My course is English Literature. It aims to cultivate sensitivity towards language as well as the ability to critically analyse text. There is a lot of reading, writing and interpretation involved. So, you will learn to identify and analyse the formal qualities of particular historical periods, authors or literary genres. Also, you learn to engage with theory and read texts through a theoretical lens. Basically, I think this is the gist of what studying literature is about. Through the study of literature, you also build up your knowledge of historical and cultural contexts and engage more critically with the world around you.
I was in JC and I took HELM: History, Economics, Literature (English), Mathematics at H2 Levels. My subject combination in JC did shape my decision in my university course. Choosing 2 humanities subjects in JC already ruled out a lot of courses that required the sciences. Going into JC, I knew that I had preferred the humanities. Throughout JC, my classes reaffirmed my choice that the arts was really what I wanted to do.
My choices were narrowed down to the humanities. At that time, I was looking at NUS mostly because NTU was too inaccessible for me. Also, NUS FASS offered more flexibility for indecisive people like me who haven’t made up their minds on what exactly they wanted to study. You get to take different introductory modules and can declare your major 1 to 2 semesters later which I thought was helpful for me.
I was considering between Psychology, Political Science and Literature. I took the introductory modules for those courses in my first semester. These introductory modules provided further clarity in what I wanted to do. I didn’t want psychology because I felt it was too heavy on memorization and science for me. Actually, I enjoyed both political science and Literature after the first semester. At that point, I thought I would pick Political Science due to its practicality in landing you a career in the civil service which is an iron rice bowl that everyone talks about. Whereas Literature has always been my passion since secondary school but I was unsure where it would lead me. Also, I doubted if I could do Literature well at the university level. However, I continued to take modules from both Political Science and Literature so that I could still make a choice later. Eventually, after my first year, I felt that I was enjoying my Literature classes more and my heart was ultimately leaning towards Literature. Moreover, I was doing better in Literature so I decided to play to my strengths even though it might not be considered the most practical major. I chose Literature and I do not think I have any regrets.
No, however I did attempt to apply for the SPH journalism scholarship. At that point, I thought that writing was what I enjoyed doing. However, it was through the interview process that I realised that I was not clear on what I wanted to do and I was applying just for the sake of the scholarship.
Everyone starts off year 1 taking the introductory module. This introductory module is very general as it covers the many different forms that a text can take. For example: Novels, plays, poetry, films etc. It does not really zoom into any topic or genre as it is meant to expose you to the variety of texts that can be covered in Literature modules. It also goes through foundational skills like essay writing, interpretation of text and engaging with secondary sources. This is the first module that any Literature student would take and I think it is a good bridging point for those who didn’t do Literature in JC.
From your second semester onwards, you would be able to take higher level modules. Usually at this point you would be taking level 2 modules which are slightly more advanced, and they require more engagement with theories and critical readings. From year 3 to year 4 onwards, there is quite a wide variety of modules that are offered. You are free to explore your interest with the requirement that you have to take at least 4 British Literature modules.
These higher-level modules would have a more in-depth focus so some of these modules can be on specific historical periods. For instance, Literature from the 18th Century. You would study the formal and aesthetic elements, themes and writers in those periods. Some modules also deal with certain literary movements such as romanticism, or genres such as science fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, and metafiction. There are also modules where you look at writings from a particular geographical area. There are also some that take a theoretical approach on subjects as like critical theory, feminism, gender and queer studies, psychoanalysis, postcolonial theory. You have a lot of flexibility to choose from these modules, though they may not always be offered every year.
In year 4, some people would do their honours thesis which usually takes up 1 semester as is equivalent to 15 Modular Credits. It is not compulsory so not everyone will do it. Some people may choose to do an Independent Study Module (ISM) in their final year instead, which is similar to an honours thesis but on a much smaller scale.
It depends on the teacher. There are both lecture-tutorials and seminars. However, most Literature modules are seminar style because it usually involves quite a lot of discussion. The seminar is a 3-hour block with around 30 students. Sometimes, the professor will have a mini lecture in the first half of the seminar. The second half will be discussions and group presentations. Other professors may prefer a more hands-on approach which means that they want the students to lead the class themselves.
