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Save Up To $185
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How to Read and Understand Shakespeare
Professor Marc C. Conner
Shakespeare enjoys near-universal agreement among scholars as well as the general public that his works are among the greatest of humanity's cultural expressions, and that we all should know and understand them. But, simply put, Shakespeare is difficult. His language and culture—those of Elizabethan England, 400 years ago—are greatly different from our own, and his poetry, thick with metaphorical imagery and double meanings, can be hard to penetrate. Now, in the 24 revealing lectures of How to Read and Understand Shakespeare by award-winning Professor Marc C. Conner of Washington and Lee University, you can learn a set of interpretive tools, drawn from the texts themselves, that give you direct insight into Shakespeare’s plays. These guiding principles allow you to follow the narratives of the plays as they unfold, with a clear understanding of how the plays function and fit together. The tools you learn are yours for years of enjoyment of these monumental treasures of our culture.
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Building Great Sentences: Exploring the Writer's Craft
Professor Brooks Landon
Investigate the myriad ways we think about, talk about, and write sentences. In Building Great Sentences: Exploring the Writer's Craft, Professor Brooks Landon from the University of Iowa—one of the nation's top writing schools—shows you the pleasure in reading and writing great sentences. Explore the stylistic rewards (and risks) of various sentence forms, learn how to build and appreciate effective and elegant sentences, get unique insights into the nature of great writing—and discover how you can achieve some of this greatness yourself.
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The Secret Life of Words: English Words and Their Origins
Professor Anne Curzan
It’s a human impulse to play with language and to create new words and meanings—but also to worry about the decay of language. But by studying how and why language changes and the story behind the everyday words in our lexicon, we can learn a lot about ourselves—how our minds work and how our culture has changed over the centuries. In The Secret Life of Words: English Words and Their Origins, you’ll get a delightful, informative survey of English, from its Germanic origins to the rise of globalization and cyber-communications. Award-winning Professor Anne Curzan of the University of Michigan approaches the subject like an archaeologist, digging below the surface to uncover the story of words.
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Save Up To $185
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Writing Creative Nonfiction
Professor Tilar J. Mazzeo
The 24 lectures of Writing Creative Nonfiction by award-winning writing instructor and Professor Tilar J. Mazzeo of Colby College, a New York Times best-selling author, are a chance for you to explore the entire process of writing creative nonfiction, from brainstorming for the perfect idea to getting your final product noticed by literary agents and publishers. Filled with helpful tips and techniques, memorable examples from well-known writers, and engaging exercises, it’s a learning experience that proves that—with the right instructor—writing creative nonfiction can be mastered, practiced, and enjoyed by anyone with a desire to share his or her personal story.
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Analysis and Critique: How to Engage and Write about Anything
Professor Dorsey Armstrong
Discover the concepts and methods for clear and strong writing in the 24 accessible and practical lectures of Analysis and Critique: How to Engage and Write about Anything. Delivered by Professor Dorsey Armstrong of Purdue University, this course immerses you in the elements of successful writing, from organizing your thoughts to making persuasive arguments to avoiding common grammatical errors. With its engaging literary and everyday examples, inspirational prompts, and unforgettable insights, these lectures make the perfect reference guide for both professional and casual writers.
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A Day’s Read
Various Professors
"Great books" such as Don Quixote, War and Peace, and Bleak House constitute a grand reading list that many of us, with our busy lives, can't easily manage. But there's another strategy for reading the "great books" that is truly manageable; one that allows you to get all the power of brilliant authors in a single day. Join three literary scholars and award-winning professors as they introduce you to dozens of short masterpieces that you can finish—and engage with—in a day or less with A Day’s Read. Together, all three offer you their unique scholarly perspectives on short books from across time and around the world.
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Story of Human Language
Professor John McWhorter
Dr. John McWhorter, one of America's leading linguists and a frequent commentator on network television and National Public Radio, takes you on a fascinating, 36-lecture tour of the development of human language—he unfolds the story of how a single tongue spoken 150,000 years ago may have evolved into the estimated 6,000 languages used worldwide today. Discover why, for the past century, linguistics has been one of the most exciting and productive fields in the social sciences.
