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Courses / Symbols in Literature

A Bookflix course

Symbols in Literature

You read a story. Somebody else reads the same story and sees a whole other thing in it. This course is about getting that second sight: a short theory of literary symbols — food, weather, water, scars, cigarettes — and then the practice: five Roald Dahl stories, each stopped at the key scenes.

It is self-paced and you walk it on your own: no sessions, no deadlines, your progress is saved. The stories themselves are not included — find each one in the original (the collections and the library are your friends), read it, then come back for the stops. At every stop you write what you see — only then do you get my reading and the cards of everyone who came before you.

3 990 ₽ · one payment, yours to keep

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Part one

Theory

Twenty short reads, each with a narrated version. About an hour in all.

A word before we start · Why bother? · Two books to prove the point · The toolkit · Hermeneutics · The toolkit · The death of the author · Four rules for finding symbols · Food · Sex · Weather and seasons · Landscape · Violence · Geography and direction · A practice run: Titanic · Two more quick ones · The gate: substances · Illness, blindness, scars · When there's nothing there · The club rules · Practical advice · Before you go

  1. 01A word before we start3 min
  2. 02Why bother?3 min
  3. 03Two books to prove the point5 min
  4. 04The toolkit · Hermeneutics3 min
  5. 05The toolkit · The death of the author3 min
  6. 06Four rules for finding symbols4 min
  7. 07Food3 min
  8. 08Sex6 min
  9. 09Weather and seasons3 min
  10. 10Landscape1 min
  11. 11Violence2 min
  12. 12Geography and direction2 min
  13. 13A practice run: Titanic2 min
  14. 14Two more quick ones2 min
  15. 15The gate: substances1 min
  16. 16Illness, blindness, scars1 min
  17. 17When there's nothing there1 min
  18. 18The club rules1 min
  19. 19Practical advice2 min
  20. 20Before you go3 min

Part two · Practice

Five stories by Roald Dahl

Read each story first, in the original — the texts are not part of the course. Then come back: I walk you through it stop by stop, and at every stop you answer before you see anyone else's reading. The stories open in order.

Portrait of Roald Dahl
Story 1 · 1951Taste
10 stops

Read the story first, in the original. Then come back.

  1. How this part works 2 min read
  2. Stop one
  3. Stop two
  4. Stop three TASTING NOTES
  5. Stop four
  6. Stop five
  7. Stop six
  8. Stop seven
  9. Stop seven · the cigarette
  10. Stop eight
  11. Final stop and your badge POLL · WHO HAS TASTE?
Story 2 · 1953Lamb to the Slaughter
5 stops
Story 3 · 1948The Man from the South
5 stops
Story 4 · 1959The Landlady
5 stops
Story 5 · 1960William and Mary
9 stops

Badges · 0 of 6

What you can earn

One for each story. The big one — the blindfold comes off — for the theory and all five stories.

Symbols in Literature The whole course
Taste Not yet
Lamb to the Slaughter Not yet
The Man from the South Not yet
The Landlady Not yet
William and Mary Not yet