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Curated by: Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry (237 videos)
New Course coming to Versed in January! Sign up here: https://versedcommunity.mn.co/ Syllabus here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Wn1jnDEgMTgB7ANL5MulrW4KTQ3R1sO37ej09ZCtuY4/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.1w01lpdsc2yi This four-lecture course will inspire students to recover the imaginative, visionary, and the contemplative capacities of their reading. By studying and meditating upon Blake’s poetry and engravings, we will consider how Blake’s prophetic art prompts a renaissance of perception and a way to cleanse the doors of our perception. Students will be prompted each week to practice meditative reading, to train their inner eye through poetry and visual art, to see art as an encounter, i.e., as a way to push against the modern tendency to treat reading as extraction. Our reading assignments will cover some of Blake’s well known works. Our lectures will introduce you to his life and times. Our “homework” assignments ask you to live with Blake’s art. Our discussions will offer you the opportunity to discuss your experiences of reading Blake with others. Our course chatroom will offer a place where you can compare notes with other students and explore ideas. By the end of the course, students will have gained the following: - a stronger faculty of attention and a practice of contemplative reading; - an introduction to Blake’s poetry, symbolism, and visual imagination; - practical exercises for visionary and meditative perception; - a deeper understanding of how tradition is made and carried forward; - and a restored confidence that literature can enlarge one’s life and help re-enchant the world.