Aiming to do English at university?

You made it!

Congratulations to those of you whose results enabled you to make it on to your chosen degree course! Now you have had time to recover from Freshers’ Week, we hope you are enjoying your studies.

If you find yourself plunging into the mysteries of Piers Plowman or the medieval pageant plays, with the benefit of hindsight, you can now appreciate how helpful it was if you were lucky enough to encounter Middle English at A Level.

You want to make it!

However, if you are taking A’s right now, and struggling through Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales for the first time, it might not seem that way! Middle English takes a bit of getting used to. Plurals and possessives are different and the spelling of words can be pretty fluid.

Actually, one of the best things to do when faced with a page of Middle English text is simply to read it aloud – it often makes the meaning clearer and you can start to get a sense of the humour and energy in much of Chaucer’s writing.

Help is on hand so you can succeed

The keen eyed among you will have spotted that www.crossref-it.info has got a new Chaucer text online – The Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale. It is full of notes and background info to help you get to grips with a text which was as scabrous in its time as The Thick of It is today. Chaucer paints a wicked portrait of his narrator, whose corruption puts modern political scandals in the shade. Yet at the same time we are able to appreciate his audacity and persuasive sales ‘patter’.

It may be in Middle English, but this medieval tale has a contemporary punch!

Have you got a university offer?

• If you haven’t yet, don’t give up, but make sure you focus on putting maximum effort into getting the kind of results that will make you stand out come August. That way you are in with a chance at clearing or being accepted for the following year.
• If you have, well done! Now you just have to get the grades… No pressure!
  

So what will raise your game?

Remember that the people awarding you marks are human!

• They wince at txt spk, illegible handwriting or poor expression, plus students failing to answer the question.
• They enjoy answers that clearly focus on the relevant texts, whilst being able to set them within the bigger picture (25% of marks are allocated to contextual awareness). They want to see your involvement with what you have studied, not just the same tired classroom notes as fellow students.

For more info on creating a positive impression, go to www.crossref-it.info/articles/312/How-to-write-a-good-English-exam-answer. This website is strong on the ‘big picture’ elements which will impress.

Go for it, pace yourself and good luck!