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Displaying 51 - 60 of 74
Displaying search results for: "Literature "
History: St. George - The Man and the Legend
Who was St George? Was he real, or just a character in a legend about a dragon and a princess? Was the dragon real - or perhaps symbolic of something else? If George existed, was he even English? When and where did he live? Given that he was made a saint, what is the connection between the man, the legend and the Christian Church? Is the legend just another way to look at the resolution of conflict – the light versus the dark, the triumph of good over evil?
In this two-hour session, we will examine some of the evidence about the existence of the man and any basis to the legend with Medievalist Terry Bloxham.
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Course Information
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Dates:Mon 16/12/2024 -
Mon 16/12/2024Times:10:30am - 12:30pmDuration:1 sessionsLocation:Friends Meeting House (Berkhamsted)
289 High Street
Berkhamsted
HP4 1AJTutor:Guest SpeakerCourse code:Q00018060How you'll learn:In venueAvailability:10+ places remainingStatus:AvailableFee rangeFree to £8.40
Literature: Victorian Literature Through the Decades - The 1840s
During this course we will consider a wide range of novels that were pubished in the 1840s as a continuation of an exploration of literature published through the decades of Victoria’s long reign. We will consider a range of novels by both male and female writers: Barnaby Rudge (Charles Dickens 1841); The Luck of Barry Lyndon (W M Thackeray, 1844); Sybil (Benjamin Disraeli, 1845); Agnes Grey (Anne Bronté, 1847); Shirley (Charlotte Bronté, 1849). The 1840s were a prosperous time for many but but this decade was also known as the Hungry Forties. The 1840s also saw the growth of the realist novel.
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Course Information
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Dates:Tue 07/01/2025 -
Tue 01/04/2025Times:2:30pm - 4:30pmDuration:13 sessionsLocation:Exeter Community Centre (Exeter)
17 St. Davids Hill
Exeter
EX4 3RGTutor:Greta DepledgeCourse code:Q00016886How you'll learn:In venueAvailability:10+ places remainingStatus:AvailableFee rangeFree to £100.80
British Literature 1980 - 2011 (Part 2)
On this course we will examine the following novels:
On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan.
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell (2004)
Day - A.L. Kennedy.
Affinity - Sarah Waters.
The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes.
These texts will take us inside contemporary British fiction, and
earmark those authors who have contributed to the evolution of a
distinctive voice in British fiction in the last fifty years, from the
years of Thatcher, New Labour to the present. We will explore each
writers’ techniques and themes, and how they address the themes
of British identity.
Discussions will be lively with plenty of opportunities to voice
your opinions.
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Course Information
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Dates:Wed 08/01/2025 -
Wed 19/03/2025Location:Friends Meeting House (Sutton)
10 Cedar Road
Sutton
SM2 5DACourse code:Q00017594How you'll learn:In venueAvailability:10+ places remainingStatus:AvailableFee rangeFree to £100.00
British Novels in the 70s and 80s (Part 2)
This course will consider and analyse the following authors
and their texts. These are:
Strange Meeting - Susan Hill.
So Long Hector Bebb - Ron Berry.
Flaubert’s Parrot - Julian Barnes.
The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro.
Innocence - Penelope Fitzgerald.
These texts will provide a window into the different regions of
Britain during two decades of major change in the social fabric and
political nature of Britain, though several of our texts will trace
these changes back to the earlier part of the twentieth century,
and in doing so, we will encounter themes of identity, class and
the decline of Empire.
There will be much to prompt discussion and challenge our
assumptions.
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Course Information
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Dates:Wed 08/01/2025 -
Wed 19/03/2025Times:2:15pm - 4:15pmDuration:10 sessionsLocation:Rose House (London)
70 Barnes High Street
London
SW13 9LDTutor:Stephen SmithCourse code:Q00017376How you'll learn:In venueAvailability:10+ places remainingStatus:AvailableFee rangeFree to £100.00
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Membership Information
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Duration:12 monthsFee:£15
Literature: Gissing and Zola – further studies in 19th century naturalist fiction
This course will look at a range of novels by late 19th century naturalist writers George Gissing and Emile Zola. Zola is seen as the leading exponent of French naturalist fiction and Gissing is often classified as an English naturalist writer. Naturalism is a literary genre that considers human character as being determined by environment, social conditions and evolution. Naturalism is similar to realism in that both genres focus on social commentary, they reject romanticism, but naturalism emphasises scientific objectivism. The novels we will study are Zola’s: The Earth (1887); La Bête Humaine (1890); L’Assommoir (1877) and Gissing’s: The Odd Women (1893); The Nether World (1889); The Whirlpool (1897).
