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English and Theatre Studies BA (QW34)

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Explore our English and Theatre Studies degree at Warwick

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QW34

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Bachelor of Arts (BA)

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3 years full-time

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26 September 2022

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English and Comparative Literary Studies

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University of Warwick

3a

Theatre is the most public literary form. Our English and Theatre Studies (BA) degree emphasises the relationship between writing and performance, asking how theatre intervenes in history to foster social and political change.

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Taught by expert staff from the English and Comparative Literary Studies and Theatre and Performance Studies departments, this course emphasises the relationship between writer, text, performer, critic, playing place and society within a historical, political and cultural context. You will have many opportunities to see a diverse range of productions at the world-renowned theatres at nearby Stratford-upon-Avon and on-campus at Warwick Arts Centre.

Theatre modules examine developments in theatrical theory and practice: they focus on plays related to theatrical and political history to emphasise how past movements have shaped the theatre of the present. English Literature modules focus on the close study of literary texts from the classical period to the present, exploring politics, form, and meaning. You will learn to understand and critically analyse texts, and to present persuasive and coherent written and oral arguments while developing independent thought, judgment, and creativity.

3c

In your first year, you will gain an understanding of literature from the classical past to the here and now. You will look at post-war British theatre from the ‘angry young men’ to the women of the ‘awkward brigade’.

In your second year, you will think about theatre as an intervention in public space. You will study English-language plays that have shaped democratic institutions around the world, and have the opportunity to explore plays from the Greeks to the present that constitute the European tradition of theatre. But you will also start selecting from a fascinating array of modules from Arthurian literature to post-9/11 fiction, Romantic and Victorian Poetry to postcolonial writing and science fiction.

In your final year, you will study Shakespeare as a jobbing playwright. You will think about his writing for the early modern stage, but also about his afterlife in subsequent performances on stage and film. And you will choose modules that extend your horizons, including proposing your own research project as a dissertation.

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Teaching and assessment is distinctive. You will write essays, deliver presentations, and take exams, but you also might make a short film, publish a wiki page, or craft a sonata.

Most core modules in your first year are taught by means of one lecture and one seminar per week in terms one and two. In your second and third years, optional modules are normally taught by means of one seminar per week.

Workshops on academic writing, employability, and personal development are also available throughout your degree.

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Targeted teaching with class sizes of 10 to 15 students (on average).

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Guided learning of typically eight contact hours per week, plus extra-curricular workshops and reading groups. Seminars are usually 1, 1.5 or 2 hours each; lectures are an hour.

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You can choose your preferred form of assessment from traditional essays and written examinations to creative projects, portfolios, films, and video-essays.

For example, in our Shakespeare: Text and Performance, Now and Then module, student work recently included film and radio adaptations, musical compositions, painting, sculpture, photography inspired by Shakespeare's texts, as well as essays and close readings.

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Study abroad

As a student of our English degrees, you will have the opportunity to spend your third year at one of our partner institutions in the USA, Europe, China, Australia, or Japan. You will then return to Warwick to complete the fourth and final year of your degree.

You will be able to apply to transfer to the four-year course when you are in your second year at Warwick, subject to the availability of places from the University's International Office.

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Additional requirements

We prefer to interview candidates before making an offer. Interviews are tailor-made to each individual and designed to explore your suitability for study at Warwick, so they do not follow a set pattern.

There is nothing specific you need to do to prepare, but expect to be asked about the literary works you have studied or have read beyond the syllabus, and the other interests you mention in your personal statement. The interview day typically includes an opportunity to meet with staff and students. Separate arrangements will be made for international students to complete an online interview.

4a

A level typical offer

AAB to include grade A in English Literature or English Language and Literature (combined). You also have to meet the additional requirements listed below.

A level contextual offer

We welcome applications from candidates who meet the contextual eligibility criteria and whose predicted grades are close to, or slightly below, the contextual offer level. The typical contextual offer is ABB including an A in English Literature or English Language and Literature (combined). See if you're eligible.

General GCSE requirements

Unless specified differently above, you will also need a minimum of GCSE grade 4 or C (or an equivalent qualification) in English Language and either Mathematics or a Science subject. Find out more about our entry requirements and the qualifications we accept. We advise that you also check the English Language requirements for your course which may specify a higher GCSE English requirement. Please find the information about this below.

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IB typical offer

36 to include 6 at Higher Level in English Literature or English Language and Literature (combined). You also have to meet the additional requirements listed below.

IB contextual offer

We welcome applications from candidates who meet the contextual eligibility criteria and whose predicted grades are close to, or slightly below, the contextual offer level. The typical contextual offer is 34 including 6 at Higher Level in English Literature or English Language and Literature (combined). See if you're eligible.

General GCSE requirements

Unless specified differently above, you will also need a minimum of GCSE grade 4 or C (or an equivalent qualification) in English Language and either Mathematics or a Science subject. Find out more about our entry requirements and the qualifications we accept. We advise that you also check the English Language requirements for your course which may specify a higher GCSE English requirement. Please find the information about this below.

4c

We welcome applications from students taking BTECs alongside A level English Literature or English Language and Literature (combined).

