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Course No. 2198 (24 lectures, 30 minutes/lecture, .avi)Taught By Professor Timothy Spurgin, Ph.D., University of Virginia, Lawrence UniversityYou definitely know how to read. But do you know how to read artfully? Unlike everyday reading, artful reading—the way we read novels and short stories—is less about reading for specific information and more about reading to revel in the literary experience.It involves recognizing* how a story’s particular narrative style affects your connection with its characters,* why authors choose to hint at meanings instead of just writing them out for you,* how the organization of a novel into distinct chapters can affect your engagement with its plot, and much more.When you approach a work of fiction the way you do an e-mail or report or newspaper, you miss out on all of this. You’re not getting everything you should out of the reading experience. Learning the skills and techniques of artful reading can improve your life in many ways.* If you’re a fiction reader, they can make your first reading of a new novel or short story feel as rewarding as a second or third reading, and they can give you new perspectives on works you already cherish.* If you’re an aspiring writer, they can help you understand the methods that great writers use to tackle literary concepts—successful methods you can then apply to your own writing.* If you’re a book club member, they can enliven discussions and provide your group with engaging activities to create even deeper appreciations of the works you’re reading.* If you’re a student, they can improve and enhance the close reading skills essential to success in high school, college, and beyond.And the best part: These skills are not difficult or unwieldy; rather, they are well within your reach. According to award-winning Professor Timothy Spurgin, who has made a career of enlightening students about the benefits of artful reading, great readers are made, not born.This idea forms the core of The Art of Reading, Professor Spurgin’s entertaining 24-lecture course that brings together concepts and techniques rarely found in a single package. Teaching with an engaging and conversational style, he gives you the knowledge and methods to approach even the most daunting reading experience with increased confidence.Course Lecture Titles01. Artful Reading and Everyday Reading02. Authors, Real and Implied03. Narrators—Their Voices and Their Visions04. Characters—Beyond Round and Flat05. Descriptions—People, Places, and Things06. Minimalists to Maximalists to Lyricists07. Explosive Devices—Irony and Ambiguity08. Reading for the Plot—Five Simple Words09. Master Plots—The Stranger and the Journey10. The Game Is Afoot—Sherlock Holmes11. The Plot Thickens—Scott and Brontë12. The Plot Vanishes—Faulkner and Woolf13. Chapters, Patterns, and Rhythms14. Scene and Summary, Showing and Telling15. Subtexts, Motives, and Secrets16. Dialogue—The Good, the Bad, the Ugly17. metafiction—Fiction about Fiction18. Adaptation—From Fiction to Film19. Realism Times Four20. Thumbs Up?—Interpretation and Evaluation21. A Long Short Story—”Runaway”22. A Classic Novel—The Age of Innocence23. A Baggy Monster—War and Peace24. Picking Up the ToolsAbout Your ProfessorDr. Timothy Spurgin is the Bonnie Glidden Buchanan Professor of English Literature and Associate Professor of English at Lawrence University, where he has taught for more than 15 years. He received his B.A. at Carleton College and his M.A. and Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Virginia.Professor Spurgin has received two coveted teaching awards from Lawrence University—the Outstanding Young Teacher Award and the Freshman Studies Teaching Prize—and he is a three-time recipient of the Babcock Award, given by university students to the individual who, “through involvement and interaction with students, has made a positive impact on the campus community.”