Twin Cities - interested in organizing a classic literature class

[Apple]

Amazingly, I have managed to go through 27 years of existence with next to no experience with classic literature, other than philosophy, which was my college major. In order to right this terrible state, I have begun to read - Virginia Woolf, right now. But, I get much more out of a class-style approach - assigned readings, weekly face-to-face gatherings, discussions, writing commitments, etc. So, I would like to organize a classic literature class - not a book club! - in the Twin Cities area. Anyone interested or have suggestions? Thanks! ~ ac

[Snukes]

Just kind of curious - how do you define the difference between a book club and a class? I guess I think of a class being something where one person (theoretically) knows more (at the beginning) than everyone else, and teaches (guides) them to that learning. To organize such a thing could be very tricky, if you wanted to have "experts" on all sorts of different books. Usually people like that want to be paid for teaching... (You could try a community college?)

On the other hand, if you want organize a bunch of people to get together and learn about books together, maybe doing some research at home and bringing it to discuss... well, that's a book club!

I've noticed - through attempting to organize a "literary society" at my former university - that even otherwise dedicated students don't like to do homework (that is, writing assignments; general research is usually a bit more likely to happen) unless there is something riding on the result. As in, a grade. What you describe above really does sound a lot like a college literature course. If you want to be in a group of people who will be committed to following through on assignments or even just getting the book read on time, looking up general college offerings really might be your best bet.

[Jack_Aubrey]

I'm from Minnesota. But I'm gonna have to pass on your offer.

[Apple]

Yes, it occurred to me that a class might not actually be a class without a teacher, and I would love to have someone who actually knows something about the subject matter, but I'm not really holding out too much hope for that.

But, it did seem necessary to make a point about it not being a club, because 'book club' simply doesn't convey the level of commitment I am seeking. I want people to show up weekly, to actually read the books, to spend time thinking about them. Otherwise, they are of no use to me; it would be better to simply engage in discussions on this type of a forum.

Money is a limiting factor, so community college, auditing, etc. are not options.

Since I want to do this, there is a chance that other people are also interested in something like this. But, I realize there is a good possibility that no one will bite. In which case, I'll just continue to do it on my own, as if there were a class and see what I can get outta online discussions.

Anyway, I appreciate your suggestions.

[Snukes]

Yohoho! We're always here and happy to talk about the books you read, in any case... Personally, I don't mind being a last resort.

[Apple]

My apologies; that did not come across the way I meant it. Online forums are great and useful; but I get more out of class settings, interactions, and requirements. Anyway, I'm sure I'll have some questions to pose to you all, either way.

ac

[Snukes]

Sorry... didn't mean to make you feel like you'd said a dumb thing. I completely understand, and I was completely serious. I hope you find exactly the sort of discussions you are looking for, but if you have bad luck and still want something, here we are!

[JaneC]

A class is more structured. I'm not familiar with how online book club discussions would go, but it seems that there are no preset topics or approaches to the works; people just make random observations, things that popped out at them, but there isn't a systematic approach to looking at the work. I have no experience with it, though, so I may be wrong.

I like having a set of issues or themes in the back of my mind if I get involved in a study group, like what are the major themes of this book, or how does this book seem typical of this author's work, or how does this book fit into its genre or its time period. Because then you have to look at the characteristics of that type of genre, era, etc., and the discussion is more organized.

[mono]

Online forums are great and useful; but I get more out of class settings, interactions, and requirements.

I know what you mean here. No offense to my fellow Literature Network forum members - I admire you all - but I definitely see the difference between discussing books face-to-face from the Internet. Class discussions, I admit, can seem a little boring, as, even if I enjoy the book, making discussion a requirement sometimes can subtract from the impact. With a few of my literary 'geeks' and 'bookworms,' I have had the best of long talks, analyses, and moving conversations regarding literature.
Regardless, Apple, I wish you luck with your plan.

[Apple]

I was kinda thinking of using something like MIT OpenCourseWare as a general guide. There is a class that looks quite interesting - "Literary Interpretation: Virginia Woolf's Shakespeare". What I like about the OCW is the writing assignment instructions, and that most materials - primary and secondary sources - are provided online. I guess what I want is discourse that is more in depth than possible when people only read the material, then show up and make spontaneous and undeveloped remarks. Not that those types of comments are bad - they are quite useful and necessary, but moreso in the context of a thorough and sophisticated discourse.

I do not get to that point without exploring some thesis in writing. Maybe others do, and those people would certainly not need to write anything. Developing theories, complete with relevant observations and arguments, I think, naturally bring about revelations and insights typically missed through casual observation and musing.

[Capnplank]

Have you checked with any area bookstores or anything to see if they have anything like that going on? The Twin Cities is full of lit nuts... where I work seems to be an English professor graveyard, and every day I wind up discussing some work with somebody around here, swapping books and whatnot. But then again I guess that's sort of in the nature of the job.


Anyhoo, this might also be worth a gander for you, if you haven't seen it before:
http://www.bartleby.com/hc/

[Logos]

There are a bunch of groups listed here that meet up to discuss various things, not sure how active they are though.

[Jack_Aubrey]

Wow, I didn't figure there were any fellow Minnesotans here.