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
Exploring Hemingway’s Style
The man, the myth, and the reality. Three clips from the documentary Hemingway by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick introduce viewers to the unique features of Ernest Hemingway's writing style and the events in Hemingway's life that...
PBS
Hemingway and Gender Identity
After watching a short video clip from the documentary Hemingway by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, learners read an article by Ursula Le Guin about gender roles and sexuality. Scholars then consider how an author's concept of gender roles is...
PBS
Hemingway: The Art vs. The Artist
Seven clips from the documentary Hemingway by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick inform an investigation of how aspects of Ernest Hemingway's life influenced his writings.
PBS
Hemingway's Privilege and Social Position
Three clips from the documentary Hemingway by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick form the basis of a lesson on Ernest Hemingway. Viewers use a graphic organizer to identify elements of privilege and social status that "aided him in creating,...
Crash Course
Hrotsvitha, Hildegard, and the Nun who Resurrected Theater: Crash Course Theater #9
The ninth video in the Crash Course Theatre series focuses on how two women brought theater back into the Christian world. Canoness Hrotsvitha, the first female playwright and Hildegard of Bingen, a nun who composed liturgical dramas,...
TED-Ed
Why Should You Read “Kafka on the Shore”?
Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore was selected as one of the 10 Best Books of 2005. A short video provides insight into the many threads that form the tapestry of the prize-winning novel.
PBS
Invisible Man: Battle Royal
A film reenactment of the "Battle Royal" scene in Chapter 1 of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man offers readers a chance to compare the film version of the scene to the novel's depiction. The discussion questions ask readers to consider the...
TED-Ed
"The Opposites Game" by Brendan Constantine
Brendan Constantine's anti-gun poem, "The Opposites Game," comes to life in a short video that animates the poem as Constantine recites it.
TED-Ed
Can You Spot the Problem with These Headlines? (Level 1)
What's the story behind the headlines for scientifically researched products? Viewers of a short video identify the fallacies in headlines designed to lure the unwary.
TED-Ed
Why Should You Read “Crime and Punishment”?
Dostoevesky's Crime and Punishment is known as the first psychological thriller and a critique of 19th-century Russian society. The narrator of a hauntingly bleak video sets forth a case for reading the infamous novel.
PBS
The Evolution of YA: Young Adult Fiction, Explained
Paranormal teen romances may currently dominate the young adult fiction shelves, but that's not the only change to the genre during the past few years. The evolution of YA lit is the topic of an informational video that follows the teen...
Lit2Go
The Hart in the Ox-Stall
Take the bull by its horns with an audio retelling of Aesop's fable "The Hart in the Ox-Stall." Part of a larger set, the resource contains an audiobook recording and text passage. After listening to the story, class members then...
Macat
An Introduction to T.S. Eliot's The Sacred Wood
Do poets need to be familiar with strategies and techniques use by past and contemporary poets in order to be successful? They do according to T.S. Eliot. An intriguing video offers an overview of the key ideas in T.S. Eliot's The...
Crash Course
Aliens
A playlist on film analysis and criticism continues with an analysis of James Cameron's 1986 sci-fi action classic Aliens, as well as why it is deserving of a place on a list of great films.
Crash Course
Citizen Kane
What's your favorite movie? Citizen Kane (1941) leads off a playlist on film criticism playlist that examines films that hold up due to their historical context and/or quality and deserve a spot on a best films list.
Macat
An Introduction to Chinua Achebe's An Image of Africa
In An Image of Africa, Chinua Achebe calls out Joseph Conrad for his racist attitudes in Heart of Darkness. Achebe contents that despite the fact that Conrad's novel is a blistering attack on Colonialism in the Congo, his characters...
The School of Life
Leo Tolstoy
War and Peace, Anna Karenina, The Death of Ivan Iiyich. Ah, the novels of Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, aka Leo Tolstoy. Introduce the writings of this famous social reformer with a video that details his life and major works.
The School of Life
Gustave Flaubert
How is it possible that an author can create sympathy in the minds of readers for characters who behave in ways that we disdain? Gustave Flaubert was able to accomplish such a goal with Madame Bovary. Introduce readers to this...
The School of Life
Virginia Woolf
Libraries may have been locked to women for centuries, but writers like Virginia Woolf were instrumental in opening the doors for other female authors. Learn more about Woolf's place in the modernist age and her voice in the literary...
Macat
An Introduction to Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One's Own
If you've ever wondered why the majority of historical writers are male rather than female, Virginia Woolf may have an answer for you. A video analysis of A Room of One's Own details Woolf's argument about women's stifled role in...
TED-Ed
Why Should You Read Tolstoy's "War and Peace"?
The famous length of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace — 15 books and 365 chapters — presents a real challenge for many readers and their teachers. So why bother? Use a short video that argues for a reading of an unabridged...
Macat
An Introduction to Plato's Symposium
Introduce young philosophers to the ideas in a short video that introduces them to Plato's Symposium. A great introduction to a text that poses questions about humanity and the pursuit of love.