10 M4 - How Do Authors Convey and Develop Central Ideas?

Around the World in 80 Days

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This travel adventure novel by Jules Verne was published serially in 1872 and in book form in 1873 The lively and amusing narrative recounts the journey pursued by a sedentary London gentleman named Phileas Fogg and his valet, Passepartout, to win a wager with Fogg's fellow club members. Pursued by Fix, a private detective who believes Fogg to be a bank robber, the duo cross three continents and two oceans on trains, steamers, an elephant, and a sail-sledge.

Tarzan of the Apes

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First published in 1914, this romantic novel has remained influential over the years, both as a book and in films and a television series. The reader must recognize that Tarzan is a product of its age and contains outmoded imagery and simplistic depictions of other cultures and species: bloodthirsty natives, chatty chimps, roaring lions, stalking beasts. In some respects Tarzan is a caricature of itself and life in an African jungle.

The Time Machine

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The Time Machine was published in 1895 and quickly established Wells not only as an able writer, but a thinker of unusual ideas. Wells is perhaps the original writer of science fiction (alongside Jules Verne) and this novel is characteristic of his use of technology, imagination, and clever plotting to make the unthinkable seem plausible to the ordinary reader.

Robinson Crusoe

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Based loosely on the true story of the real-life sailor Alexander Selkirk, Defoe's classic tale of human strength and survival in the face of a hostile and lonely world can be understood on many different levels. Defoe is a figure for all times, either alone as he is literally stripped bare to confront the basic elements of life, or with “his man” Friday, who joins Crusoe after 26 years of solitariness. Defoe's work is both suitable and meaningful for readers of all ages.

Death of a Pig

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Article by E.B. White, the author of Charlotte's Web published in The Atlantic in January 1948.

10 M4 - How Do Authors Use Craft and Structure to Develop Characters and Ideas?

Throne of Blood

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The greatest screen adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth is arguably Akira Kurosawa's visceral Throne of Blood (Kumonosu jô), starring Toshiro Mifune and Isuzu Yamada as the ambitious warrior and ruthless wife who try to murder their way to power and glory. Featuring some of the Japanese master's most unforgettable, hallucinatory imagery, and inspired by Noh theater as much as the classical source, this is Kurosawa at his atmospheric best.

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Grade Level:

High

Length:

01:49

Macbeth

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Following a London West End run in December 2007 and a sold-out limited engagement at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in March 2008, Shakespeare's "Scottish play" went on to enthrall Broadway audiences yet again with a gripping production starring Sir Patrick Stewart in a triumphant, Tony®-nominated performance. Originating at England's innovative Chichester Festival Theatre, director Rupert Goold's cinematic re-interpretation of his stage production also stars the Tony®-nominated Kate Fleetwood as Lady Macbeth.

Director:

Rupert Goold

Grade Level:

High

Length:

03:00

Renaissance Art, Music & Literature (2004)

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Explores the newly discovered uses of realism, mathematics, and perspective in art; the introduction of new musical instruments and changes in musical style; and how literature flourished thanks to the innovation of the printing press. Explores Leonardo, Machiavelli, and Shakespeare, whose works continue to be admired and emulated today. DVD divided into chapters.

Grade Level:

Elementary

Middle

High

Length:

00:23