San Antonio College Library

Few voices in American literature have been as bold and influential as that of Henry David Thoreau. This program traces the author's life from his early days in Concord and Harvard, to his friendship with Emerson and his years at Walden, to his role in the anti-slavery movement. In addition, Thoreau scholars Brad Dean and Wes Mott discuss his writings, including Walden and "Civil Disobedience. Interweaving dramatic readings and reenactments of Thoreau's...

This is Melville's sardonic and symbolic story of a copyist at a Wall Street law firm who refuses to conform, responding to all requests with, "I prefer not to." Autobiographical in its despair over the public's failure to understand the writer, prophetic in its foreshadowing of 20th-Century Absurdism, "Bartleby the Scrivener" provides a window into the work of Melville and a convincing argument that he may be at his best in the short story medium....

For many, The Scarlet Letter represents the pinnacle of 19th-century literature. In this program, three leading Hawthorne scholars use the novel and several Hawthorne short stories to explore issues of interpretation and literary analysis. Each work is discussed in relation to American culture and political events. Significant details of Hawthorne's life are also illuminated. Experts include Millicent Bell, a leading Hawthorne scholar; Professor Larry...

A re-creation of the two-year period (1845-1847) during which Thoreau lived alone in a cabin at Walden Pond, savoring the fruits of solitary communion with Nature while bemoaning the lot of the mass of men who lead lives of quiet desperation. The visuals offer an exceptionally lyrical illustration of the passing of the seasons; the commentary is drawn from Thoreau's own words.

If "The Raven" is not the best-known American poem, then "Annabel Lee" is. Both have endured because they successfully illustrate Poe's esthetic theories of poetics; they use natural, comprehensible language whose music weaves a spell that underscores and heightens the language. These two poems and "The Dream within a Dream" are performed (not merely read!) as Poe himself might have recited them to his peers-with deep passion and intensity, but always...

Touted as one of the first major feminist writers, Charlotte Perkins Gilman spent her life fighting to liberate women from the yoke of domesticity. This is a stunning BBC dramatization of Gilman's autobiographical account of a woman driven to madness by the repressive mores of Victorian culture. Stephen Dillon as the husband, John, and Julia Watson as the despondent heroine give stellar performances in this production directed by the BBC's John Clive....

Here is Poe weaving a web of psychological terror as a murderer recounts the bizarre details of his crimes against "the old man with the evil eye. The intensity and emotion build as the murderer becomes unhinged, a victim of his own crime. Again, the strength of Pomerleau's performance enables the audience to feel the power of Poe's macabre imagination.

The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. So speaks Montresor in this faithful rendition of Edgar Allan Poe's chilling story of a murderous trap irresistibly baited with fine wine and flattery. Strong performances and outstanding cinematography make this classic program-an object of considerable critical acclaim at film festivals-an excellent introduction to the work of the master...

In this introduction to Edgar Allan Poe's life and work from the Famous Authors series, the viewers follow Poe's early life and fortunate adoption by the Allans. Poe's relationship with Frances Allan was tender, but he and John Allan did not get along. His stepfather sent him away to university and then cut him off completely. In response, Poe went to Boston and joined the army, but persisted writing. Eventually being dismissed from West Point, he...

Edgar Allan Poe, America's master of the macabre, is famed for such literary classics as The Tell-Tale Heart and The Raven. But the story of his life was more bizarre than any of the tales he told. This episode of Biography sheds light on a man greatly blessed and supremely cursed: blessed with immortal genius and cursed by a life of lost loves and shattered hopes.