Reading Literature Critically



Overview

This course will introduce you to the key skills of English Studies, in particular close critical analysis and the use of contextual information.

In this course, we shall hone our skills of close critical analysis of prose, poetry, and drama. Through exercises in the analysis of sixteenth to twenty-first-century poems, plays, and narrative fiction in English, you will learn how to develop your opinions about literary texts into informed and convincing arguments. You will be introduced to key concepts and movements in literary criticism, and to key terms of the critical idiom. We shall also consider how placing texts in their literary, historical, and cultural contexts can help us to understand them.

Programme details

First live webinar:  23 Jan 2025, 7.30-8.30pm (UK time)

Week 1: What is literature?

Week 2: Analysing fiction 1: narrative voice and characterisation

Week 3: Analysing fiction 2: dialogue and monologue

Week 4: Poetic form 1

Week 5: Poetic form 2 and presentations

Week 6: Poetic form 3 and presentations

Week 7: Free Verse

Week 8: Drama

Week 9: Using the critical idiom and contextual material

Week 10: A sense of an ending

Certification

Credit Application Transfer Scheme (CATS) points 

To earn credit (CATS points) for your course you will need to register and pay an additional £30 fee for each course you enrol on. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online. If you do not register when you enrol, you have up until the course start date to register and pay the £30 fee. 

See more information on CATS point

Coursework is an integral part of all online courses and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework, but only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education, you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee. 

 

Digital credentials

All students who pass their final assignment, whether registered for credit or not, will be eligible for a digital Certificate of Completion. Upon successful completion, you will receive a link to download a University of Oxford digital certificate. Information on how to access this digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course you attended. You will be able to download your certificate or share it on social media if you choose to do so. 

Please note that assignments are not graded but are marked either pass or fail. 

Fees

Description Costs
Course Fee £285.00
Take this course for CATS Points £30.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:

Concessionary fees for short courses

Tutor

Dr Edward Clarke

Edward Clarke's latest collection of poems, Cherubims, was published by Kelsay Books at the end of 2022. A Book of Psalms was published by Paraclete Press in 2020. He is also the author of two works of criticism: The Vagabond Spirit of Poetry (Iff Books, 2014) and The Later Affluence of W.B. Yeats and Wallace Stevens (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012). He teaches English literature and art history at numerous colleges in Oxford.

Course aims

To enable students to become more attentive, analytical, and critical readers.

Course Objectives:

  • To enable participants to gain knowledge of characteristic techniques employed in English literary texts.
  • To enable participants to understand the use of contextual information.
  • To enhance participants' skills of close critical analysis.

Teaching methods

Learning takes place on a weekly schedule. At the start of each weekly unit, students are provided with learning materials on our online platform, including one hour of pre-recorded video, often supplemented by guided readings and educational resources. These learning materials prepare students for a one-hour live webinar with an expert tutor at the end of each weekly unit which they attend in small groups. Webinars are held on Microsoft Teams, and provide the opportunity for students to respond to discussion prompts and ask questions. The blend of weekly learning materials that can be worked through flexibly, together with a live meeting with a tutor and their peers, maximise learning and engagement through interaction in a friendly, supportive environment.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will be expected to:

  • have confidence in using the critical idiom;
  • be able to produce effective close critical analyses of literary texts;
  • have encountered a range of writing in different genres and styles.

Assessment methods

Formative: oral presentation

Summative: written comparative analysis   

Coursework is an integral part of all weekly classes and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework in order to benefit fully from the course. Only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work the required standard.

Students must submit a completed Declaration of Authorship form at the end of term when submitting your final piece of work. CATS points cannot be awarded without the aforementioned form - Declaration of Authorship form

 

Application

We will close for enrolments 7 days prior to the first live webinar to allow us to complete the course set up. We will email you at that time (7 days before the course begins) with further information and joining instructions. As always, students will want to check spam and junk folders during this period to ensure that these emails are received.

To earn credit (CATS points) for your course you will need to register and pay an additional £30 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.

Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an Enrolment Form (Word) or Enrolment Form (Pdf)

 

Level and demands

The Department's Weekly Classes are taught at FHEQ Level 4, i.e. first year undergraduate level, and you will be expected to engage in a significant amount of private study in preparation for the classes. This may take the form, for instance, of reading and analysing set texts, responding to questions or tasks, or preparing work to present in class.

Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS)

To earn credit (CATS points) you will need to register and pay an additional £30 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online. Students who register for CATS points will receive a Record of CATS points on successful completion of their course assessment.

Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process can either register for CATS points prior to the start of their course or retrospectively from the January 1st after the current full academic year has been completed. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.

 

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support