Department of English Makes Basic Revisions

In a sweeping revision of its concentration program, the English Department has abolished the English 10 course and the tutorial bibliography, Department chairman Walter J. Bate '39 disclosed yesterday.

The Department will also institute three "competing hurdles" for Honors: a 4,000-word essay at the end of the sophomore year, a three-part General Examination at the end of the junior year, and a General Examination in Literary History in the senior year. All these changes will become effective with the Class of '61.

Instead of English 10, which will pass out of existence this spring, the Department will accept a lower level Humanities course as "the proper avenue to concentration in English," Bate said.

Stress Interconnection

In place of the "compartmentalized approach" of the Tutorial Bibliography, the Department will now stress in its General exams the "interconnection of periods" and genres in English literature. Some sort of short bibliography, "without hard and fast categories," will probably be instituted, he asserted.

Although these changes represent "a stiffening of requirements," they also provide for a "less mechanical" approach, Bate explained. At the present time, concentrators were required to take courses which would prepare them to answer Generals questions on individual periods of English literature, and these exams have frequently been tied to specific courses.

Generals in the senior year will probably consist of a great number of questions from which the student must choose two or three. The categories of these will not be known beforehand, in order to avoid "cramming," Bate said.

Emphasis on Tutorial

A further effect of the program will be to place a greater importance on tutorial work and to extend the opportunities for entering Honors. The junior year Generals will be required of both Honors and non-Honors candidates, and will be based largely on work covered in tutorial. Non-Honors students who receive Honors grades in this examination will be permitted to enter Honors at the beginning of their senior year.

Honors seniors will automatically be enrolled in English 99, tutorial for credit, as is now the policy with most other departments. More weight will also be given to tutors' reports of concentrators than at present, Bate added.