Duration of the online course: 20 hours and 51 minutes
4.88
(49)
Deep reading is more than finishing a book; it is learning how language builds meaning, how stories argue with culture, and how interpretation becomes evidence. This free online literature course helps you develop the habits that strong readers and writers share: noticing pattern and form, tracing theme and voice, and turning observations into clear, persuasive analysis.
Through landmark works of modern and contemporary fiction, you will practice reading beyond plot by paying attention to narration, structure, style, and ambiguity. You will see how a text can challenge the idea of truth, how genre shapes what we believe, and how a novel can invite multiple interpretations at once. Along the way, you will build a practical vocabulary for discussing books with confidence, whether you are preparing for school assignments, exams, or simply trying to read with more insight.
The course also connects interpretation to context without reducing literature to historical facts. You will examine how identity, race, gender, belief, and power are represented and contested on the page, and how authorial choices create tension between what is said and what is implied. You will learn to recognize how language can be playful or unreliable, how realism can be disrupted by experiment, and how literary movements influence rhythm, attention, and perception.
Because analysis is a skill, not a talent, the included exercises help you check comprehension, sharpen close reading, and strengthen your ability to argue from textual details. You will practice forming questions worth pursuing, selecting strong passages, and building paragraphs that move from claim to evidence to interpretation. By the end, you should feel more prepared to write about literature in an organized, original way and to join discussions with specific, text-based insights that go beyond general impressions.
If you want a structured way to read important novels, improve academic writing, and develop a more attentive relationship with language, this course offers a guided path from first impressions to thoughtful literary judgment.
Video class: 1. Introductions
47m
Exercise: What topic did Professor discuss first in her class?
Video class: 2. Richard Wright, Black Boy
50m
Exercise: _What is the critical response to Black Boy's relation to truth and its genre?
Video class: 3. Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood
47m
Exercise: What was a notable health challenge faced by the Southern writer discussed in the lecture?
Video class: 4. Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood (cont.)
44m
Exercise: _What is the general ugliness of women that pertains in the novel "Wise Blood" by Flannery O'Connor?
Video class: 5. Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita
51m
Exercise: What is a unique interpretative aspect of Lolita discussed in the lecture?
Video class: 6. Guest Lecture by Andrew Goldstone
43m
Exercise: _What is the focus of Andrew Goldstone's lecture on Lolita?
Video class: 7. Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (cont.)
46m
Exercise: _What happened to Lolita when Nabokov circulated it to American publishers?
Video class: 8. Jack Kerouac, On the Road
47m
Exercise: _What is one way in which the writing of Jack Kerouac in On the Road shares something with modernism?
Video class: 9. Jack Kerouac, On the Road (cont.)
45m
Exercise: _What does George Dardess say about "On the Road"?
Video class: 10. J. D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey
47m
Exercise: What key aspect of literary analysis does the lecture emphasize for writing a paper on 'Franny and Zooey'?
Video class: 11. John Barth, Lost in the Funhouse
49m
Exercise: _Which of the following was not a reason why "Ambrose His Mark" is typically a favorite story among students?
Video class: 12. Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49
49m
Exercise: _What is the main difference between the Beats and O'Connor/Nabokov's visions of language in literature?
Video class: 13. Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye
50m
Exercise: _What is Soaphead Church's intention in giving Pecola the poison to feed the dog?
Video class: 14. Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior
50m
Exercise: How many novels remain to be read in the final six weeks of the course?
Video class: 15. Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping
46m
Exercise: _What is the difference between the opening sentences of Housekeeping and Moby-Dick?
Video class: 16. Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping (cont.)
49m
Exercise: Which book was ultimately chosen on Novel Pitch Day?
Video class: 17. Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian
50m
Exercise: _What is one reason a student liked Blood Meridian?
Video class: 18. Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian (cont.)
40m
Exercise: _What is the significance of the kid carrying a Bible with him, despite being illiterate, in the narrative of "Blood Meridian"?
Video class: 19. Philip Roth, The Human Stain
48m
Exercise: What is a key theme discussed in the lecture regarding identity in 'The Human Stain'?
Video class: 20. Philip Roth, The Human Stain (cont.)
49m
Exercise: _What did the student not find in Labyrinth bookstore during their observation trip?
20 hours and 51 minutes of online video course
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Course comments: Literature
CHEIKH AHMET TIDIANE DIALLO
cool i
Mashhura Ahmadjonova
good. supper