The content and focus of undergraduate courses changes slightly from first through to fourth year of college. First year undergraduate courses introduce students to English literature. Thus, they cover a diverse selection of works and focus on how to read literature critically by identifying themes and recognizing underlying assumptions in the texts. In second and third year, undergraduate courses become more specialized, focusing on specific time periods and cultures, such as the Victorian era, and even on one particular writer, such as William Shakespeare. Sometimes students must take a certain number of courses from a range of historical periods in order to graduate. Fourth year literature courses are highly theoretical and require students to apply literary criticism such as Feminism, Marxism and Deconstruction to literature.
Undergraduate English literature courses generally place a heavy workload on students. Students are required to read several texts, including entire novels, each week for all courses. A typical college student takes five courses each semester. Standard texts include novels, poems, plays, short stories, critical essays and non-fiction. The amount of required reading normally increases each year, with fourth year being the most intensive. In addition to reading, English literature students write argumentative essays and critical analyses about the texts covered in these courses. In later years, many professors require students to research their papers. Literature students must learn how to cite sources in the style of the Modern Languages Association and most colleges have a zero-tolerance plagiarism policy. Most first and second year courses will end with a final exam.
Normally one undergraduate English literature course involves two or three hours of lecture per week and one hour of seminar or tutorial. In a lecture, a professor provides historical and theoretical background to texts students are currently reading. Students take notes in a notebook or on a laptop. In seminars, smaller groups of students from the lecture, headed by a teaching assistant, talk about the texts and receive instructions on assignments.
Typically, undergraduate English literature courses are led by instructors who hold PhDs in a specialized area of English literature. Professors hold office hours during the week when students can ask for extra help or guidance. Undergraduate students should take advantage of office hours to solidify their understanding of assignments and ensure a passing grade.