Alexander:

  'All this week, 26th October to 1st November, I have been taking part in the Oxford Learning Platform course 'Fantasy Fiction: A Critical Reading Master-class based on His Dark Materials'. I have been studying 2 - 3 hours a day on this course. The topics covered in this course include: why fantasy is so popular; a debate of Hero/Heroine gender to investigate if novels are male centred; the relation of Fantasy to the real world; within this topic I created my own fantasy story. There was a discussion on Demons and other Magical objects and whether the objects were more powerful than people. The religious aspect of the books were discussed and whether good conquers evil; the journeys within the books were investigated as to whether the journey was more important than the destination and, finally, fantasy was debated as to whether it is an escape from reality.

I enjoyed the whole course as it was a challenge and being able to communicate with other students made it more enjoyable. As this is my first course I find it hard to find any need for improvement; however, more comments/views on my work may have been helpful. Investigation of fantasy fiction and the in-depth look into the influence this type of fiction has in the reader's life, as well as how much it affects our way of thinking and views, have made me think much more carefully about the reasons for and moral of the story line and to appreciate the author's ability to give different ways of viewing a situation, without pressure to think only his views are right. The course has also shown me that other people's views add to my overall understanding of the story as well as the value of debating a subject, therefore enhancing my critical reading ability and debating skills.'