OU newbie alert! A177 Shakespeare / AA100 Arts - advice?

[NiceCupOfTea]

Hi,

Getting all excited about studying again (after a job in publishing, then as a SAHM). Love Shakespeare so A177 should be cool, and have already booked on to AA100 The Arts Past & Present next Feb with the ultimate goal of a BA (Hons) Literature in the next 5/6 years, then maybe a PGCE...

Has anyone done these courses and know what they involve on a day-to-day basis? Done lots of reading up but there's no substitute for real-life experience!

And anyone else starting out at the same time too?

Cheers - NCoT

Hi,

Like you I am studying for a BA. I did AA100 when it was A103 a few years ago. Its a great course to get you started in Humanities.

In all honesty I would suggest that you choose 60 point courses since you have a goal of a BA in your mind. Normally the 60 points conincide nicely with each other and if you take one a year (which is about 15hrs study a week) it will take you 6 years.
There is a good Shakespeare course (AA306) at level 3.

The other good course is A210 (approaching Lit). It starts will all the classic novels, Pride and prejudice, Frankenstein, Great Expectations etc.

The only downside to these courses is that the study time is suggested at 15hours a week but I seem to take so much longer. You have to read one novel every 2 weeks and then there is alot of additional reading along with the course material. In order to really get to grips with it I spend about 20 hours. Notes are really important for these courses. I have done quite a few history courses that haven't taken nearly as much time.

Also check out the first class server on the student website. Along with tutorials the first class is a forum and you can have regular chats. Our groups also set up yahoo groups and share essays etc.

Congratulations I am sure you will love it

Horseshoe - how did you fit in the 20-hours study with the rest of your day-to-day life? I'm a bit worried it might take over.

It does take over TBH and some weeks I only fitted in half what I should, other weeks more and when I really fell behind I skim read what wasn't needed for essays and went back to them at revision time. The study plan in the assessment booklet will tell you which chapters you can skip and come back to at a later date.

bumping up...