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English Literature
The key factors to bear in mind when choosing a nightcourse are your interests and hobbies. If you’ve never read a book from cover to cover then it’s unlikely that a class in analysing the great literary works of the world will be for you. However if you regularly stay awake to the wee hours huddled by a lamp furiously flicking pages in a race to find out how the trials and tribulations of your heroine transpire in the epilogue then perhaps you are the perfect candidate for such a course.
As the very clever and creative Arnold Bennett once noted - literature exists so that where one man has lived finely, ten thousand may afterward live finely. One of the vast beauties of reading powerful writing is the ability it has to transport you to a different time and place and experience things through the vision of a gifted storyteller. A course in English literature will guide you in enhancing your knowledge of the great works of writers spanning from the Middle Ages to the 21st century. Well known and loved authors are usually concentrated on such as Shakespeare, James Joyce, Jane Austen and Charles Dickens; common texts studied might include masterpieces such as Catcher in the Rye, Death of a Salesman and other famous works.
A typical course in any programme will consist of reading specific texts and analysing them in an effort to understand the intentions of the author and also negotiate through the various themes that may not be hugely apparent at first glance. Different approaches will be used to assess the context in which the work was written which will also lead to an analysis of the problems in the society and how these influenced the process of writing. Comparative measures may also be adopted which will aid students in using their knowledge of one style of writing to determine the tone of another.
Participating in an English literature course will do a lot more for you than give you an impressive back catalogue of names and quotations to drop at random at your next dinner party. As well as training your mind to assess a body of text and learn how to critically analyse it in writing your articulation skills will also benefit, making you more confident in speaking and debating with others.
And if you don’t believe me, (or Arnold Bennett) listen to Will Smith who knows everything and once said I know how to learn anything I want to learn. Give me a book.
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