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American Studies with Creative Language at UEA

Hi, Good luck to all students already taking this course. I wanted to ask some questions as I am thinking of applying for this course later in the year to start next year if I were to get the required grades.

I was wondering if anyone could tell me how much previous knowledge of American Literature is required for the course, what types of books would be covered and help prepare me (e.g I have recently read some Bret Easton Ellis and Hunter S Thompson, though I already know the focus is on older works, I was wondering if I would be able to further investigate these areas) and what does anyone think of the course so far, and how challenging are the creative writing exercises.

Reply 1

returnmigrant

American Studies is about a great deal more than just 'Literature' - have you checked out the optional units beyond the first year? You will also study 'context' - politics, history and culture not just 'writing', so doing some pre-reading on these topics might also be useful. There is a good list of American Lit here - http://www.amazon.com/Twenty-Five-GREAT-American-Novels/lm/2YTQGV42R0SYZ which should keep you busy over the summer. And this is a good starter text on American Culture - http://www.amazon.co.uk/American-Cultural-Studies-Introduction-Culture/dp/0415598710/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1398414423&sr=8-3&keywords=american+studies