As I go on this adventure, I am going to write some journal entries about how I'm going about accomplishing my goal. Today, I began to do research on making my curriculum for the next few years, but specifically the courses I will be taking this coming semester.

The first step, I decided, was to just do one course. A pre-semester course, if you will. I want to see exactly how I can use my resources to put together an at-home-study. Ideally, I'll complete this first course before the end of the year, while simultaneously putting serious effort into planning my first semester which will begin in January.

The course I decided on was- yes- literature. Although I did take English Literature at Bob Jones University, I feel like I need a refresher. A good introductory literature course that covers that "must read" books for a liberal arts student. I would rather not take a course that focused primarily on one time period or author, but rather a more broad approach to literature in general.

I contacted two English Professors I know personally that are familiar with my project- Mrs. Victoria Fedden and Mrs. Kelly Centrelli. I'm hoping they can suggest a reading list, which I can then supplement with lectures and study guides that I can find online. I will find a syllabus to match the course, and do the appropriate homework and papers associated. Hopefully my dear professor friends will indulge me by critiquing my papers.

In addition to my two friends, I also contacted a professor from the University of Pennsylvania. I must admit, I'm a little afraid as to what he will say, if he responds at all! I explained to him what I'm trying to do, and asked him for some course materials from his class, "Introduction to Literary Theory," which is a little different than what I described above to Victoria and Kelly, but I think would still be quite useful and interesting. I am not holding my breath for a response since I am not one of his students, nor am I even enrolled in UPenn. However, I'm hoping that perhaps he will see my sincere desire to learn, and will take the time to email me some materials- such as a reading list, a syllabus, lecture notes, whatever he may have.

Here is a link to the course description for Introduction to Literary Theory:
http://www.english.upenn.edu/Courses/Undergraduate/2012/Spring/ENGL094.401

Meanwhile, I did some research on what it would cost to audit a course at the University of Pennsylvania. They do have an "auditor program," which I was excited to see. But my smile quickly faded when I read the tuition associated with auditing a course.

Here is the link about auditing a class:
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/lps/auditor

Auditor Program

The Auditor Program at the University of Pennsylvania invites intellectually curious individuals to audit undergraduate classes in Penn's School of Arts and Sciences. Auditors may take undergraduate courses through the 599 level. Auditors simply sit in on a course and therefore are not responsible for coursework and do not receive grades or credits.

There is no application required to audit a course; rather, permission from the instructor must be obtained and submitted along with the Auditor Registration Form.

Tuition for the course will be determined by whether the course is offered in the daytime through the College of Arts and Sciences or in the evening through the College of Liberal and Professional Studies. Please refer to the following tuition table on the following webpage for pricing.
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/lps/undergraduate/nondegree/tuition

Auditing: An auditor is any individual officially registering for a course through the College of Liberal & Professional Studies and not receiving a grade or credit. Auditors pay the same tuition and fees as students taking a course for credit.

2011-2012 Rates for LPS Undergraduate Courses

CUs	Tuition	General Fee	Tech Fee	Clinical Fee	Recreation Fee	Total
1	$2,450	$215	$84	N/A	N/A	$2,749
2	$4,900	$430	$168	N/A	N/A	$5,498
3	$7,350	$645	$252	N/A	N/A	$8,247
4	$9,800	$1756	$336	TBD	$150	$12,042

Wow. It would cost me over $2700 to audit one course at the University of Pennsylvania. Definitely out of my price range. I guess that is why I'm doing this blogging project instead!

**If any of you have any suggestions for this literature course, please leave them in the comments section below. Any books you've read that you think should be included in the reading list, or perhaps you have the syllabus saved from your own literature course and you can share that. Any material is helpful.

Thanks for reading. I'll keep you posted.