Special Regulations for the Moderations in English Language and Literature

A

1. 1. The subjects of the examination, the syllabus, and the number of papers shall be as prescribed by regulation from time to time by the Board of the Faculty of English Language and Literature.
2. 2. A Candidate shall be deemed to have passed the examination when he or she shall have satisfied the Moderators in all the papers specified in the regulations.
3. 3. Candidates must offer all the papers at a single examination, except that a candidate must resit at the same time as the Preliminary Examination in English Language and Literature any paper or papers in which he or she has previously failed to satisfy the Moderators.
4. 4. The Moderators may award a distinction to any candidate of special merit who has satisfied the Moderators in all the papers at a single examination.

B

Each candidate shall offer four papers, as set out below. The papers will be of three hours’ duration.

1. 1. Introduction to literary studies The paper will cover a wide variety of critical approaches to literary studies. Candidates will be required to answer one question from each of two sections - Section A (essay questions) and Section B (commentary questions).
2. 2. One of the following:
3. (a) Victorian Literature (1832-1900)
4. (b) Modern Literature (1900 to the present day)
5. 3. One of the following:
6. (a) Introduction to Medieval Studies: Old English Literature The paper will contain a compulsory element involving a prose translation or commentary as specified in the English Undergraduate Handbook, Mods edition.
7. (b) Introduction to Medieval Studies: Middle English Literature The paper will contain a compulsory commentary element as specified in the English Undergraduate Handbook, Mods edition. Candidates who offer paper 4(c) must not answer on Beowulf on this paper in either the commentary or essay questions.
8. 4. One of the following:
9. (a) Victorian Literature (1832-1900) (if not taken for paper 2).
10. (b) Modern Literature (1900 to the present day) (if not taken for paper 2).
11. (c) Beowulf and its cultural background
12. (d) Middle English Dream Poetry
13. (e) Classical Literature Texts will be studied in translation. Candidates must show knowledge of at least three from the following list: Homer, Iliad; Virgil, Aeneid; Ovid, Metamorphoses; Juvenal, Satires; Seneca, Thyestes; Sophocles, Oedipus the King; Aristophanes, The Frogs; Plautus, Menaechmi; Apuleius, The Golden Ass; Longus, Daphnis and Chloe.
14. (f) Introduction to the Study of Language and Linguistics The paper will contain a passage for phonetic transcription and commentary. Candidates will be expected to show knowledge of such topics as modern linguistic theory, phonetics and phonology, the structure of words and sentences, meaning, regional and social variation in language, and principles and mechanisms of language change.
15. (g) Introduction to Critical Theory Candidates will be expected to answer questions on such topics as the nature of literary language, the formation of English literature as a discipline, the canon, literary form, textuality and intertextuality, theories of narrative, interpretation, the production and reception of literary texts, the relation of literature to gender, sexuality, history, ideology, philosophy and psychoanalysis, and theories of culture, cultural difference, ethnicity, and the post-colonial.
16. (h) Special author: Christina G. Rossetti
17. (i) Special author: Thomas Hardy The paper will be concerned with Thomas Hardy's prose writings and poetry.
18. (j) Special author: Virginia Woolf
19. (k) Special author: Samuel Beckett
20. (l) Special author: Seamus Heaney