| Oh good morning. You must be James. |
| I'm Beth Cartwright - please call me Beth. |
| Thank you. |
| Now as this is your first tutorial since you started on the Scandinavian Studies course, |
| I'd like to find out something about you. |
| Why did you decide to take this course? |
| Well, my mother is Danish, and although we always lived in England, she used to talk about her home a lot, |
| and that made me want to visit Denmark. |
| We hardly ever did, though - my mother usually went on her own. |
| But whenever her relations or friends were in England they always came to see us. |
| I see. |
| So I assume you already speak Danish, one of the languages you'll be studying. |
| I can get by when I talk to people, though I'm not terribly accurate. |
| Now you probably know that you'll spend the third year of the course abroad. |
| Have you had any thoughts about that? |
| I'm really looking forward to it. |
| And although Denmark seems the obvious place to go, because of my family connections, |
| I'd love to spend the time in Iceland. |
| Oh, I'm sure it can be arranged. |
| Do you have any plans for when you graduate? |
| A lot of students go on to take a master's degree. |
| I think the four years of the undergraduate course will be enough for me. |
| I'm interested in journalism, |
| and I quite like the idea of moving to Scandinavia and writing for magazines. |
| I'd find that more creative than translating, which I suppose most graduates do. |
| OK. |
| Now how are you finding the courses you're taking this term, James? |
| Well, I'm really enjoying the one on Swedish cinema. |
| That'll continue next term, |
| but the one on Scandinavian literature that's running at the moment will be replaced by more specialised courses. |
| Oh, and by the way, if you're interested in watching Danish television programmes - |
| there's going to be a course on that the term after next. |
| That sounds good. |
| Have you started thinking about the literature paper that you have to write in the next few weeks? |
| Yes, my first choice would be to do something on the Icelandic sagas. |
| The trouble with that is that a lot of people choose that topic, |
| and it can be difficult to get hold of the books you'll need. |
| Why not leave that for another time? |
| Right. |
| You might find modern novels or 19th century playwrights interesting. |
| I've read or seen several plays in translation, so that would be a good idea. |
| Fine. |
| I'll put you down for that topic. |
| Right. So what would you advise me to aim at in the paper? |
| First I suggest you avoid taking one writer and going into a great deal of detail. |
| That approach certainly has its place, |
| but I think you first need to get an understanding of the literature in the context of the society in which it was produced - |
| who it was written for, how it was published, and so on. |
| I also think that's more fruitful than placing it within the history of the genre. |
| OK, that sounds reasonable. |
| Could I ask for some advice about writing the paper I'm working on about the Vikings? |
| I have to do that this week, and I'm a bit stuck. |
| Of course. |
| Have you decided yet what to write about? |
| No, I haven't. |
| There's so much that seems interesting - |
| Viking settlement in other countries, trade, mythology... |
| Well, what I suggest is that you read an assignment a student wrote last year, which is kept in the library. |
| It's short and well focused, and I'm sure you'll find it helpful. |
| I'll give you the details in a moment. |
| Textbooks usually cover so many topics, it can be very difficult to choose just one. |
| OK. |
| I've got a DVD of the film about the Vikings that came out earlier this year. |
| Should I watch that again? |
| If it's the one I am thinking of, hmm, I'd ignore it - |
| it's more fantasy than reality. |
| But I've got a recording of a documentary that you should watch. |
| It makes some interesting and provocative points, which I think will help you to focus your topic. |
| Right. |
| So then should I work out an outline? |
| Yes. Just headings for different sections, at this stage. |
| And then you should start looking for suitable articles and books to draw on, |
| and take notes which you organise according to those headings. |
| I see. |
| Then put short phrases and sentences as bullet points under each heading. |
| Make sure that this skeleton makes sense and flows properly, before writing up the paper in full. |
| OK. |
| Thanks, that's very helpful. |