香港，還有 HKU Space。

朋友問我為什麼還有時間去上 Greek Mythology，Fairy Tales in English Literature 的課程。其實我上的只是短期課程，為期 5-6 星期，也只是在星期六/日的下午上 3 個小時的課，commitment level 很低，學的也很有限，大家不要以為我要去考個什麼 degree。

短期課程最大的好處是可以在輕鬆的氣氛下學習，這兩個課程都幾乎是沒有功課的，不為考學分才會做到「求學不是求分數」的效果，而且學費相對便宜，十五小時才一千六百元左右。(大學講師教喎！)

之前上過的課程都是由 HKU Space 任教的 Ms Byron 授課，課堂裡總會有很多看電影、讀詩和互動的時間。看完半個小時的電影之後有討論，三個小時一下子就過。在課堂之中看到的電影都不常見，例如在此以前，我未看過 Canterbury Tales，Sir Arthur Conan Dole 的 Cottingley Fairies 等等，其實那些電影我已經想看了很久，卻苦無時間。

也有人問我，HKU Space 的英國文學課程值得讀嗎？那視乎你想得到什麼。我總是見到隔離課室的 Econ and Finance 班裡人山人海，不少人睡眼惺忪，拿著 Triple shot espresso 入課室上課。當然，在香港社會，大多數人會為了一張證書而讀書，上進的人我也敬佩，但我這種以玩樂心情上課的，無非想向一個對文學有熱誠，對電影有品味的老師學習，至於課程形式，有沒有證書，要不要交功課，有什麼 theory 一定要學的也不太重要。所以，如果你是想在一個極有系統的學習環境中上課，又想有證書，而且希望同學之間有名次之分，也恨透坐旁邊的同學買個下午茶一邊上課一邊吃的話，我勸你不要上 Greek Mythology 或英國文學這類課程。但如果你是我那種人的話，可以考慮。

不是每個 HKU Space 的課程也會開班，就好像參加旅行團，少人報名就成不了團。今天收到 Ms Byron 這個為“Analysing Poetry” 課程招攬學生的電郵，電郵中，她說課程是要把詩裡面的 fear factor 勾出來，讓學生可以懂得 poetry 的優美。在香港搞文學絕不容易，難得她依然落力。

這個時代是反智的，我們抗拒認真，抗拒經典，因為這樣才可以令人融入大眾社會，說的話稍為深層次已經被人列入非我族類，說詩說文學更是浪費時間。但時間會告訴你這個態度是否正確的，生存與生活，關鍵並不在金錢，也不是社會地位的高低，而是一種選擇，如果因為要迎合時勢而放棄追尋自己的興趣，或是故意反智，是一種委屈。

唉，扯得太遠了，竟然說起生存與生活，其實我無非想告訴你，香港還有 HKU Space。:)

http://hkuspace.hku.hk/prog/analysing-poetry#programme-detail

Dear All,

You may not have seen the advertising for a course called Analysing Poetry, which I will be teaching for SPACE, starting on Sunday Nov 13. While the topic is one of my favourites, this course, rather unusually for me, is being run under the English for Teachers programme, meaning that there is a chance that you might not have been aware of it.

However, for those of you who might be interested, it is a general introduction to poetry, ie analysis of various topics and genres including popular songs, ballads, haiku and humorous verse (like limericks), and also poetic techniques like rhyme scheme and metre in addition to poetic language and imagery, eg metaphor and personification.

Actually, it also aims to take the fear factor out of reading and appreciating poetry, so class activities will be interactive (as usual) and, I hope, enjoyable. In fact, this is one reason why it is under the Teachers’ programme, as it represents a solid theoretical introduction while aiming to demonstrate that poetry needn’t be difficult for kids - or adults. Of course, this approach will also be relevant for those who are planning or already studying a programme of English literature which includes poetry, or for those who would simply like to learn more about this rather misunderstood and underestimated literary form!

Please don’t feel that registration is restricted to teachers - anyone who is interested will of course be very welcome. I’m looking forward very much to meeting you again and maybe seeing the familiar faces of some ex-students in this course!

Best wishes,

Shelagh