1. First Sight: An Introduction to Literature
This overview introduces the course content and approach.
2. Ways of Seeing: Responding to Literature
A focus on critical approaches to literature is presented by the scholars who will appear throughout the series. This program also previews selected dramatic scenes from upcoming programs and excerpts from the author interviews that highlight the series.
3. A Personal View: The Art of the Essay
A documentary segment traces the development of the formal essay and the birth of printing technology and their impact on the growth of political democracy. An interview with essayist Willie Morris focuses on the informal essay.
4. Reflected Worlds: The Elements of Short Fiction
A dramatization of Frank O'Connor's "First Confession" and an interview with Ernest Gaines demonstrate the elements of fiction.
5. The Story's Blueprint: Plot and Structure in Short Fiction
A dramatization of Stephen Crane's "The Blue Hotel" exemplifies the relationship of plot, structure, and conflict.
6. Telling Their Tales: Character in Short Fiction
Techniques of characterization and the importance of point of view become clear in a dramatization of Tillie Olsen's "I Stand Here Ironing."
7. In That Time and Place: Setting and Character in Short Fiction
Setting reveals character in Susan Glaspell's "A Jury of Her Peers" while it magnifies meaning for contemporary short story writer Stephen Dixon. Both authors appear in the program.
8. The Author's Voice: Tone and Style in Short Fiction
An interview with Maxine Hong Kingston highlights this examination of the impact of style on meaning.
9. Suggested Meanings: Symbolism and Allegory in Short Fiction
Symbolism is prominent in a dramatization of D. H. Lawrence's "The Horse Dealer's Daughter," while myth predominates in the work of Native American writer N. Scott Momaday, who is interviewed.
10. The Sum of Its Parts: Theme in Short Fiction
Multiple themes are uncovered in "Everyday Use," a dramatization of Alice Walker's short story.
11. The Sacred Words: The Elements of Poetry
The role of poetry for the individual and the culture is suggested through visual essays. An interview with James Dickey includes his reading and analysis of his poems "The Performance" and "The Lifeguard."
12. A Sense of Place: Setting and Character in Poetry
The historical settings of "My Last Duchess," "Theme for English B," and "Dover Beach" convey much about the characters and ideas of these poems. The New England landscapes of Maxine Kumin echo the themes of her poetry.
13. Tools of the Trade: Words and Images in Poetry
Poetry readings, visualizations of poems, and an interview with Lucille Clifton, who reads two of her favorite poems, "This Morning" and "Homage to My Hips," reveal the beauty and the workings of poetic language and imagery.
14. Seeing Anew: Rhetorical Figures in Poetry
The power of metaphor, simile, and other figures of speech becomes clear through dramatizations of Anne Bradstreet's "The Author to Her Book," Nikki Giovanni's "Woman," and Daniel Halpern's "Snapshot of Hue." Gary Soto is interviewed and reads and comments on his poem "Oranges."
15. An Echo to the Sense: Prosody and Form in Poetry
X. J. Kennedy discusses and demonstrates the importance of rhyme and meter in his poetry. Dramatic readings of poems by Shakespeare, Dickinson, and Hopkins and contemporary poets like Dudley Randall and Leonard Adame are analyzed to show how prosody and form contribute to meaning.
16. Distant Voices: Myth, Symbolism, and Allusion in Poetry
Four poetic versions of the Icarus myth — those of Sexton, Spender, Williams, and Field — are dramatized and compared. Marge Piercy discusses the role of myth in her poetry.
17. Artful Resonance: Theme in Poetry
Dramatizations of six poems that share the same subject help clarify the difference between subject and theme. Close analysis of poems by John Donne and Donald Hall explore the interrelationship between poetic form and meaning.
18. Playing the Part: Characters and Actors in Drama
The development of dramatic character, by playwright and by actor, is illustrated through several interpretations of a single scene from Hamlet and an interview with Shakespearean actor John Vickery.
19. Patterns of Action: Plot and Conflict in Drama
A dramatization of Oedipus Rex demonstrates the classical plot structure. Dramatist A. R. Gurney discusses conflict and plot in contemporary American theater.
20. Perspectives on Illusion: Setting and Staging in Drama
An interview with set designer Chris Barecca and a documentary overview of types of theaters demonstrate the intertwining of text and technique in dramatic setting.
21. The Vision Quest: Myth and Symbolism in Drama
Alaskan playwright David Hunsaker's dramatizations of Eskimo myth and his productions of Eskimo translations of Greek tragedies, together with scenes from Oedipus Rex, demonstrate the enduring power and meaning of myth in drama.
22. A Frame for Meaning: Theme in Drama
Dramatist David H. Hwang discusses the themes and structure of his plays, which include M. Butterfly. Scholars consider thematic interpretations inherent in the production of a single act of Hamlet.
23. Casting Long Shadows: The Power of Literature
This summary of major course themes reviews the impact of literature on the individual through excerpts of series dramatizations and interviews.
24. Continuing Vision: The Uses of Literature
This program explores the impact of literature on the society and culture in the past and present. It then looks into the future to see what forms literature may take and to assess its possible influence on society.