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Course Information
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Dates:Thu 09/01/2025 -
Thu 03/04/2025Times:3:00pm - 5:00pmDuration:13 sessionsLocation:OnlineTutor:Greta DepledgeCourse code:Q00017844How you'll learn:OnlineAvailability:10+ places remainingStatus:AvailableFee rangeFree to £81.60
Art Appreciation: Victorian Art - Town and Country
The Victorian years saw unprecedented industrialisation which changed the face of Britain but also attitudes. Industrial developments were perceived as both positive and negative, but the countryside was viewed as a tradition, community and continuity. Yet images of the country, as well as the town, reveal the complexity of a society adapting to the modern world. Depiction of idyllic country scenes and grimy urban life reveal deep tension in Victorian society. This course will reveal that complexity and the contradictions which characterised the years 1837 to 1901 by examining paintings, engravings, photographs cartoons and the literature of the period.
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Course Information
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Dates:Fri 10/01/2025 -
Fri 21/03/2025Times:2:30pm - 4:30pmDuration:10 sessionsLocation:Grimsby Central Hall & Arts Community Ce
Duncombe Street
Grimsby
DN32 7EGTutor:Tim StimsonCourse code:Q00017917How you'll learn:In venueAvailability:10+ places remainingStatus:AvailableFee rangeFree to £84.00
History: China 1912 to 1992 – Empire to Republic
This second of two courses on modern Chinese history concentrates on the history of China from 1912 to 1992 a time marked by profound transformations, including the fall of the imperial system, the rise of the First Republic, the Warlord Era, the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, and major upheavals of war, rebellion, revolution and geopolitical alignment. We trace the political social, cultural and economic development of China in the 20th Century. We consider the events, ideas and personalities that shaped this extraordinary national story. Throughout, we draw parallels with our own time and how we got here.
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Dates:Mon 13/01/2025 -
Mon 24/03/2025Times:10:30am - 12:30pmDuration:10 sessionsLocation:Petts Wood Memorial Hall (Petts Wood)
200 Petts Wood Road
Petts Wood
BR5 1LATutor:Laurie JohnstonCourse code:Q00017563How you'll learn:In venueAvailability:10+ places remainingStatus:AvailableFee rangeFree to £100.00
Literature: The Literature of Migration
Migration always brings a story. Whether migration stems from joyful exploration and curiosity, or is the result of loss, coercion or danger, each narrative tells us something new. In this course, we will be considering the portrayal of migration, the many contexts which lead to authors writing about migration, and how other themes are bound in with this idea. In our discussions together, we will be considering a wide range of texts and genres from across the ages, and working to expand our understanding of such a fundamental experience.
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Dates:Tue 14/01/2025 -
Tue 25/03/2025Times:1:30pm - 3:30pmDuration:10 sessionsLocation:OnlineTutor:Clare JacksonCourse code:Q00018507How you'll learn:OnlineAvailability:10+ places remainingStatus:AvailableFee rangeFree to £74.00
Literature: Selected plays by Aristophanes
Aristophanes (c.450-388 BCE) writing in the Fifth Century is regarded as the key author in Ancient Greek comedy. His plays will be studied, read and workshopped. We shall look at how his plays might be put on, and staged today. His plays often have structures similar to a sketch show and he uses many comic devices still popular with comedians today. His plays are a little rude though (sometimes very rude). We shall look at how he creates his comic characters and situations. We shall discuss the issues that he wants to write about and consider if these are still relevant to a modern audience trying to make sense of the political and social world today. Over ten weeks, two to three plays will be discussed and workshopped to appreciate the various theatrical devices that Aristophanes often uses.
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Dates:Tue 14/01/2025 -
Tue 25/03/2025Times:10:00am - 12:00pmDuration:10 sessionsLocation:The Greenleaf Centre (Walthamstow)
67-69 Greenleaf Road
Walthamstow
E17 6QPTutor:Thomas CroweCourse code:Q00017605How you'll learn:In venueAvailability:10+ places remainingStatus:AvailableFee rangeFree to £100.00
History: The Ottoman Empire - Fall 1876-1922
The last 50 years of the Ottoman Empire continues to drive current events and politics in Europe and the Middle East. In this course we consider the events, characters and forces that lead to its breakup including the modernisation attempts of the ‘Young Turk’ movement, the Balkan Wars of 1912-13, The Great War (including the Arab Revolt, the Armenian Genocide and the Turkish War of Independence. We finish by considering the rise of the new secular state of Turkey and the legacy of the Ottomans and why a century after its end the Ottoman Empire is still relevant throughout southeastern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
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Dates:Wed 15/01/2025 -
Wed 26/03/2025Times:10:00am - 12:00pmDuration:10 sessionsLocation:Ripley Arts Centre (Bromley)
24 Sundridge Avenue
Bromley
BR1 2PXTutor:Laurie JohnstonCourse code:Q00017956How you'll learn:In venueAvailability:10+ places remainingStatus:AvailableFee rangeFree to £84.00