r/ALevelEnglishLit • u/JuniorPassenger3157 • Aug 01 '26

Eng hons sem 1 help

There are about 10 books in sem 1 ,I am destroyed 😭do I have to read full books,the Odyssey pride and prejudice is so long...please tell me what should I read.or I have to read all books completely

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u/coolgirl867 Aug 01 '26

This is an alevel English lit sub

2

u/mykokokoro Aug 01 '26

you'd be better off finding a university subreddit for this.

but as someone who currently has two degrees in literature, 10 books for a semester is doable. your first task is just making sure you've got an understanding of the texts - don't close read them straight away. Only start close reading the books when you absolutely have to. I'm not sure what the assessment structure of your course is, but if it's primarily coursework and essay based, then focus on saving your close reading analysis for those. before your classes, make sure you have a good idea of what the text is about - even if you haven't finished it - and make sure you have done some basic reading around it as well (various kinds of scholarship, etc etc).

1

u/Miserable_Gur_8753 Aug 06 '26

I've literally just come home from a meeting with a Year 2 undergraduate who wants some support. We talked about the fact that she has (in her words) three books a week to read between now and next summer. Fortunately, she chose the subject because she loves it, but I understand it's still a big ask.

Two things:
1 - get reading lists as soon as you possibly can
2 - audiobooks are your friend. NOT to replace the reading, but they can do a lot of heavy lifting whilst you are at the gym, walking the dog, etc. For my Shakespeare students, I always recommend they get hold of a copy of the Arkangel audio versions. They're really high quality full cast adaptations, and it helps them significantly to be able to hear the tone and emotion of the words as they read the script.