Advantages: Educational
Disadvantages: Not on at weekends

..., concentrating on the Romans (strangely enough). Two programmes of only 10 minutes length provide little snippets of science trivia. Watch out for Do Animals… and Moments Of Genius. THURSDAY – Language Zone Considering the recent damning evidence against people in England, Scotland and Wales about a lack of language skills, the ignorant mass (myself included) would be well advised to tune into Knowledge on a Thursday. It not only offers programmes in Spanish, French, Italian, but soaps and films in foreign languages. Thus Knowledge is a channel that offers you the chance of improving your attractiveness to potential employers! FRIDAY – Arts Zone This is the day for all you thespians and literature lovers out there. If you’re of that breed of person you’ll enjoy programmes like Bookmark and Culture Fix... Read review

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Advantages: Wonderful resource
Disadvantages: none

...The Oxford Companion to English Literature is a weighty tome. But there's no fat! No, sir! Every ounce of the weight of this book is pure literary muscle! The book was first published in 1932, edited by Sir Paul Harvey, and the current edition is edited by the author Margaret Drabble. The book is an invaluable companion to anyone who has an interest in English, be it professional or amateur. The design of the book is simple to follow, with each entry in alphabetical order. The book is an eclectic collection of thousands of literary references. It covers fictional characters, authors, locations that are of significance to English literature, fictional locations, literary patrons, music, history, poetry, religion as it relates to literature, drama, theoretical concepts of literary criticism, etc., etc. As well as the main body... Read review

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Advantages: Excellent materials, tutors and support, good value for money, interesting assignments
Disadvantages: It's expensive (although there is financial support available), can be hard to motivate yourself

...I am currently half way through my first Open University course: A210, Approaching Literature. I was apprehensive at first, as I have had bad experiences with other distance learning companies! But from the online registration process, to receiving all the materials, to going to the monthly tutorials, to actually writing the assignments, I have thoroughly enjoyed every second of it! I am lucky as I have already been to university, but I could see how someone who has no experience of higher education could find it quite daunting. However, you receive a lot of support and guidance from the tutors and fellow students. The electronic TMA system, which allows you to send your assignments to your tutor through the internet, is really good and saves on postage costs! It is quite a constant workload. There are 7 TMA's (tutor marked assignments... Read review

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Advantages: Interesting and wide-ranging
Disadvantages: A bit too focussed upon the Western traditions

..., as you may recall, is the Van Doren who got caught up in the quiz show scandals of the 1950s. Ironic that this fate should befall him, as his learning would obviously put to shame the current crop of would-be millionaires so popular on the television today. But, I digress. Van Doren spent the two decades before writing this book as an editor for Encyclopedia Britannica. He has put together a worthy outline to knowledge, broad in scope and with just enough detail to satisfy the hunger and whet the appetite simultaneously. `The voluminous literature dealing with the idea of human progress is decidedly a mixed bag. While some of these writings are impressive and even inspiring, many of them are superficial, perhaps even ridiculous, in their reiteration (especially during the nineteenth century) of the comforting prospect that every day... Read review

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Advantages: Three exam-free summers
Disadvantages: Four years of hard work

...I was unemployed for much of last year - which is a bad way to start a piece in support of higher education, but never mind. I sent off countless application forms and went to countless interviews. At several of these, it seemed to me that they had agreed to see me purely to find out what this 'Literae Humaniores' thing on my CV was - or to tell me I'd spelled 'Literature' wrong. I would explain that it was Classics, and if further elucidation was required that it was Latin, Greek, Ancient History and Philosophy. This always impressed them. I would then be asked how this degree qualified me to be a web designer, which was rather more difficult to field... Literae Humaniores, or Lit Hum as we affectionately called it, covers a much broader range of subjects than most universities' Classics degrees. This is because in Olden Days... Read review

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Advantages: Well thought out and organised
Disadvantages: Perhaps lacks practice on extended activities

...This is a course book for students studying for GCSE English and English Literature with the examination board AQA, specification A. The Introduction explains that it helps to 'build the essential skills and knowledge to reach your potential in the GCSE English and English Literature exams'. There is a key for the various icons used in the book that signify spoken, reading, writing, and language activities. Students are shown that they will be able to check how good their skills are, develop and practise them, and improve them through the various activities. The speaking and listening, reading, and writing components of the course are shown in table form. There is in addition a table for the student to fill in every half term to show how confident they feel in each of the various skills. The final table in the introduction lists... Read review

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Advantages: A classic novel that impress peole with your variety of reading materials
Disadvantages: a slightly contrived ending

...As many of you know, I have a great love of literature. Not just the current best sellers but children's classic, adult's classics, text books and many more genres. However, when studying my A2 literature I found that the books lost a lot of the appeal that they once held. Therefore I am pleased to say that I didn't read the classic Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte until just the other day. I had read Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and fell in love at once with Mr Rochester, all of the Austen novels, falling in love at once with Mr Darcy and many of the other Victorian type novels, mostly for pleasure but with the mind that they would help for comparison of texts of the era when I sat the dreaded exam for the worst book I have ever read, Tess of the D'Urbevilles. Now leaving the dreary subject of Tess with her many signs of ill fate... Read review

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Advantages: Might earn you some money on the pub quiz machine!
Disadvantages: Takes up too much room!

...As people who know me know, I am a great fan of trivia. I love trivia as I love knowing things about the world I live in that may be of interest to somebody else. It can range from animals to sport, or from religion to famous people. I would love to go on a television programme such as Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, or The Weakest Link for example, purely because I would like the experience of putting my useless knowledge to the test under pressure. The knowledge I have is there by accident, purely because if I read something I find interesting, it sticks in my head – something I can’t help. So, as I am saving money for my holidays, I have been confined to the house for yet another weekend, meaning there is no pub quiz machine in sight for me to try and win some money from – come on, I have to put it to good use now don’t I? I decided... Read review

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Advantages: It's easy to get into with some interesting obtainable knowledge.
Disadvantages: The ending isn't disapointing, but could have bee better, still, as i say, it's metaphorical.

...As i am currently studying English Literature, i've come across some new texts, some have been a pleasure to read, others have simply driven me up the wall, one of my texts was CHAUCER, the fact that it is in ye olde english isn't particularly helpful. Anyhow, one book i read was a novel caled "Snow Falling On Cedars," written by David Guterson. The novel is set in the 1950's and is a murder case that revolves sround a set of flashbacks mainly focusing on the bombing of Pearl Harbour. The story contains three main characters, Hatsue Miyamoto, Kabuo Miyamoto, Ishmael Chambers. The general plot is the death of a fisherman raise questions about the innocence of a local japanese fisherman which helps demonstrate issues of race and trust in a small community, as well as the murder/accident debate, you recieve a deep insight... Read review

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Advantages: Good links to other relevant sites
Disadvantages: Not sure what the point is

...confident you could gain much more knowledge of the writer through other sources compared to what is available here. Quotations This month Jane Austen is the author of the quotations listed. A variety of quotes from different pieces of writing such as Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion and Emma are included. It is disappointing that apart from listing the quotes there is no discussion about them, what was gained from them being included in her work, what they said about the characters etc. Submit URL Here you can make recommendations for other sites you have visited to do with literature and suggest they be given a link on the directories page Buy Site Litvillage.com is for sale. I wouldn't begin to speculate why. This link gives others the opportunity to submit their proposals for buying the site. Additional Information Perhaps... Read review

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