Organized around three major genres of literature - short fiction, poetry, and drama - this Telecourse series examines literary elements such as character, plot, and symbolism. Contemporary and traditional works are included by such authors as James Dickey, August Wilson, Maxine Hong Kingston and Tillie Olson. Commentary from noted critics contribute to this look at the craft of creative writing.
Episode # 124
This episode, "A Frame for Meaning: Theme in Drama," examined how all the elements in a play contribute to forming its theme. Playwrights, directors, stage designers, and actors discussed how their collaborative efforts culminate in forming a play's theme. Scenes from Shakespeare's Hamlet were used to illustrate how theme functions. This program also featured a conversation with David Henry Hwang, in which the playwright discussed how his Asian background helped form the themes of his plays, which he describes as works that explore "the mystery of identity."
Friday, May 17, 2013
Length : 28 min
MPT2
Episode # 125
This episode, the first of a two-part examination of literature's power in people's lives, showed how literature can be both foreign and familiar, transports the reader to other worlds, and can resonate in the reader's own experiences. It examined the different structures of fiction, poems and essays, and included discussion with writers and critics.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Length : 28 min
MPT2
Episode # 126
This episode, the last in the series, concluded a two-part look at how literature effects people's lives. Using Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Jungle, and Roots as examples, the episode showed how literature can influence social change. Critics who appeared throughout the series offered personal thoughts on the importance of understanding literature. Also, writing instructors spoke of the gratification that comes from writing one's story. The episode paid particular attention to two writing groups: a workshop for homeless women and Writers Club, Inc., a program for inmates in a Maryland prison. The episode ended with the words of William Faulkner's, "The Things Worth Writing About."
Friday, May 17, 2013
Length : 29 min
MPT2
Episode # 101
This episode, "First Sight: An Introduction to Literature," attempted to define literature and discussed its importance in human culture. Writers discused why they wrote and what literature meant to them; and literature professors offered an academic perspective on the significance of literature. The program also contained dramatizations of scenes from a variety of literature.
Friday, May 24, 2013
Length : 28 min
MPT2
04:30 AM
Episode # 123
This episode, "The Vision Quest: Myth and Symbolism in Drama," explored how myths and symbols in literature transcend both time and culture.It examined Sophocles's Oedipus for myths and symbols that reflect an cient Greek culture and contemporary cultures. It also showed how the myth of Oedipus influenced and existed in literature and other areas of thought up to the present day. Also in this program, playwright, director, and artistic designer David Hunsaker discussed his work with Native Americans in Alaska and his theater group, Naa Kahidi. Hunsaker, who saw his role not as a playwright but as a translator of ancient Native Alaskan myths, discussed how ancient Greek myth and Native Alaskan myth have many common themes.
Rebroadcast
Friday, May 10, 2013
Length : 28 min
MPT2
04:00 AM
Episode # 122
This episode, "Speech and Silence: The Language of Drama," explored how staging and non-verbal language interact with the words of a play. It examined scenes from Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie to emphasize the importance of pauses, silences and other staging devices, and show how these devices become a language in themselves. Artistic director Michael Kahn discussed the use of pauses and silences in Shakespeare and demonstrated how he instructed actors to use them effectively. Lastly, director and playwright Emily Mann shared her views on staging and how playwrights can offer specific stage directions or no stage directions at all.
Rebroadcast
Friday, May 10, 2013
Length : 28 min
MPT2
03:30 AM
Episode # 121
This episode, "Perspectives on Illusion: Setting and Staging in Drama," examined all the creative components that make up the set of a play. Beginning with the stage itself, it explored the history of the stage, starting with the ancient Greeks and continuing to the present. It also examined set design, and showed how playwrights such as Williams and Ibsen often gave specific directions on how the sets in their plays should be designed. Scenic designer Christopher Barreca discussedthe work that goes into creating the set and the interaction that tak es place among director, designer and craftsperson.
Rebroadcast
Friday, May 10, 2013
Length : 28 min
MPT2
03:00 AM
Episode # 120
This episode, "Patterns of Action: Plot and Conflict in Drama," explored the structure of plot and the nature of confict in plays. Using Sophocles's Oedipus as a model, the program examined the structure of plot by breaking it down into five categories: prologue, complication, crisis, catastrophe, and the final resolution. The program placed particular emphasis on how conflict provides the central force in plot. It also featured an interview with A.R. Gurney, in which the playwright discussed his life, work and why he preferred to write plays rather than fiction.
