PBS
The Old Man and the Sea: Critical Interpretations
Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea won the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction; however, the critical interpretations of the novel have called it everything from "ordinary" and "schoolboy writing" to a "masterpiece." Readers are allowed to...
PBS
Hemingway’s Influences and Contemporaries
Three clips from the documentary Hemingway by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick explore the events and people who influenced Ernest Hemingway.
PBS
Looking for Alaska
Looking for Alaska is the subject of a short PBS video that encourages viewers to read John Green's award-winning young adult novel about first love.
PBS
Falling in Love with Reading and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
At first glance, it doesn't seem like Betty Smith's story of 11-year old Francie Nolan, a poor Irish girl living in the 1920's Brooklyn, should remain a best-seller for almost 100 years. But A Tree Grows in Brooklyn has remained a...
PBS
One Hundred Years of Solitude | The Great American Read
One Hundred Years of Solitude introduces readers to magic realism. Told in a series of flashbacks and flash-forwards, Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Nobel Prize-winning novel is a candidate for The Great American Read program and aficionados...
PBS
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams' hysterical send-up of bureaucratic thinking, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, is the focus of a Great American Read video that urges viewers to vote for one of the greatest satires since Gulliver's Travels.
PBS
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Created for the Great American Read series, a short video encourages viewers to vote for Invisible Man. Musician Wynton Marsalis and Dr. Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress, among others, share their rationale for why Ralph...
PBS
The Catcher in the Rye and First-Person Narrative
Testimonials for The Catcher in the Rye demonstrate the power of J.D. Salinger's story of a young man who wants to protect innocent children from the phonies in the adult world. Part of the Great American Read series, speakers urge...
PBS
The Symbolism of Sunflower Seeds in Ghost
Ghost by Jason Reynolds is a coming-of-age book that resonates with teenagers who have experienced childhood trauma. Explore the novel with an interactive resource that focuses on the author's use of symbolism, particularly with...
PBS
S. E. Hinton, Danny Boy O'Connor, and The Outsiders
Could your 16-year-old students write a novel? S.E. Hinton did! An engaging video reviews the setting and themes of Hinton's breakout novel The Outsiders through the perspective of hip-hop artist Danny Boy O'Connor, as well as the author...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Objectifying the Text: Conversations in Literature
See how effective readers utilize literary elements and allusions to critically analyze a text in this one-hour video Objectifying the Text. A group of nine experienced educators examine the process of envisionment building as they...
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Analyze the Impact of the Point of View
Notes describing a three-step process to analyze the impact of the point of view on a literary text. Notes can be both read and listened to.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Conversations in Literature
A series of 8 instructional videos, each about 60 minutes in length, designed to model effective reading habits through envisionment building. Topics include Responding As Readers, Envisioning, Stepping In, Moving Through, Rethinking,...
Imagine Learning Classroom
Learn Zillion: Determine a Character's Traits by Examining Evidence From the Text
In this lesson, you will learn how to determine a character's traits by examining his/her actions across a text. Login gives access to a slideshow and a student handout. [9:00]
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Literary Elements and Techniques: Setting
Explore how authors use setting to establish the time, place, and social conditions in which a story takes place in this short animated video [2:38] from WNET.
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Anticipating a Reader's Questions for Academic Writing
This lesson discusses how to anticipate and address a reader's questions.
eSpark Learning
E Spark Learning: Comparing and Contrasting Points of View Framing Video
By the end of this "quest", you will be able to compare and contrast different points of view in a text by reading "Gulliver's Travels" and telling the story from a different point of view. [1:10]