Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: American Masters: Gatsby Chases the American Dream

9th - 10th
In this video [3:24] from the American Masters film Novel Reflections on the American Dream, learn about F. Scott Fitzgerald and his notorious fictional character Jay Gatsby. Both were in the pursuit of the American dream and love....
Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: American Masters: Meet F. Scott Fitzgerald's Gatsby

9th - 10th
Meet F. Scott Fitzgerald's iconic character Jay Gatsby in this video from the American Masters film Novel Reflections on the American Dream. Learn about the spectacle of Gatsby, the techniques the author uses to present Gatsby, and the...
Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: American Masters: The American Dream in the Grapes of Wrath

9th - 10th
In this video [3:06] from the American Masters film Novel Reflections on the American Dream, see the quest for the American dream as depicted in John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath." Follow the Joad family as they search for work and...
Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Typical American: An Immigrant's American Dream Story

9th - 10th
Get an introduction to Gish Jen's novel "Typical American" to explore the American dream through the eyes of a Chinese immigrant. The video [5:12] from the American Masters film Novel Reflection on the American Dream, introduces the...
Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs: The Street by Ann Petry: Black Single Mother Seeks the American Dream

9th - 10th
In this video [3:40] from the American Masters film Novel Reflections on the American Dream we meet Lutie Johnson, the African-American single mother heroine of Ann Petry's novel "The Street". The video gives an introduction to the novel...
Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: American Masters Collection: James Watson

9th - 10th
This is a three video collection about the discovery of DNA structure and function, how it was discovered, and how it works.
Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Character Study: Scout Finch

9th - 10th
This video [4:18] from American Masters: Harper Lee: Hey, Boo highlights Scout, one of the most beloved characters in all of American fiction and the main character of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. In the video, students learn what...
Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Is to Kill a Mockingbird Still Relevant Today?

9th - 10th
This video [4:34] from American Masters: Harper Lee: Hey, Boo highlights the social climate in the South when To Kill a Mockingbird was first published and a few years later, when the film premiered. The video highlights the reactions to...
Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs: To Kill a Mockingbird Setting: A Portrait of a Southern Town in the 1930s

9th - 10th
In this video [4:34] from American Masters: Harper Lee: Hey, Boo, learn about the small town of Monroeville, Alabama, Harper Lee's hometown and the inspiration for the fictional town of Maycomb, the setting for To Kill a Mockingbird....
Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: All Men Are Brothers: American Masters

9th - 10th
This video [3:38] segment from American Masters' James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket illustrates the activist's intolerance for violence or racial hatred expressed by anyone, black or white. In the mid-1960s, Baldwin's principles put...
Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: American Masters: Willa Cather's Childhood

9th - 10th
This video [4:32] from the American Masters film Willa Cather: The Road Is All provides an overview of the author's childhood. Born in Virginia, Cather's family moved to Nebraska in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Take This Hammer

9th - 10th
In this video [1:55] segment from "Take this Hammer," a 1963 film from THIRTEEN's archive, activist and author James Baldwin seeks to raise morale among a group of African American adolescents in San Francisco in the early 1960s. Baldwin...
Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise: "Caged Bird"

9th - 10th
In this video from American Masters, Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise, students analyze an excerpt of the poem Caged Bird. Through discussion questions and a short activity, students analyze the poem by doing a close read of the text and...
Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Fences by August Wilson

9th - 10th
In this video [5:25] from August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand scholars discuss "Fences," the Tony Award-winning drama about a former Negro League baseball player and his family. The video features performances of two scenes from...
Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Carl Sandburg: Poet of the People

9th - 10th
In this video [3:17] from American Masters: The Day Carl Sandburg Died, students learn about Carl Sandburg and his early days as a "poet of the people." As a young man, Sandburg worked as an organizer for the Social-Democratic Party of...
Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: American Masters Collection: Carl Sandburg

9th - 10th
This is a collection of lesson videos about Carl Sandburg and his works from the PBS American Masters Collection.
Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Even if They're Wrong, They're Right: American Masters

9th - 10th
Celebrated American novelist Phillip Roth is the author of 27 award-winning books - most of which have received national and/or international critical acclaim. In this video segment [1:18], Roth shares many of the details of his unique...
Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: I Work Every Day: American Masters

9th - 10th
In this video segment [3:31], award winning novelist Phillip Roth elaborates on the details of his writing process and work environment preferences. Roth strongly believes that "life isn't good enough" as a point of reference when it...
Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: American Masters Collection: Phillip Roth

9th - 10th
This is a collection of two video lessons about Phillip Roth and his works from the PBS American Masters Collection.
Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs: Funding the Statue of Liberty: Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People

9th - 10th
The Statue of Liberty was given to the United States as a gift from France, however the statue was given without a pedestal to support it. Discover how newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer helped start a campaign to fund a pedestal for...
Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: American Masters Collection: Joseph Pulitzer

9th - 10th
This is a collection of four video lessons about Joseph Pulitzer and his work from the PBS American Masters Collections. Teaching materials are included.
Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: American Masters Collection: Edgar Allan Poe

9th - 10th
This is a collection of six video lessons about Edgar Allan Poe and his works from the PBS American Masters Collection. Teaching materials are included.
Instructional Video
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: The Color Purple: American Masters: Alice Walker

9th - 10th
Alice Walker chose to write "The Color Purple" as a series of letters in the spoken vernacular of the characters. This video [4:12] from Alice Walker: "Beauty in Truth" explores the significance of Walker's decision to use this form and...