Literature: Reading Wordsworth for Ourselves

Session dates and times:

• Tuesday 17th February, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
• Tuesday 24th February, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
• Tuesday 3rd March, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
• Tuesday 10th March, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
• Tuesday 17th March, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
• Tuesday 24th March, 2:00pm - 3:30pm

Course tutor:

Mark Crees

This course will offer students an introduction to Wordsworth's great autobiographical poem, The Prelude. Each week will focus on a different section of the poem, but we will be guided, above all, by our own feelings towards Wordsworth's writing. No prior knowledge is needed.

What will this course cover?

The Prelude remains the unregarded gem at the heart of English literature. In writing this moving autobiographical poem, Wordsworth strove to understand what had happened to him in the past, and where his poetic gift was going in the future. In doing so, he single-handedly changed the course of English literature.

On this course, we will read The Prelude in its entirety. We will accompany Wordsworth on his own personal journey of rediscovery as he remembers his childhood in the Lake District, his travels in Europe and his early struggles as a writer.

We will be reading the 1805 text of The Prelude.

What will I get out of this course?

+ Teaching will be conducted in seminars, so you will have the opportunity to share your own ideas with other students.

+ Other art forms, including paintings, will be used to compliment discussion.

+ You will learn skills of close reading, picking up on the telling details with which writers manage to convey so much.

+ Each week, you will be given a short quota of reading which will be the focus for the following seminar.

What level is the course and do I need any particular skills or experience?

This is an entry level course, no skills or experience are needed just an interest in Wordsworth and poetry.

What do I need to bring with me?

You do not need to bring any equipment, but a pen and notepad may be useful to write down your thoughts.

Since 1903 the WEA have been delivering on our charitable mission - to bring lifelong learning within reach of everybody who needs it.

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