The Crucible, Part 2 Background and Dramatis Personae

This lesson covers, allegory, bildungsroman, and farce, and it applies these concepts to the novel, making connections to the context in which Salman Rushdie wrote it. Below is the outline of the slides used in the lesson: Haroun and the Sea of Stories Introduction Historical and Political Allegory Bildungsroman Farce Allegory Any story, poem, or other work of art that is highly, or even completely, symbolic or full of symbols Usually symbolic of some psychological or spiritual journey or process Political and Historical Allegory Why Allegory? To represent the abstract, spiritual, or psychological To avoid offending To avoid censorship and/or prosecution Bildungsroman A Coming of Age Narrative Usually a hero or “chosen one” Epiphanies Healing or saving the community Bildungsroman Farce Silly to the point of absurd Can be satirical in nature Exaggerations Allegorical attacks on serious, deadly powerful individuals and groups Putting It All Together 1989 Ayatollah Khomeini ordered a fatwa against Salman Rushdi “The first thing the police officers told me was that I needed an alias in order to make possible certain practical things: secret houses had to be rented, and I needed a fake bank account and had to write checks.” Children’s Book Farce Political allegorical attack on censorship in repressive societies Essential Questions in Haroun and the Sea of Stories “What’s the use of stories that aren’t even true?” Where do stories come from? What inspires us? Is there such a thing as toxic culture? How does a hero emerge—what choices do they make? How are egalitarian societies more powerful than repressive, hierarchical ones? Lesson Completed

This video lesson is part one of a series on the background, context, literary elements, and characters of Arthur Miller's The Crucible. This lesson covers more of the historical and contextual elements than the literary elements. In this lesson the context and allegorical dimensions of the play. The two contexts of the play, historical context that Arthur Miller looks at for inspiration.

"When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer," which is included in the "By the Roadside" section of the standard 1892 edition of Leaves of Grass, published in New York and now widely available from imprints such as W. W. Norton (1973), is a prime example of a Drum-Taps poem whose subject is not confined to the Civil War. Although one of its important themes deals with the idea of unity and individualism that resonates with the struggle for the Union of States, "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" is chiefly a poem about romanticism, nature, and astronomy.

Mr. Nance discusses how Scarlet Letter fits into American Romanticism and how the Puritans influenced American Romanticism in the first place.

This lesson serves as the background and introduction for Octavia Butler's novel, Kindred. I will describe Butler's contexts for writing the novel as well as some of its key motifs and literary elements. Below is the outline of the slides used in the lesson: The Two Worlds of Octavia Butler’s Kindred Butler’s Context Golden Age of SciFi Second Wave SciFi Civil Rights Movement Black Power Movements Of what value is our history? The Legacy of Rape What does it mean to hate one’s ancestor? Who is black and who is white? What is the one-drop rule? Time Travel SciFi without the Gadgets Alternate Reality or Universe? Time-Tripping like Billy Pilgrim from Slaughterhouse Five? Allegory of Reading History Itself? Pure Science Fiction A thought laboratory Take one variable, change it, test… Motifs and Literary Concepts Role of Family Empathy Within and among the characters Your empathy and Dana’s empathy Difficult Decisions Two worlds Black and White 1800s and 1976 Time and Change Static and Dynamic Characters Static: doesn’t move Dynamic: moves and changes Juxtaposition—put two unlike things side-by-side to compare and contrast Genre—is this a SciFi novel? “So many relatives that I had never known, would never know.” Lesson Completed