You also have to meet the additional requirements listed below.

5a

Year One

British Theatre since 1939

You will be engaged in an in-depth appreciation of significant and controversial British plays of the post-war period, examining the theatre’s response to social and historical trends and becoming familiar with the landmark institutions of new writing. Topics include theatrical architecture and design, performance styles, and the political and philosophical ideas of leading playwrights. You will develop analytical skills, knowledge of specific productions, and the ability to present coherent arguments.

Medieval and Early Modern Literature

Taking you from the mythical court of King Arthur to the real world of ambition, intrigue, and danger in the courts of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, this module introduces you to early literature written in a range of genres (romance, epic, fabliau) and poetic forms. You will study texts like Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Thomas More’s Utopia, Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, and Shakespeare’s sonnets to explore some of the period’s highest ideals—‘trawthe’ or integrity—as well as some of humanity’s darkest impulses: greed, deception, revenge, and desire.

Theatre and Performance in Context

This module considers what theatre and performance can tell us about our histories, cultures, societies and identities. You’ll watch, read and study a range of theatre and performance from across historical, cultural and geographical borders, in order to see how it not only reflects society, but also seeks to change and shape it. The module is split into four blocks, considering theatre and gender, race, sexuality and class. This module will help you to hone your academic writing, research and presentation skills, which will serve you throughout your degree.

Plus one of the following options:

Epic into Novel

Tracking the transition from the epics of the ancient world to the novels of modernity, this module introduces you to some of the most influential and formative works of world literature. You will study central texts of the classical world, such as Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Aeneid; the ancient Indian epic The Mahābhārata; Milton’s Paradise Lost; as well as novels like Henry Fielding’s bawdy comedy Tom Jones and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o’s novel of decolonising Kenya, A Grain of Wheat. Reading across history and cultures, between languages and genres, you will develop the skills to analyse narrative, character, and style.

Modes of Reading

What is a reader? How is our understanding and perception of a text formed? What does it mean to think critically when we read? This module allows you to explore these questions by putting a spotlight on the question of critical thinking in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. By studying a series of literary texts in relation to some of the most influential literary and cultural theorists of the last hundred years, you will take your own position on everything from Marxism, queer and feminist theory to ecocriticism and postcolonial critique.

From Text to Performance

Through practical exploration of a number of selected plays and texts, in this module you will investigate the process of taking material from page to stage or performance, and the relationship between theory and practice. You will have the opportunity to experiment practically with realising multiple texts in performance, considering aspects such as staging, genre, narrative structure, performance strategies, dramaturgical thinking and directorial conceptualization, as well as the changing role and function of the audience.

Year Two

Drama and Democracy

You will study major plays written since the beginning of the twentieth century in Ireland, South Africa and the USA to investigate how writers have dramatised political, racial, class and gender issues. You will study developments in theatrical form and the work of designers, directors and actors to demonstrate your understanding of the shifting relationship between theatre and its impact on political and social change.

Year Three

Shakespeare: Text and Performance, Now and Then.

You will consider the work of Shakespeare and his contemporaries such as Marlowe and Middleton, both as text and performance. Through your experience of performance, and understanding of historical context, you will consolidate your analytical skills in reading narrative, poetry and drama. You will gain an awareness of the traditions of criticism, and an appreciation of how the plays’ themes continue to challenge readers and audiences today.

5b

• European Theatre
• Remaking Shakespeare
• Early Modern Drama
• Restoration Drama
• Queering the Literary Landscape
• American Horror Story
• The English Nineteenth-Century Novel
• Literature, Environment, Ecology
• US Writing and Culture, 1780-1920
• Romantic and Victorian Poetry
• Crime Fiction
• Jane Austen in Theory
• Women and Writing
• The Classical Tradition

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Find out more about fees and funding.

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There may be costs associated with other items or services such as academic texts, course notes, and trips associated with your course. Students who choose to complete a work placement or study abroad will pay reduced tuition fees for their third year.

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• Graduates from the department have gone on to work for employers including:
• Archant
• Barclays
• Bloomsbury
• British Council
• Civil Service
• Maidstone Borough Council
• Newsquest Media Group
• Pan Macmillan
• Royal Opera House
• The Sunday Times
• Teach First
• Tesco
• Weber Shandwick
• They have pursued roles such as:
• Journalists, newspaper, and periodical editors
• Publishers
• Creative directors
• Arts officers, producers, and directors
• Authors, writers, and translators
• Musicians and composers
• Teachers
• Advertising accounts managers
• Business sales executives
• Solicitors and legal associate professionals
• Management consultants and business analysts
• Marketing associate professionals
• Academics and researchers

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Our department has a dedicated professionally qualified Senior Careers Consultant to support you. They offer impartial advice and guidance, together with workshops and events throughout the year.

• Previous examples of workshops and events include:
• Understanding Assessment Centres
• Careers following your English and Comparative Literary Studies Degree
• Discovering Careers in the Creative Industries
• Careers in Publishing and Journalism
• Freelancing
• Careers in the Public Sector
• Warwick careers fairs throughout the year

Find out more about careers support at Warwick.