For the grading, it is usually a mix of various components. Some modules have written examinations at the end of the semester, but I think that is in the minority. Usually, most modules will have a final essay that takes up the biggest part of the grading (40 – 50%). Another 15 – 20% is allocated to class participation, another 20 – 30% is allocated to group presentation. On some occasions, there might be a mid-term test that is about 10 – 15%.
We usually have group presentations. With your team, you would choose a specific text or topic to present on. The presentation would be around 20 minutes where you would do some close reading of the text, discuss a topic and link it back to a reading that your teacher has assigned.
Another type of projects would be the individual final essays. In the lower-level modules, the teacher would provide questions to write your essays on. Even then, the questions are still quite broad. They serve more as starting points for you to consider the texts and topics covered in the module. At higher level modules, you are expected to set your own questions and the parameters of your own essays. You are given the set of primary texts and secondary readings, but it is up to you how you want to read a particular text in relation to the readings, and you have to come up with your own argument.
I don’t think I have one favourite module, but I do have modules that I enjoyed and left a deeper impression on me. One of them is Introduction to Film Studies. I have an interest in films but prior to taking film modules, I did not know the technicality of films and the vocabulary to articulate why I liked a certain film. This module exposed me to the various elements of film like editing, lighting, cinematography, and it was really fun since every week we would watch films in lectures and discuss them. We would then have group presentations on them. It was a good break from other modules that had heavy reading.
I enjoy modules that have a lot of theory as I draw a lot of insight from it, and it shapes the way I approach Literature and the world around me. One of the modules I took was called Reader Responsibility. It touches on reader response theory which is a school of literary theory that focuses on the reader and their experiences of the literary work. This contrasts with other theories which may have a greater focus on the author and what their intentions are. It left a deep impression on me because up until that point we were so focused on mining the text for meaning and what the author’s intentions were. It dealt with questions like the reader’s reception of the text and one’s responsibility towards the text, which helped me rethink the way I approached text and interpretation as a Literature student. I also found the module on Feminism highly illuminating as you learn to examine issues of gender and power not only in the literary and cultural context but more broadly in society as well.
I don’t think I really disliked any modules, but I did find some modules less interesting than others. For me, I prefer more contemporary books and theoretical readings and I am less interested in British Literature.
Interest in Literature is definitely a must. Interest in any subject that we choose to study is important because it helps you to sustain your motivation and survive the 4 years. You need to have an interest in reading since there is a lot of reading involved. To a certain extent, you should enjoy writing. Writing is tough and can be painful sometimes, but I think if you generally enjoy putting down ideas into words and derive satisfaction from writing an essay, you can consider Literature. Also, it would be good to be open-minded. There are many issues being discussed such as gender identity, postcolonialism, race, etcetera. You don’t have to conform to a certain way of thinking, but you should be open minded.
One other thing to possess is curiosity, and perhaps discipline. You have to take a variety of modules and you would not find 100% of your modules interesting, but you would still need to push yourself to read and write about works that may not be very exciting to you. You will need to do a lot of independent research when writing your essays. Unlike some courses which may have regular quizzes that test your knowledge of the content, there isn’t really such a structured and regular system of assessment in Literature. You may not be forced to read all the readings in the module but having that discipline to stay on top of your readings and the curiosity to learn more would make the course a lot more rewarding. The more you put into it, the more you get out of it as well.
Most people don’t know what we really study, I guess. I once had someone ask me if I wrote book reviews for class. I can’t fault them for it because it can be difficult to grasp what Literature students do. A common misconception is that Literature is really chill and there isn’t much studying involved.
