English Literature
From Beowulf to Carol Ann Duffy, via Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth, the Brontes, and others.
English Literature

In this course, Dr Christopher Pittard (University of Portsmouth) explores Truman Capote's 1966 true crime classic, In Cold Blood. We begin by thinking about the genre of the novel, a genre which Capote referred to as 'the non-fiction novel'....
5 lectures
1:13:10
Dr Christopher Pittard
Portsmouth University
English Literature

In this course, Professor Seamus Perry (University of Oxford) explores the poetry of T. S. Eliot through five key poems. In the first three modules, we explore 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock', thinking in particular about its status...
12 lectures
1:12:13
Prof. Seamus Perry
Oxford University
English Literature

In this course, Professor Helen Taylor (University of Exeter) explores Kate Chopin's 1899 novel, The Awakening. After a brief introduction to the writing of the American South, the course begins proper with a discussion of Kate Chopin herself –...
11 lectures
0:53:07
Prof. Helen Taylor
Exeter University
English Literature

In this course, Dr Páraic Finnerty (University of Portsmouth) explores the poetry Emily Dickinson. In the first module, we think about the figure of the poet herself, exploring some of the reasons why Dickinson refused to play the role of...
6 lectures
0:52:25
Dr Páraic Finnerty
Portsmouth University
English Literature

In this course, Dr Linda Freedman (University College, London) explores the poetry of the 19th-century American poet, Emily Dickinson. The course begins with an introduction to Emily Dickinson herself, dispelling the myth that she was a an...
6 lectures
0:47:37
Dr Linda Freedman
University College London
English Literature

In this course, we explore Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play, ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’. The first module provides some historical and literary context for the play; we introduce Tennessee Williams himself, and think about what kind...
12 lectures
1:56:26
Prof. John McRae
Nottingham University
English Literature

In this course, we explore the poetry of Sylvia Plath: first, we think about what it means to describe Plath as a writer of Confessional Poetry; after that we look at the themes of motherhood and love in Plath’s poetry;...
4 lectures
0:29:26
Prof. Diane Purkiss
Oxford University