This exciting subject combines two approaches to the study of English: the study of text as literature is combined with the study of text as language by looking in detail at a wide range of textual material (eg letters and diaries, speeches and transcribed talk, articles for magazines, news and periodicals). We study how writers use language in different contexts for an ever-shifting variety of audiences and purposes, in order to create distinctive styles. All students on this course will also have the opportunity to create their own original texts, and reflect analytically upon their methods of composition. In the first year, students will study three set texts (one novel, one selection of poetry and an AQA Anthology of texts) and consider them through the themes of Remebering Places, Imagined Worlds and Poetic Voices. In the second year, students will produce creative writing on the theme of Society, and will study human conflict by examining a work of drama, as well as performing an original analytical investigation into an issue in language and literature. Students will be encouraged in their own wider reading, and to develop their familiarity with the course authors by reading around the set texts. The department also runs a Creative Writing competition and a group of budding degree students for those with big dreams.