Hocbigg - English Studies
Contents
Summary
The curriculum is a complete education in English Studies using online materials. It is designed to provide a well-rounded foundation equivalent to a 4-year undergraduate program, focusing on literature analysis, historical contexts, writing, linguistic principles, and critical theory.
Organization
This repository is organized into three main components:
- Core Curriculum (this page): the foundational knowledge of the field;
- Advanced Topics: focused study in specific areas;
- Projects: support learning through practical application throughout the curriculum.
Process: Learners may work through the curriculum independently or collaboratively, and either sequentially or selectively.
- For simplicity, courses in the Core Curriculum are ordered according to their prerequisites.
- The Core Curriculum provides a shared foundation and is intended to be completed in full.
- Advanced Topics are optional; learners are encouraged to select one area of focus and complete all courses within that topic.
Practical work is integrated through the Projects section and may be undertaken alongside coursework.
Note: When there are courses or books that don't fit into the curriculum but are otherwise of high quality, they belong in extras/courses, extras/readings.
Communities
- Forums:
- Subreddits:
- Other:
- You can also interact through GitHub issues. If there is a problem with a course, or a change needs to be made to the curriculum, this is the place to start the conversation. Read more here.
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Join our Discord server (for discussions around this and other curricula):
Curriculum
- How to use this curriculum
- Foundations of English Studies
- Literary Forms & Close Reading
- Literary History & Traditions
- Literary Theory & Methods
- Advanced Tracks
How to use this curriculum
Core Sections
These four sections form the essential foundation. They give you the basic skills, historical context, and critical tools needed to understand literature and literary study seriously. Complete them in this exact order:
Foundations of English Studies: Start here. This section teaches you how to read academic texts efficiently and write clearly — skills you will use constantly in every later section.
Literary Forms & Close Reading: Next, learn how to read and analyze the three major literary forms (fiction, poetry, drama) very closely. This is the most important practical skill in English Studies.
Literary History & Traditions: After you can read texts carefully, this section gives you the big historical picture: how literature developed across time and major English-language traditions.
Literary Theory & Methods: Finally, learn the main conceptual frameworks and interpretive tools that scholars use to analyze texts more deeply and systematically.
Foundations of English Studies
No prior knowledge assumed.
Language, Reading, and Writing Basics
| Course | Notes |
|---|---|
| Reading and Note-taking for Academic Study | Academic reading strategies, annotation, summarization. |
| Purdue OWL: Academic Writing | Core sections: sentence clarity, paragraph structure, argumentation. |
| Introduction to Literature (Open-access textbook) | Literary terms, genres, basic analysis; use as reference throughout curriculum. |
Introduction to English Language
| Course | Notes |
|---|---|
| Introduction to Linguistics (MIT OCW) | Basic language structure, phonetics, syntax; foundational for literary language awareness. |
Literary Forms & Close Reading
Skill-building through genre.
Fiction, Poetry, Drama
| Course | Notes |
|---|---|
| Introduction to Literary Genres or similar broad intro if available; otherwise keep originals | For unified start (fiction/poetry/drama basics). |
| Reading Fiction (MIT OCW) | Narrative structure, character, theme. |
| Reading Poetry (MIT OCW) | Meter, form, figurative language. |
| Shakespeare’s Life and Work (Harvard) | Drama, performance, textual variation. |
Literary History & Traditions
Chronological and cultural grounding.
Global and Anglophone Surveys
| Course | Notes |
|---|---|
| World Literature: A Global Perspective (Harvard) | Canon, translation, comparative reading. |
| British Literature I: From the Middle Ages to Neoclassicism and the Eighteenth Century (Open Textbook Library / University of North Georgia Press) | Use as open anthology (Medieval–18th c.). |
| British Literature II: Romantic Era to the Twentieth Century and Beyond (Open Textbook Library / University of North Georgia Press) | Use as open anthology (19th–20th c.). |
| American Literature I: An Anthology of Texts From Early America Through the Civil War (Open Textbook Library) | Use as open anthology (Colonial–1865). |
| [The Norton Anthology of English Literature (selections via library/open previews) or keep open anthologies] | Core reference for major periods. |
Literary Theory & Methods
Conceptual tools for interpretation.
| Course | Notes |
|---|---|
| Introduction to Theory of Literature (Yale) | Formalism, Marxism, feminism, psychoanalysis, etc.; main survey course. |
Congratulations
After completing the requirements of the curriculum above, you will have completed the equivalent of a full bachelor's degree in English Studies. Congratulations!