However, there is actually a lot of work and effort involved. It can get very rigorous as you are not just reading books for fun on a surface level, but you have to actively pick up key points such as the themes, subjects, stylistic and formal elements that the author uses. Besides these books, you also have to read the secondary readings which are written by other academic scholars in the field. You then have to critically assess these ideas whilst coming up with your own arguments. When you are writing your essay, you must also make sure that it is structured coherently and that it is rigorously backed up with evidence, research and close reading. Studying Literature can be fun, but to be able to construct strong arguments and express your ideas well requires a great amount of effort that many may not see.
Also, another misconception is that Literature students will become teachers. A number of them do choose to go into teaching and it is because they want to share the passion of Literature with the younger generation. But beyond teaching, a Literature degree can take you down many different paths.
Nope, I do not have any regrets!
I would not say there is a particular field that most Literature students go into as there is no career path that is really directly related to Literature. However, the skills you gain can be valuable in many different sectors. Teaching, education, marketing, communications, public relations, publishing, journalism and the media are some fields that are available. Those who are interested in the arts can go into arts management, or some may choose to enter the civil service or the non-profit sector as well.
For me, after I graduated, I had a short stint at a museum where I did marketing. I was interested in the arts and tried to tap on my strength in writing in arts marketing where I handled social media, newsletter and website content. This is a possible career path for some Literature students.
Currently, I am at a media production company where I am writing and doing research for documentaries, TV programs, etcetera. The importance of good writing is often underestimated, but the writing skills that I have developed in Literature have really helped in my career, since it trains you to express your ideas in a clear and coherent manner.
There are a variety of internships that Literature students take on. Some may take up an internship in a publishing company which is quite related to Literature in the sense that you get to deal with books. Some may go into media and journalism and take up news and editorial internships. Of course, some also take up teaching internships with MOE.
Doing internships is a great way to get practical experience which you would not get in your degree. That experience will really help you find out what kind of skills you want to build your expertise in. Also, just stay open minded and definitely look out for internships that interest you!
JC definitely!
It is because JC is compressed into a short 2 years. There really isn’t a lot of space to explore your interests since you are given a set curriculum, and everything you do is geared towards A Levels. The intensity of the workload and the 2 years span makes the whole JC experience really stressful. On the other hand, university is a 4-year experience which gives you more freedom for you to explore your interests and is not so packed since you might not have classes every day.
This is just for my course, but usually for university, the most intense period is near the finals period at the end of the semester. Apart from that, life for me was really less packed relative to JC.
There is an option to go on a local or overseas exchange. Most students go overseas but that might not be an option given the COVID-19 situation now. Personally, I went to London, UK, for my exchange and that was really fun and eye opening.
No, I stay off campus. I don’t stay too far away from school and my schedule is generally not really packed (only a 4-day work week at most). Hence, I didn’t feel that living on campus was necessary.
One of the clubs that I was in was nuSTUDIOS which is the film production club in NUS. As I mentioned before, I am interested in films and decided to check out this club. In this club, we usually work on short film productions. During the semester time, we have the option to go for classes on the different aspects of filmmaking like script writing, directing, editing, producing etcetera. The classes were all really hands-on, so it was not just learning about theory. It was really fun to find out what goes on behind the scenes of a film production set.
The other club that I was involved in was NUS Rotaract club. Rotaract club is a non-profit organisation that focuses on contributing to society and community through volunteering. I was really keen on finding opportunities to volunteer so I joined the club!
If I could give any advice to my younger self, it would be to trust my guts more because I spent a lot of time deliberating whether I wanted to do Literature and if there was a future in Literature. I spent a lot of time being indecisive and not really committing to a choice, and I also doubted my ability to do well in it even though I was really interested in it. But if it’s something that I enjoyed, I would naturally put more hard work into it and eventually it will pay off and I would derive satisfaction from it.
Another advice that I would give to anyone planning to study Literature would be that even though the future seems uncertain and there may seem to be no set path for you to go on, just keep an open mind and know that there will be opportunities out there. It is really up to you to make the most out of them.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the interviewees and do not reflect the official policy or position of any institution. They are also not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, class, individual or organisation.
The information contained in this website is intended to provide general guidance only. It should not be relied upon as professional advice and does not 100% guarantee admission into any course.
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