Quote:
Originally Posted by help1984
Also, imhotep, I was thinking about taking the open university course before. How helpful was it? Did it deal with similar questions like section I (i.e. poems, fiction, nonfiction,...)? Did you have a lot of essay practice? Sorry about all these questions  |
I have to point out that the Open University courses can not be considered
direct preparation for GAMSAT, just that all the studying and essay writing helped me (I must admit I didn't even try to write an essay in half an hour until the test itself).
The Introduction to the Humanities Course did cover some basic analysis of poems and prose (but as a general introduction it also covered art history, music, philosophy, history, religious studies, and history of science) so there is a lot of content that wouldn't be directly applicable to section 1 (although the assignment essays would still help with section 2 – and the study of philosophy does help in constructing a coherent argument).
To be honest had I done badly in section 1 I was planning to take A210 Approaching Literature (
http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/bin/p12.dll?C01A210) which would have covered fiction, poems and plays and their in-depth analysis (it is a basic course in their degree in English Literature).
However, the problem with any course is that they cost money (e.g. any I have mentioned would cost £565, although that is for 60 CATS points, or one sixth of an undergraduate degree) and (as I said) are not specifically designed to prepare you for the GAMSAT. I would, however, recommend you take a look at OpenLearn (
http://openlearn.open.ac.uk) where the OU put many of their study units online free of charge. Some which might be particularly useful for you include:
Approaching Plays (
http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=3016)
Approaching Poetry (
http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=3007)
Approaching Prose Fiction (
http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=2999)
These are extracts from A210 mentioned above and should give you an idea of whether taking the course would be useful or suitable for you.
And also:
What is good writing? (
http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=2903) which covers essay writing in general.
As you say you have plenty of time to prepare if you start now, and an alternative to paying for a course might include joining a book group (if you know of a local one) where you'll have the opportunity to share your ideas and hear those of others. There are bound to be online book groups out there too!
There's been a lot of good advice from people contributing to this thread – and as I said before please feel free to contact me about anything if you need.
All the Best,
Stephen
