A Day’s Read: Course Guidebook

by Timothy Spurgin

We all know how to read, but how many of us know how to read well? This course is designed to encourage the habit of artful reading. Its purpose is not so much to impart information as to sharpen skills and inspire condence. By the end of the course, you should be ready to dive into almost any work of ction—no matter who the author may be—since you will have gained a deeper understanding of how such works can be approached and enjoyed.

Throughout the course, we consider big ideas and juicy examples, ranging from the classic to the contemporary and back again. We not only look at Charles Dickens and Leo Tolstoy, but also stop to consider the works of Lorrie Moore and Jhumpa Lahiri. We also bring authors together in surprising new ways, working through comparisons and contrasts, close reading, and playful questioning.

The course begins by exploring the differences between artful reading and everyday reading. How, we ask, does reading a short story or novel differ from reading a memo, a recipe, or a newspaper? How does it differ from other kinds of serious reading? Can you approach a biography or a work of history in the same way that you approach a work of ction—and if not, why not?

111 pages, Unknown Binding

Published January 1, 2009