Floor, Arts Block
Office hours:Tuesdays 3-4 and Thursdays 12-1pm.
Email:
Tutorials:
At the beginning of the year you will join a tutorial (the code for this course is EN126). This tutorial meets once a week through the academic year, and you will be in the same group for the whole year. The tutorial is a small group of students and a tutor. In your tutorial you will practice your reading and understanding of literature and you will develop your abilities as a writer (and thinker) about literature. The tutorial also provides an opportunity for discussion with your fellow-students, which will take place both outside the tutorial – online through Blackboard – and within the tutorial time itself. You will write regularly in these tutorials and you will submit four longer essays for grading by your lecturer. Your tutorial is worth one third of your overall marks for First Year English. Tutorial teaching begins in the week starting 22nd September (with students signing up to a particular slot beforehand).
What you should expect of us:
- The tutor will be punctual, and will also end the class on time.
- S/he will let the class know in advance what the topic for discussion is to be.
- S/he will respect and encourage the contributions of everyone in the group, and contribute to the discussion her/himself.
- S/he will adopt methods of discussion which enable the participation of the whole class
What we expect of you:
- You are requiredto register for a tutorial, and to attend it regularly. We will keep a record of any that you miss. If, for any reason, you have to miss a seminar, you should inform the tutor, preferably in advance.Absences are recorded. It is your responsibility to check what is required for the next session.
- You will arrive on time.
- You will have prepared properly for the tutorial.
- You will contribute to tutorial discussion (on-line and in-class) to the best of your ability, and with due courtesy towards your fellow-students and your tutor.
When you arrive at NUIG you will be given a University e-mail address (). This is the address that the Department and the University will use to communicate with you. You must check it regularly. Failure to check this account is not a valid excuse for missing information or deadlines.
Blackboard
Blackboard is an electronic facility, available via the internet, at On the one hand Blackboard is a storage facility for information about your courses at NUI, Galway. The stored information usually includes booklists, course descriptions, links to relevant websites and electronic texts. Students and lecturers can get access to this information at all times. Lecturers can easily update information and post news, announcements, essay topics, etc. On the other hand, Blackboard also incorporates an interactive dimension, such as online discussion forums, with which you will be encouraged to engage.
Also, many of your courses in the English department will require you to submit your written work (essays, etc.) via Blackboard. Essay topics will be provided on the Blackboard website, as will an electronic ‘dropbox’, into which the student uploads his/her essay by a specified deadline. You will be automatically enrolled on Blackboard once you have registered with the University. Your courses will then appear once you log on with your username and password. You should keep abreast of the developments on Blackboard in relation to your various courses. It is advisable to confirm your access to Blackboard before needing it for important information, online contributions or deadlines.
EN126 ASSESSMENT AND PRESENTATION
This course is assessed by four essays, each 800-1000 words long. Essays are submitted online via Blackboard’s Turnitin ONLY. The English Department cannot accept hard copies of essays.
SEMESTER 1 ESSAY DEADLINES ARE:
ESSAY ONE: Friday 24thOctober at noon
ESSAY TWO: Friday 21st November at noon
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STYLE SHEET
Before submitting any work for 1BA English your writing must adhere to particular presentation guidelines. Please read this section of the Handbook carefully.
Why do I have to present my work in this way?
All scholarly and published work in the discipline of English is presented in a particular format. This format presents information in a precise and professional fashion. Preparing your work in a specific format also gives you practice in following highly detailed instructions, something that most jobs demand.
Which format does the Department use?
We use the MLA style guide. You must therefore study that Style Guideand adopt its conventions.
The following pages give some of the most important rules of presentation from the MLA, but are not the full guidelines. If you wish to read more, or are citing a source not mentioned in this list, please consult the 2BA or 3BA handbooks on the NUIG English website. You can also read samples of work and MLA citation here:
NUIG, MLA GUIDELINES TO DOCUMENTING SOURCES
PAGE LAYOUT
Margins: You should leave a left-hand margin of at least 1.5 inches for your tutor's comments, plus right-hand, top and bottom margins of at least 1 inch.
Line Spacing and font size: Use double line spacing, and choose 12 point for your font size. Footnotes/endnotes may be in 10 point.
Type face: use a single form of font for the essay (this is, for example, Cambria). Use black throughout. Do not use Bold in your text. Use Italics very sparingly for emphasis and don‘t use exclamation marks in academic writing!
Numbering of Pages: Pages should be numbered at the top right-hand corner, with your surname (e.g. Smith 9).
Paragraphing: To indicate the beginning of paragraphs, indent 5 spaces (or you can use the tab key) at the start of the line.
Title: Make sure you include the essay title.
References & Documentation
In MLA style, you acknowledge your sources by including parenthetical citations within your text. These refer the reader to the alphabetical list of works cited, or bibliography, that appears at the end of the document. For example:
The close of the millennium was marked by a deep suspicion of the natural world and an increasing reliance “upon the pronouncements of soothsayers and visionaries, who caused hysteria with their doom-laden forecasts of the end of humanity” (Mulligan 234).
The citation “(Mulligan 234)” informs the reader that the quotation originates on page 234 of a document by an author named Mulligan. Consulting the bibliography, the reader would find the following information under the name Mulligan: