Short course
Reading Literature Critically
Course status:
Applications being accepted
Dates and time:
20/01/2027 - 24/03/202716:30 - 18:30
Study format:
In-person weekly
Fees:
£315.00
With an emphasis on close critical analysis, this course will enable you to become a more attentive, appreciative and critical reader of literary texts.
You will be introduced to the key skills of English Studies, in particular close critical analysis and the use of contextual information.
During the course, you will hone your 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.
Book this course
Book your place online using the button below.
Contact the team
Phone: +44 (0)1865 280900
Course starts Wednesday 20 January 2027
This is an in-person course which requires your attendance at the weekly meetings in Oxford on Wednesdays, 4:30-6:30pm.
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
Week 6: Poetic form 3
Week 7: Free Verse
Week 8: Drama
Week 9: Using the critical idiom and contextual material
Week 10: A sense of an ending
Course aims
This course aims to enable participants to develop the skills required to become attentive, analytical and critical readers of English literary texts.
Course Objectives
By the end of the course, participants will have been given the opportunity to:
- develop an understanding of the characteristic techniques and features employed in English literary texts
- explore the ways in which historical, cultural and literary contexts can inform the interpretation of literary works
- develop skills in the close critical reading, analysis and interpretation of English literary texts
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course, students will:
- 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.
Level and demands
The Department’s Weekly Classes are taught at FHEQ Level 4, ie 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.
Teaching methods
- Tutor talk followed by discussion
- Small group work
- Analyses of extracts provided
Assessment methods
Only those students who have registered for assessment and accreditation, in advance of the course start date, can submit coursework/assignments for assessment.
Assessment
- An informal presentation on a literary text to be delivered in class.
- Critical commentary on a literary text (1,500 words) to be submitted at the end of the course.
Dr Edward Clarke
Edward Clarke’s critical books include The Vagabond Spirit of Poetry (Iff Books, 2014) and The Later Affluence of Yeats and Stevens (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012). His poetry collections include Cherubims (Kelsay Books, 2022) and A Book of Psalms (Paraclete Press, 2020). He is a Departmental Lecturer in Lifelong Learning (English Literature) at the Department for Continuing Education, and a Fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford University.
Academic credit
Credit Accumulation Transfer Scheme (CATS Points)
Please note, students who do not register for assessment and accreditation during the enrolment process will not be able to do so after the course has begun. If you wish to gain credit from completing this course you must register to do so before the course starts.
Only those who have registered for assessment and accreditation will be awarded CATS points for completing work to the required standard. Please note that assignments are not graded but are marked either pass or fail.
Learn more about the Credit Accumulation Transfer Scheme.
If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education at the Department you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee for assessment and accreditation.
Digital certificate of completion
Students who are registered for assessment and accreditation and pass their final assignment will also be eligible for a digital Certificate of Completion. Information on how to access the 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 attended. You will be able to download the certificate and share it on social media if you choose to do so.
Fees
| Description | Costs |
|---|---|
| Course fee (with no assessment) | £315.00 |
| Assessment and Accreditation fee | £60.00 |
Funding
If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, or are a care-leaver in the UK, 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
Recommended reading
Recommended reading is optional and you are not required to purchase these books to study this course.
Library facilities
All weekly class students may become borrowing members of the Rewley House Library, part of the Bodleian Libraries, for the duration of their course. Prospective students whose courses have not yet started are also welcome to use the Library for reference.
- More information about the Library can be found on the Bodleian Libraries website.
- This guide for Weekly Class students also provides further information.
Preparatory reading
- An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory / Andrew Bennett and Nicholas Royle
- The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms / Chris Baldick
Module code: O26P455LTW
How to enrol
Please use the ‘Book now’ button on this page.
How to register for accreditation and assessment
To be able to submit coursework and to earn credit (CATS points) for this course, if you wish to do so, you will need to register and pay an additional £60 fee. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.
Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process will not be able to do so after the course has begun.
If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education at the Department you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.