John Green Knows: How and Why We Read (Crash Course English Literature #1)

Here are my favorite quotes from the newest Crash Course offering, English Literature:

"Writing, or at least good writing, is an outgrowth of that urge to use language to communicate complex ideas and experiences between people.  And that's true whether your're reading Shakespeare or bad vampire fiction.  Reading is always an act of empathy.  It's always an imagining of what it's like to be someone else."

"So I'm going to ask you to read critically, to look closely at a text and pay attention to the subtle ways the author is trying to communicate the full complexity of human experience."

Both quotes are from the inimitable John Green.

Will this free online course inspire you to read Romeo and Juliet?  Or will you cheat and check out the Franco Zeffirelli DVD from the library?  That's my favorite version of the film.

Oh, that reminds me.  Here's one of my favorite songs about these star-crossed lovers.  It's from the soundtrack of the adaptation of Romeo + Juliet directed by Baz Luhrmann.



See, that's why I never got around to finishing my Bachelor's degree in Language, Literature, and Writing.  I blame it on my inability to pass college algebra, but really it's my enthusiasm for learning that leads me off track.  It's difficult for me to not go off on a tangent in my learning.  The good thing about studying something online is I can go back and watch the course whenever I want and I'm not confined to someone else's time constraints.  I can use John Green's course to focus my thoughts on the topic of literature while delving into an occasional Radiohead video whenever it suits me.  An online education allows me a fuller, deeper, richer learning experience.