PBS
Gabrielle Union Discusses The Color Purple
Gabrielle Union discusses the role Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Color Purple, plays in her life. She stresses the importance of readers being able to find reflections of themselves in literature.
PBS
George R.R. Martin Discusses Lord of the Rings
George R.R. Martin, famous in his own right for heroes, villains, dragons, and direwolves, offers his rationale for why viewers should vote for J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings with its elves, wizards, and hobbits as part of the Great...
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...
PBS
Invisible Man: Crash Course Literature
John Green, the narrator of a Crash Course Literature episode focusing on Invisible Man, offers his analysis of Ralph Ellison's novel. Using evidence from the text, Green details why Ellison's novel should be considered as a seminal work...
PBS
Invisible Man: The Hero's Journey
The narrator of Invisible Man is on a quest, a quest to find out who he is and what his place is in a deeply divided American society. An episode from the American Masters series asks readers to consider Ralph Ellison's acclaimed novel...
PBS
Invisible Man: Plot Summary
Although labeled as a plot summary, this resource from the American Masters series is so much more. In addition to clips from the American Masters film, the packet contains teaching tips, discussion questions, a background reading, and...
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
Public Reaction to Their Eyes Were Watching God
While white literary critics praised her work, the black literary establishment trashed Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. See what other writers have to say about the novel in a short video from the PBS Masters series.
PBS
Documenting Rural Southern Black Culture
"Sweet Speech," the vernacular of southern blacks that Zora Neale Hurston captures in her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is the subject of a resource from the PBS American Masters series. An anthropologist, Hurston drew on her...
PBS
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Prepare first-time readers of Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God with a short video that provides information about how Hurston came to write the novel and how her use of free indirect discourse enriches the story and...
PBS
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God is the subject of a Crash Course Literature episode narrated by John Green. Here, Green shares the critical reactions to the novel as well as his own thoughts about its importance.
PBS
John Green Talks about the Importance of The Catcher in the Rye
A part of The Great American Read series, John Green shares his passion for J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye and urges viewers to include the novel on their list of great books.
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 Valley of Ashes — The Great Gatsby
The Valley of Ashes, the billboard advertising Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, and Wilson's garage are haunting symbols that F. Scott Fitzgerald uses to bring into focus the dark side of the American Dream. A resource from the PBS American Masters...
PBS
American Masters Gatsby Chases the American Dream
What's so great about Gatsby? A teaching guide asks readers to consider whether Gatsby's quest represents the embodiment of the American Dream or a reflection of the American nightmare, a green light, or a valley of ashes.
PBS
American Masters Meet F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Gatsby
Introduce readers to the great Jay Gatsby with a short video from the American Masters series. Narrators analyze how Fitzgerald's choice of narrator and point of view create the dreamlike qualities and near-mythic status of Jay Gatsby.
PBS
A Separate Peace
Jenna and Barbara Bush, daughters of former President George W. Bush, and author Armistead Maupin share with viewers their reasons for selecting John Knowles' A Separate Peace as one of their favorite books.
PBS
Ready Player One
Ready Player One has been praised as a novel that captures the vitality, the allure, and the essence of the virtual reality experience. Speakers in a short video share their rationale for why Ernest Clines' dystopian novel should be...
PBS
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Narrators of a short video offer their rationale for why Catch 22 should be included in the Great American Read program. They touch on the key themes in Heller's satirical and sobering novel about Captain John Yossarian and the catch-22s...
PBS
Joseph Heller's Hilarious Catch-22
Comedian Seth Meyers shares his rationale for why Catch 22 should get viewers to vote for inclusion of Joseph Heller's satire in the Great American Read program.
PBS
Heroes and Hope in Frank Herbert's Dune
Wil Wheaton shares his rationale for why readers should vote for Frank Herbert's Dune as their choice for the Great American Read program. His talk touches on the major themes of the novel and its central conflicts.
PBS
Dune
Dune remains one of the most popular science fiction tales ever written. Find out why with a short video that argues for including Frank Herbert's tale of sandworms and Fremen, Mentats and witches, villains and heroes in the Great...
PBS
The Importance of Chicano Representation in Bless Me, Ultima
The best books either enable readers to see themselves, their culture, and their way of life reflected in the story or to gain an understanding of a way of life different from their own. Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima is such a book....
PBS
1984 by George Orwell
Reverend Katrina Foster offers her rationale for why Winston Smith, the tragic hero of George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984, is her favorite literary character.