The aim of Thinking as a Critic is to develop your ability to read, write and think like a literary critic, and so to make the transition into university level work. In our Department of English, you are active readers, critics involved in developing your own interpretations, responses and judgements, rather than passive learners. For all of us, literary criticism is a process rather than a final product, a way of thinking not just an essay to complete. So in this course we discuss concepts, theories, skills, ideas and histories that are central to the discipline of English and will be useful for every other course you study.