U of A Undergrad - English Courses

[Caylynn]

I'm starting my second undergrad degree at U of A this fall (have a bio engineering degree from Guelph), and, of course, I have to take first year English, something I didn't have to do at Guelph since I had OAC/Grade 13 English.

I'm wondering if any of you have taken some of the first year English courses at U of A, and what they were like. I'm currently registered in ENGL 121 Lit in Historical Perspective and ENGL 124 Literary Analysis. I've been told that I should drop ENGL 124 for one of the other English courses.

So, do any of you have any experience with the other English courses and could comment on what they were like? Thanks!

[ConcernedP]

Originally Posted by Caylynn

I'm starting my second undergrad degree at U of A this fall (have a bio engineering degree from Guelph), and, of course, I have to take first year English, something I didn't have to do at Guelph since I had OAC/Grade 13 English.

I'm wondering if any of you have taken some of the first year English courses at U of A, and what they were like. I'm currently registered in ENGL 121 Lit in Historical Perspective and ENGL 124 Literary Analysis. I've been told that I should drop ENGL 124 for one of the other English courses.

So, do any of you have any experience with the other English courses and could comment on what they were like? Thanks!

Hi Caylynn:

You may have tough time getting this one answered here. It appears that English department changed their course numbering/organization because most people used to take English 111 that does not appear in the calender anymore. Also, course titles are deceiving. You need to get hold of someone in the english department and find out the most common course combination that satisfies six credit requirement for the other faculties. Unless someone who took english 121/124 combo last year comes forward to give you help, your best bet is the information from the department, course website that lists course expectation (if you can find one) or even try to talk to a english tutor. Tutors are registered under the student union services on U of A web.

English 111 was not hard if you paid attention in the class, participated in discussion, and completed written assignment in time etc.

[Caylynn]

Thanks Concerned. I've only been able to talk to one U of A student, who said Literary Analysis was really more intended for Arts majors, but didn't give any suggestions as to what to take instead, which is why I popped in here.

Glad to hear the previous 'standard' English course was not difficult if you put in the time and did the work. Hopefully that's still the same! Thanks for the tutor suggestion - that's one avenue I hadn't thought of.

[igotacookie]

English has changed from when I took it. It used to be a full year 6 credit course, which made course schedules very tough to make.

My advice to you as a premed, English is very professor dependent. You could be a fantastic writer and still bomb it due to style, personality, or the prof just being a hardass and not giving out any A's.

Register for your classes using ratemyprof and review the profs comments. Also, prior to classes actually starting check the reading list for the class. They will be up on beartracks. Chances are if the reading material is stuff you actually like you will do much better. I got crushed in first year English (I could not relate to the material at all... stupid Jane Eyre...), it was my only non-A in my academic career and nullified any chance I had of getting in as a 2/3 year. I took two 300 level English classes in the summer with material I enjoyed and did much better.

If you think English is a potential weakness, take it in the summer or spring. Then it will not kill your cGPA.

[Caylynn]

Thanks cookie. The prof I have for literary analysis actually has some really good reviews, so maybe it will be okay. Haven't been able to find ANYTHING on my prof for first semester English, so I suspect it's a PhD student doing their required teaching. So I may drop the course and try to take an English via letter-of-permission in the summer if I can (I don't like U of A's condensed spring/summer semesters - at Guelph, the summer semester was a regular one, which was much more my style!)

Thanks again for the advice.

[arekieh]

I took 123 and 124. 123 is definitely an easier/better class