Doing some recommended reading can be a good way to make sure you’ve chosen a subject you really love, and can also help you stand out in applications essays and interviews.*
However, unless you’re Superman (or at least share his super-fast reading powers) you obviously won’t have time to read even a fraction of the possible books before you apply to university. And in any case it’s better to pick just a few and get a lot out of them, rather than skim-reading 20 and ending up more confused than when you started!
To help you narrow down your selection, you could try asking past or current teachers in the relevant subjects for some advice. It’s also worth consulting university websites, as they often publish ‘recommended reading’ lists. And, as it happens, I’ve got a few suggestions myself, to get your pre-university reading list started…
This is part 1, focusing on recommmended reading in arts and humanities subjects – other subject areas to follow!
Literary Theory: An Introduction, by Terry Eagleton
This was required reading set by one of my tutors before I started my English language and literature course at Oxford. It’s accessible, and gives a good overview of the various stages in the development of literary analysis as an academic field. It’s also a good reminder that there’s no ‘right’ way of writing about literature – though there may be dominant approaches at different periods.
The Articulate Mammal: An Introduction to Psycholinguistics, by Jean Aitchison
First published in 1976, this has stood the test of time, and become something of a classic text for linguists. Again, it’s accessible and gives a good overview of the subject, covering issues such as whether language is innate, how children learn language, the role of grammar, and how we understand and produce speech. There are lots of interesting anecdotes and experiments included, and well-balanced discussion of important theories.
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