TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Iseult Gillespie: The wicked wit of Jane Austen
Whether she's describing bickering families, quiet declarations of love, or juicy gossip, Jane Austen's writing often feels as though it was written just for you. Her dry wit and cheeky playfulness informs her heroines, whose...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: First person vs. Second person vs. Third person | Rebekah Bergman
Who is telling a story, and from what perspective, are some of the most important choices an author makes. Told from a different point of view, a story can transform completely. Third person, first person, and second person perspectives...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Why should you read Charles Dickens? - Iseult Gillespie
The starving orphan seeking a second helping of gruel. The spinster wasting away in her tattered wedding dress. The stone-hearted miser plagued by the ghost of Christmas past. More than a century after his death, these remain...
Crash Course
PTSD and Alien Abduction - Slaughterhouse-Five Part 2: Crash Course Literature 213
In which John Green continues to teach you about Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. (WARNING: When Slaughterhouse-Five was published, some of the crude language in the book caused controversy. We quote one mildly controversial line in...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The power of a great introduction - Carolyn Mohr
Never underestimate the power of an intriguing start. When analyzing the literary greats like Charles Dickens and Kurt Vonnegut, be inspired by their craft and learn how to write a tantalizing introduction and strong thesis for your...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Everything you need to know to read Homer's "Odyssey" - Jill Dash
An encounter with a man-eating giant. A sorceress who turns men into pigs. A long-lost king taking back his throne. On their own, any of these make great stories. But each is just one episode in the "Odyssey," a 12,000-line poem spanning...
Crash Course
Making Time Management Work for You: Crash Course Business - Soft Skills
Most of us struggle with time management. It's normal. But, things need to get done both at work and in your personal life. So, in this episode of Crash Course Business, Evelyn gives us all some ways to structure our checklist and make...
TED Talks
TED: The unexpected beauty of everyday sounds | Meklit Hadero
using examples from birdsong, the natural lilt of emphatic language and even a cooking pan lid, singer-songwriter and TED Fellow Meklit Hadero shows how the everyday soundscape, even silence, makes music. "The world is alive with musical...
Bozeman Science
Natural Selection
Paul Andersen explains how natural selection is a major mechanism in evolution. The video begins with a discussion of Charles Darwin and the details of natural selection. The data of the peppered moth during the industrial revolution is...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Who IS Sherlock Holmes? - Neil McCaw
More than a century after first emerging into the fogbound, gaslit streets of Victorian London, Sherlock Holmes is universally recognizable. And yet many of his most recognizable features don't appear in Arthur Conan Doyle's original...
Crash Course
A Long and Difficult Journey, or The Odyssey: Crash Course Literature 201
In which John Green teaches you about Homer's Odyssey. If it was Homer's If Homer was even real. Anyway, that stuff doesn't really matter. John teaches you the classic, by which I mean classical, epic poem, the Odyssey. The Journey of...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why should you read sci-fi superstar Octavia E. Butler? - Ayana Jamieson and Moya Bailey
Explore the works of science fiction visionary Octavia E. Butler, whose novels, such as “Parable of the Sower,” influenced the growing popularity of Afrofuturism. -- Much science fiction features white male heroes who blast aliens or...
Crash Course
Ghosts, Murder, and More Murder - Hamlet Part I: Crash Course Literature 203
In which John Green teaches you about Hamlet, William Shakespeare's longest and most-performed play. People love Hamlet. The play that is, not necessarily the character. Hamlet is a Tragedy with a capital T (I guess I don't have to point...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: How to write descriptively - Nalo Hopkinson
The point of fiction is to cast a spell, a momentary illusion that you are living in the world of the story. But as a writer, how do you suck your readers into your stories in this way? Nalo Hopkinson shares some tips for how to use...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: A host of heroes - April Gudenrath
What can some of literature's most famous heroes teach us? From the epic hero (like Beowulf) to the tragic hero (like Oedipus), each has something distinctive to share. April Gudenrath describes the many faces of the fictional hero --...
Crash Course
To Kill a Mockingbird, Part I - Crash Course Literature 210
In which John Green teaches you about Harper Lee's famous (and only) novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. John will cover a bit about Harper Lee's personal life, (seeing as this novel has some autobiographical elements) and her long association...
Crash Course
The Hero's Journey and the Monomyth: Crash Course World Mythology
Let's get Heroic with Mike Rugnetta. This week on Crash Course World Mythology, we're talking about the Hero's Journey and the Monomyth, as described by Joseph Campbell. Campbell's theories about the shared qualities of human story...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: In on a secret? That's dramatic irony - Christopher Warner
You're in a movie theater, watching the new horror flick. The audience knows something that the main character does not. The audience sees the character's actions are not in his best interest. What's that feeling -- the one that makes...
Crash Course
Shakespeare's Sonnets: Crash Course Literature 304
This week, we're learning about sonnets, and English Literature's best-known purveyor of those fourteen-line paeans, William Shakespeare. We'll look at a few of Willy Shakes's biggest hits, including Sonnet 18, "Shall I compare thee to a...
TED Talks
Raghava KK: Shake up your story
Artist Raghava KK demos his new children's book for iPad with a fun feature: when you shake it, the story -- and your perspective -- changes. In this charming short talk, he invites all of us to shake up our perspective a little bit.
Crash Course
How and Why We Read: Crash Course English Literature
In which John Green kicks off the Crash Course Literature mini series with a reasonable set of questions. Why do we read? What's the point of reading critically. John will argue that reading is about effectively communicating with other...
Oxford Comma
How to Write a Great Admissions Essay in the Age of AI
Standardized tests are becoming increasingly optional, many high school grades are suspiciously inflated, and all students can easily use Chat GTP for their admissions essays. How do you stand out from the crowd of applicants?...
Oxford Comma
Why Are Commas So Confusing?
Commas serve many functions, but their role in writing has also changed over time. Learning about this change can help students better understand why commas are confusing and how they can better use them in their own writing.
Curated Video
The Economic Cost of Longevity: Challenges and Strategies for Governments
This video discusses the economic implications of increasing longevity and the challenges it poses for governments and economies. It explores the need for healthcare, senior care facilities, and pension benefits for an aging population,...