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Starting at $19.95
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The Art of War
Professor Andrew R. Wilson
As a landmark achievement in the evolution of strategic thought, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War has had a powerful and lasting influence on military strategy around the globe. So universal and timeless are its tactics for pursuing a competitive advantage that some of the most notable people in government, sports, and the entertainment world have all quoted from its nearly 2500-year-old pages. Through a precise, historically grounded explanation of the original text and intriguing case studies, the six lectures of The Art of War prove how this classic’s wisdom remains highly relevant in the information age. You’ll examine how the seminal work’s model of leadership has been applied—and misapplied—throughout the realms of war, politics, business, and beyond.
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Save Up To $185
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Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths of Language Usage
Professor John McWhorter
In Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths of Language Usage, acclaimed linguist and Professor John McWhorter dispels the cloud of confusion that clings to English and gives you a crystal-clear view of why we use it the way we do. Throughout these 24 lectures, you'll discover the true answers to these and other questions that continue to perplex us all: Is English, as a language, in crisis? Should grammar always be logical? Does texting degrade writing? By the end of this course, you're sure to start thinking about English in a new way.
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Art of Reading
Professor Timothy Spurgin
Learn how to make your future reading experiences more enriching and enjoyable with these 24 insightful lectures. Designed to maximize your effectiveness as an artful reader, The Art of Reading brings together concepts, tools, and techniques rarely found together in a single package. Teaching with an engaging and conversational style, award-winning Professor Timothy Spurgin shows you how to approach even the most daunting novel or short story with increased confidence. Whether you're a fiction reader, an aspiring writer, a book club member, or a student, this masterful course will make your future reading experiences more engaging and—most important—more enlightening.
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Life Lessons from the Great Myths
Professor J. Rufus Fears
Change the way you think about the greatest stories ever told with Life Lessons from the Great Myths by acclaimed Great Courses Professor J. Rufus Fears. A powerful work of storytelling prowess, this 36-lecture course explores individuals and events that so gripped civilizations, they transcended to the level of myth. Taking you from the battlefields of Alexander the Great to the conquests of Napoleon Bonaparte to the drama of the America West, this is the kind of engaging learning experience only Professor Fears can deliver.
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Classics of American Literature
Professor Arnold Weinstein
Classic stories and poems of American literature are found in the pages of Franklin, Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, Dickinson, Twain, Whitman, Faulkner, and many others. When was the last time you read them? Possibly not as recently as you'd like. Why? Not because you wouldn't love it. But perhaps the demands of your daily life or some other reason have prevented this pleasure. Now, here is the opportunity to gain an extraordinary familiarity with each of these authors within a manageable amount of time, as well as review the great works you may already know.
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History of the English Language, 2nd Edition
Professor Seth Lerer
Sixteen centuries ago a wave of settlers from northern Europe came to the British Isles speaking a mix of Germanic dialects. Today we call that dialect Old English, the ancestor of the language nearly one in five people in the world speaks every day. How did this ancient tongue evolve into the elegant idiom of Chaucer, Shakespeare, and other great writers? And how does English continue develop today? The History of the English Language, 2nd Edition, is Professor Seth Lerer’s revised and updated investigation of the remarkable history of English.
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Shakespeare: Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies
Professor Peter Saccio
Professor Peter Saccio—an award-winning Ivy League Professor of Shakespeare studies—is your guide for this marvelous exploration of 15 of Shakespeare's greatest plays. Learn how our most abundant poet and dramatist has been moving, delighting, and enlightening readers and audiences for 400 years, with no end in sight.
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Understanding Linguistics: The Science of Language
Professor John McWhorter
Journey through the fascinating terrain of linguistics: the scientific study of human language. In this exciting 36-lecture course taught by acclaimed linguist and Professor John McWhorter, investigate the elements and purposes of language, from its fundamental building blocks to its uses as a nuanced social tool. Among the many aspects and issues of language you explore are the basic sounds from which human language is built, why learning a second language can be so difficult, and how writing systems have evolved. Rich with insight, Understanding Linguistics: The Science of Language gives you a newfound appreciation for the mysterious machinery built into us all.
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