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Better video/audio lit. than Teaching Company?


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Maybe I should clarify.... Much of the literature I am using this year (medieval/renaissance) is covered in one TC lecture, maybe two. A lot of the lecture is simply historical context and plot summary, with very brief analysis of the work. I'd like to find lectures that spend more time analyzing the techniques used, the meaning behind certain sections of the work, etc., the way a teacher would do in a regular course. Is there anything out there like that, short of enrolling in an online video course? Are there classes that have been videotaped so that we could watch the class discussion, even if we couldn't take part?

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Maybe I should clarify.... Much of the literature I am using this year (medieval/renaissance) is covered in one TC lecture, maybe two. A lot of the lecture is simply historical context and plot summary, with very brief analysis of the work. I'd like to find lectures that spend more time analyzing the techniques used, the meaning behind certain sections of the work, etc., the way a teacher would do in a regular course. Is there anything out there like that, short of enrolling in an online video course? Are there classes that have been videotaped so that we could watch the class discussion, even if we couldn't take part?

 

What works are you covering?

TC has a whole 24 lecture course on Dante's Divine Comedy, as well as several entire courses devoted to Shakespeare.

 

Have you looked into OCW? Yale has a Dante in translation course (which we started and found too technical; no wonder, since it is an upper level university class.)

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We've covered a number of works with only one or no lecture at all. Next we're moving on to the Nibelungenlied (one lecture, but not in a set my library carries), the Inferno (lots of lectures :)), Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (one lecture), several of the Canterbury Tales (some general lectures, plus one on each of a couple of the stories), selections from Morte d'Arthur (one lecture), early Renaissance poetry (no specific lectures that I find), The Faerie Queene (one lecture), and then a couple of Shakespeare plays (2-4 lectures each). I'm grateful for all these lectures, it's just that they spend so much time on plot summary and historical context, which we can handle on our own, and very little time on deeper analysis of the literature, which is what I want.

 

I'll go check out those other sites suggested. Thanks!

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If you're looking for heavy comparative literature, check out the Arnold Weinstein lectures (Teaching Company). Some lectures are for more mature audiences.

 

There are many schools of thought when it comes to reading, thinking, and writing about literature. My kids don't personally enjoy Weinstein. He's too heavy handed. My kids feel like he flattens literature - takes the life out of it. It's hard to enjoy a sunset when you're sitting next to someone who is intent on explaining why you are seeing what you are seeing. Most of the time my kids just want to turn to that guy and tell him to stop talking; "You're ruining it."

 

In any case, once you have exposure to heavy-handed analysis, you may realize that the resources to do that with every single book you read are everywhere! Really! The internet is jammed with those lenses. It can really suck the life out of literature for teens though, so please use caution. In an attempt to be thorough, I have been obnoxious. :001_smile: My kids have forgiven me, but given the opportunity for a do-over, I would exercise caution. It's a bit like salt. Tasty, but in small pinches. (I personally enjoy Weinstein.)

 

With my high schoolers, I shoot for a broad experience that encourages an introduction to different schools of thought when it comes to thinking about literature itself - exposure is my goal. And even when you find the type of literature study that you enjoy, it's important to realize that you can climb into a ditch and miss the point. It's a forest/trees problem. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. :001_smile:

 

"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested."

Francis Bacon

 

Peace,

Janice

 

Enjoy your little people

Enjoy your journey

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Definitively look at itunes but also look at different courses offered by the teaching company. The Vandiver lectures on the Iliad and Odyssey are in sets of 12 so she spends a lot of time on those works. Similarly I picked up a set on Machiavelli that has 12 or 16 lectures.

 

It's helpful to remember that in college many entry lit courses such as the Teaching Company offers are surveys and cover a lot o material in a semester. What you want to look for is courses that focus on one writer or one work. Teaching Company does have some like the Vandiver lectures.

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If you're looking for heavy comparative literature, check out the Arnold Weinstein lectures (Teaching Company). Some lectures are for more mature audiences.

 

There are many schools of thought when it comes to reading, thinking, and writing about literature. My kids don't personally enjoy Weinstein. He's too heavy handed. My kids feel like he flattens literature - takes the life out of it. It's hard to enjoy a sunset when you're sitting next to someone who is intent on explaining why you are seeing what you are seeing. Most of the time my kids just want to turn to that guy and tell him to stop talking; "You're ruining it."

 

In any case, once you have exposure to heavy-handed analysis, you may realize that the resources to do that with every single book you read are everywhere! Really! The internet is jammed with those lenses. It can really suck the life out of literature for teens though, so please use caution. In an attempt to be thorough, I have been obnoxious. :001_smile: My kids have forgiven me, but given the opportunity for a do-over, I would exercise caution. It's a bit like salt. Tasty, but in small pinches. (I personally enjoy Weinstein.)

 

With my high schoolers, I shoot for a broad experience that encourages an introduction to different schools of thought when it comes to thinking about literature itself - exposure is my goal. And even when you find the type of literature study that you enjoy, it's important to realize that you can climb into a ditch and miss the point. It's a forest/trees problem. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. :001_smile:

 

"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested."

Francis Bacon

 

Peace,

Janice

 

Enjoy your little people

Enjoy your journey

 

LOL! I know exactly what you mean! Both my undergraduate and graduate degrees were heavy in literature, and there were many works that the excessive dissection simply ruined for me. I certainly don't want that. In fact, in response, my approach to literature discussion has been to provide historic background and explain basic structural components, then simply to chat about what we liked and didn't like, what surprised us, the connections we made to other works, and the general themes we saw. My dc seems to intuitively understand literature in a way I never have, however, and I'd like to take a step toward more in-depth discussion. Having dc at multiple levels limits my reading and research time, though, so I am hoping to find something that will do that for me. ;)

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Check colleges open courses:

 

Here is Yale's Dante in Translation

http://oyc.yale.edu/italian-language-and-literature/ital-310

 

this page has Theory of Literature and Milton

http://oyc.yale.edu/english

 

 

Here is a list of all sorts of courses from a variety of institutions I'll let you peruse.

http://www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses

 

that should get you started Just google the author you want as well and see if you can find anything.

 

Wow! There's a lot of really good material here! Thank you for sharing these!

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Maybe I should clarify.... Much of the literature I am using this year (medieval/renaissance) is covered in one TC lecture, maybe two. A lot of the lecture is simply historical context and plot summary, with very brief analysis of the work. I'd like to find lectures that spend more time analyzing the techniques used, the meaning behind certain sections of the work, etc., the way a teacher would do in a regular course. Is there anything out there like that, short of enrolling in an online video course? Are there classes that have been videotaped so that we could watch the class discussion, even if we couldn't take part?

 

Not sure about video, but there is a set of lectures on Tolkien that I listened to from iTunes U. This is the prof that I was listening to. He went into much depth on symbolism, word choice, imagery, mythological allusions, etc.

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