Rebroadcast
Friday, May 10, 2013
Length : 28 min
MPT2
02:30 AM
Episode # 119
This episode, "Playing the Part: Characters and Actors in Drama," explored the art of creating characters in drama. The program examined howthe writer, director and actor all play an integral part in forming t he character. It also looked at the history of Shakespeare's Hamlet, including the play, its characters, and some of the actors who have portrayed Hamlet since the work was first performed in 1602. Actor John Vickery discussed Hamlet and explained why he enjoyed playing the title role of this play.
Rebroadcast
Friday, May 10, 2013
Length : 28 min
MPT2
02:00 AM
Episode # 118
This episode, "Image of Reality: The Elements of Drama," was the first in a series of seven episodes on drama and theater. It provided a brief history of how the concept of the hero in drama had changed over the centuries, and introduced the basic elements and structure of a play. It also featured an interview with August Williams, who spoke of his work and life as a black playwright.
Rebroadcast
Friday, May 10, 2013
Length : 28 min
MPT2
04:30 AM
Episode # 117
This episode, "Artful Resonance: Theme in Poetry," explored theme as the point at which all elements in a poem converge. Through a dramatization of John Donne's "The Sun Rising," as well as analysis of the ways various poems explored death, the program highlighted the importance of theme. It also featured an interview with Donald Hall, in which the poet spoke of his life and work.
Rebroadcast
Friday, May 03, 2013
Length : 28 min
MPT2
04:00 AM
Episode # 116
This episode explored the different ways poets have interpreted the myth of Icarus in their works; showed how cultural myths can function assymbols and allusions in poetry; and featured an interview with Marge Piercy, who read from her work and discussed the significance of myth in her poetry.
Rebroadcast
Friday, May 03, 2013
Length : 29 min
MPT2
03:30 AM
Episode # 115
This episode explored metrical structure and rhyme in poetry. It also treated the similarities between poetry and music, onomatopoeia, rhythm, free verse, and formal structure. Poet X.J. Kennedy read from his poems and discussed why, in a time when most poets wrote free verse, he preferred to write formal, rhyming poetry.
Rebroadcast
Friday, May 03, 2013
Length : 28 min
MPT2
03:00 AM
Episode # 114
This episode examined the use of figures of speech in poetry. Through a detailed analysis of Anne Bradstreet's "The Author to Her Book," theprogram identified figures of speech and show how they function. It a lso featured an interview with poet Gary Soto, who spoke of his life and work.
Rebroadcast
Friday, May 03, 2013
Length : 29 min
MPT2
02:30 AM
Episode # 113
This episode explored the different language styles poets use to convey their meaning. It featured recitations from a wide range of poetry to demonstrate the diverse styles contemporary and classic poets use intheir art. Poet Lucille Clifton read from her poetry and spoke of her life and work.
Rebroadcast
Friday, May 03, 2013
Length : 28 min
MPT2
02:00 AM
Episode # 112
This episode explored how place functions in poetry, and defended poetry as an art that can contain a specific place. It featured dramatizations of poems--including "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning and "Theme For English B" by Langston Hughes--in order to demonstrate place in poetry. Literary critics and poets described poetry as one of the highest forms of expression. Also, poet Maxine Kumin discussed how sense of place was important in her poetry, read from her work, and spoke about her life and work.
Rebroadcast
Friday, May 03, 2013
Length : 28 min
MPT2
04:30 AM
Episode # 111
This program, the first of seven episodes devoted to poetry, introduced some basic concepts of this literary form. Critics explored form andmeaning in poetry, the oral tradition, and how poetry reflects a peop le's culture. Poet James Dickey read two of his poems, "The Life Guard" and "Performance," and discussed his life and work.
Rebroadcast
Friday, April 26, 2013
Length : 28 min
MPT2
04:00 AM
Episode # 110
This episode served as a summary of the episodes dealing with fiction and how the elements discussed in these episodes combine to form the theme of the story. The program also used a dramatization of Alice Walker's story, "Everday Use," to explain the use of theme. In addition, Sandra Cisneros discussed theme in relation to her book, The House on Mango Street, and how her Latino heritage helped form these themes.
