The School of Life
Charles Dickens
How much do you know about the life of Charles Dickens? A thorough video discusses the author's professional successes and private failures with engaging animation and informative narration.
The School of Life
Marcel Proust
What is the meaning and purpose of life? Find out in a short video that summarizes the key ideas in Marcel Proust's A la recherche du Temps Perdu (In Search of Lost Time), that at two million words, just happens to be the longest...
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
Why Socrates Hated Democracy
What would our country look like if only the educated could vote? Modern democracy is not an intellectual democracy, but a democracy by birthright — much to the chagrin of Socrates. An informative video briefly discusses the...
The School of Life
Plato On: The Forms
A life without forms would be chaotic and unwieldy! Plato asserts the importance of using forms to guide one's life, as well as the value of working toward an ideal life, in the centerpiece of his philosophy.
The School of Life
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
While Fyodor Dostoyevsky experienced more difficulty and suffering than he did happiness, his point of view reveals aspects of humanity that are essential to the way we relate to each other now. A thorough and rich video...
The School of Life
Jane Austen
Jane Austen wrote about strong women, social boundaries, and relationship dynamics in the early 19th century to educate her readers about the state of humanity. Learn more about the themes woven throughout her works,...
The School of Life
Philosophy - Plato
Some of the best advice for society, relationships, and personal growth was written nearly 3,000 years ago. High schoolers learn more about Plato's four ideas for reaching eudaimonia, or "fulfillment," in an explanatory video.
The School of Life
Voltaire
Fascinated with the concept of good and evil, Voltaire formed his main character from the eponymous Candide, the most widely read text of the European Enlightenment. Learn more about Voltaire's life, beliefs, writing, and influence...
The School of Life
Goethe
No need to bargain with learners to investigate the life and works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe! Young philosophers view a short video that introduces them to his fascinating life and works.
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...
The School of Life
Franz Kafka
Feeling powerless in front of authority, feeling out of control, feeling bullied? Feeling Kafkaesque? A short video about Franz Kafka gives viewers insight into the family forces that shaped the life of this famous author.
The School of Life
George Orwell
Ordinary people, ordinary jobs, ordinary life. According to George Orwell it's the ordinary that should be the focus of literature. Introduce readers to this extraordinary writer with a short video that details how his life experiences...
The School of Life
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Pantheist, romanticist, transciendentalist. Introduce young philosophers to the ideas of Ralph Waldo Emerson with a video that details his life, his ideas, and his essays.