Rebroadcast
Friday, April 26, 2013
Length : 28 min
MPT2
03:30 AM
Episode # 109
This episode explored the use of symbolism and allegory in short fiction and how the idea of myth related to these literary devices. The opening segment introduced these devices by examining how water has been used in literature as a symbol that can convey many different meanings. The use of water as symbol was explored further in a dramatization of D.H. Lawrence's "The Horse Dealer's Daughter." The episode also featured an interview with writer N. Scott Momaday, who explained how his use of symbolism in his story, "The Bear and the Colt," reflected the cultural symbols of Native American culture.
Rebroadcast
Friday, April 26, 2013
Length : 28 min
MPT2
03:00 AM
Episode # 108
This episode, "The Author's Voice: Tone and Style in Short Fiction," examined the various elements that go into creating an author's voice. It featured excerpts from works of different literary styles to expla in this topic; included a dramatization of Joy Williams's "Taking Care" as an example of an author who uses a bare voice of despair; and concluded with comments by writer Maxine Hong Kingston, who spoke of the experiences in her life that had helped shaped her voice.
Rebroadcast
Friday, April 26, 2013
Length : 28 min
MPT2
02:30 AM
Episode # 107
This episode, "In That Time and Place: Setting and Character in Short Fiction," defined the goals of setting as establishing reality and evoking a theme, and used a dramatization of Susan Glaspell's "A Jury of Her Peers" to explore this theme. It also examined the idea of understanding literature in its historical and cultural context; used newsreels from 1917--the time Glassfell wrote her work--to underscore the importance of the context in which a work is written; and featured commentary by writer Stephen Dixon, in which the author of "All Gone" explained how he created setting in his fiction.
Rebroadcast
Friday, April 26, 2013
Length : 28 min
MPT2
02:00 AM
Episode # 106
This episode, "Telling Their Tales: Character in Short Fiction," explored the roles character and point of view play in short fiction. A dramatization of Tillie Olsen's story "I Stand Here Ironing" was used toexamine how character is deployed in short fiction. It also featured commentary in which Tillie Olsen discussed her story and explained herintentions in constructing such a point of view.
Rebroadcast
Friday, April 26, 2013
Length : 28 min
MPT2
04:30 AM
Episode # 105
This episode, "The Story's Blueprint: Plot and Structure In Short Fiction," examined plot and structure in short fiction by comparing the predictable plot and structure of pulp fiction to the more complex plot and structure of literature. A dramatization of Stephen Crane's "The Blue Hotel" was used as a backdrop for a discussion by literary critics on the complexity of this short story's plot. This program also featured a segment in which writer Andre Dubus discussed the writing process and the development of plot in his fiction.
Rebroadcast
Friday, April 19, 2013
Length : 28 min
MPT2
04:00 AM
Episode # 104
This program, "Reflected Worlds: The Elemements of Short Fiction," was the first of seven episodes devoted to short fiction. It introduced the basic aspects of short fiction and provided a brief history of the short story. A dramatization of Frank O'Connor's short story, "First Confession," was used to explain some basic elements of short fiction, and writer Ernest Gaines talked about his fiction -- in particular, "The Sky Is Gray," his first short story to gain national attention.
Rebroadcast
Friday, April 19, 2013
Length : 28 min
MPT2
03:30 AM
Episode # 103
This program, "The Art of the Essay," explored the history, practice, and mechanics of the essay, one of the most widely used and read writing styles. It began with an examination of the writing styles of Montagne, Bacon, Pain, Emerson, and Martin Luther King, Jr.; and included a segment in which essayist Willie Morris read and discussed his work.
Rebroadcast
Friday, April 19, 2013
Length : 28 min
MPT2
03:00 AM
Episode # 102
This episode explored how the writer, reader, and critic interpret literature. Writers of various genres explained the process of writing, including how and why they wrote, where their ideas came from, writer's block, and the life of the writer. Academics discussed how readers and critics interpret literature. The program also contained dramatizations of scenes from a variety of literary works.
Rebroadcast
Friday, April 19, 2013
Length : 28 min
MPT2
02:30 AM
Episode # 101
This episode, "First Sight: An Introduction to Literature," attempted to define literature and discussed its importance in human culture. Writers discused why they wrote and what literature meant to them; and literature professors offered an academic perspective on the significance of literature. The program also contained dramatizations of scenes from a variety of literature.
Rebroadcast
Friday, April 19, 2013
Length : 28 min
MPT2
