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Crash Course Literature
Season 2
Episode 15

Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance

June 5, 2014

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Crash Course Literature - S2 - E15

In which John Green teaches you about the poetry of Langston Hughes. Langston Hughes was a poet and playwright in the first half of the 20th century, and he was involved in the Harlem Renaissance, which was a cultural movement among African Americans of the time that produced all kinds of great works in literature, poetry, painting, sculpture, music, and other areas. The Harlem Renaissance mainly happened in Harlem, the traditionally black neighborhood in upper Manhattan in New York City. Langston Hughes was primarily known as a poet, but he was involved deeply in the movement itself as well. John will teach you a bit about Hughes's background, and he'll examine a few of his best-known poems.

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Crash Course Literature: Season 2 - 16 Episode s

2x1 - A Long and Difficult Journey, or The Odyssey
February 27, 2014
In which John Green teaches you about Homer's Odyssey. If it was Homer's If Homer was even real. Anyway, that stuff doesn't really matter. John teaches you the classic, by which I mean classical, epic poem, the Odyssey. The Journey of Odysseus as he made his way home after the conclusion of the Trojan War is the stuff of legend. Literally. John will teach you about the double standard in Greek culture, Odysseus as jerk/hero, ancient PTSD, and cycles of violence. Also, there are no yogurt jokes. So think of that as a gift.
2x2 - Fate, Family, and Oedipus Rex
March 6, 2014
In which John Green teaches you about one of the least family-friendly family dramas in the history of family dramas, Oedipus Rex. Sophocles' most famous play sees its main character, who seems like he's got it all together, find out that he's killed his father, married his mother, had a bunch of incest children, and brought a plague down on his adopted hometown. He doesn't take this news well. John touches on all the classic Oedipus themes, including hamartia, fate, and the wrath of the gods, and even gets into some Freud, although Oedipus was notably not a sufferer of an Oedipus complex. In any case get ready for mystery, incest, bird entrails, and self-inflicted blindness. Very dramatic.
2x3 - Ghosts, Murder, and More Murder - Hamlet Part 1
March 13, 2014
In which John Green teaches you about Hamlet, William Shakespeare's longest and most-performed play. People love Hamlet. The play that is, not necessarily the character. Hamlet is a Tragedy with a capital T (I guess I don't have to point that out since you can see clearly in the text that the T was capitalized). By Tragedy, I mean virtually everyone dies at the end. John will talk a little bit about the history of the play and the different versions of it that have appeared in the centuries since it was written. You'll also learn about some of the big themes in the play, get a brief plot overview, and the all-important connections between Prince Hamlet and Simba, the Lion King. Seriously though, The Lion King is totally just a Hamlet musical with animals instead of people.
2x4 - Ophelia, Gertrude, and Regicide - Hamlet Part
March 20, 2014
In which John Green teaches you MORE about Bill Shakespeare's Hamlet. John talks about gender roles in Hamlet, and what kind of power and agency Ophelia and Gertrude had, if they had any at all (spoiler alert: we think they did). You'll also learn about regicide, Ophelia's flowers, and Hamlet's potential motivations. Also, Oedipus comes up again, but we don't buy it.
2x5 - Don't Reanimate Corpses! Frankenstein Part 1
March 27, 2014
In which John Green teaches you about Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein. Sure, you know Frankenstein the cultural phenomenon, but how much do you know about the novel that started it all? You'll learn about the Romantic movement in English lit, of which Frankenstein is a GREAT example, and you'll learn that Frankenstein might just be the first SciFi novel. Once again, literature comes down to just what it means to be human. John will review the plot, take you through a couple of different critical readings of the novel, and will discuss the final disposition of Percy Shelley's heart.
2x6 - Frankenstein, Part 2
April 3, 2014
In which John Green continues to teach you about Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. You'll learn about romantic vs Romantic, the latter of which is a literary movement. John will also look at a few different critical readings of Frankenstein, and you'll learn about Victor's motivations. We'll also look a little bit at the moral limitations of science, if there are any.
2x7 - Reader, it's Jane Eyre
April 10, 2014
In which John Green teaches you about Charlotte Brontë's classic coming of age novel, Jane Eyre. Look, we don't like to make judgment values here, but Jane Eyre is awesome. By which we mean the book is great, and the character is amazing. When Jane Eyre was published in 1847, it was a huge hit. It really hit the controversial balance beautifully, being edgy enough to make news, but still mainstream enough to be widely popular. It was sort of like the Fight Club of its day, but not quite as testosterone-fueled. You'll learn a little about the story, learn about Jane as a feminist heroine, and even get some critical analysis on how Bertha might just be a dark mirror that acts out Jane's emotional reactions.
2x8 - If One Finger Brought Oil - Things Fall Apart Part 1
April 17, 2014
In which John Green teaches you about Chinua Achebe's 1958 novel, Things Fall Apart. You'll learn about Igboland, a region in modern-day Nigeria, prior to the arrival of the British Empire. Achebe tells the story of Okonkwo, an Igbo villager who has worked his way up from life as a sharecropped and become a respected leader in his community. Okonkwo has a tragic fall and is exiled. And then the trouble starts. British missionaries arrive and change everything. Things Fall Apart has a lot to say about colonization and even something to say about decolonization.
2x9 - Things Fall Apart, Part 2
April 24, 2014
In which John Green concludes teaching you about Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. You'll learn about the historical contexts of Things Fall Apart, including 19th-century colonization and 20th-century decolonization. We're going to learn a little bit about Achebe's childhood between two cultures, cover Okonkwo's sad, sad end, and even learn a little about The Babysitters Club.
2x10 - To Kill a Mockingbird, Part 1
May 1, 2014
In which John Green teaches you about Harper Lee's famous novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. John will cover a bit about Harper Lee's personal life, (seeing as this novel has some autobiographical elements) and her long association with Truman Capote, who figures as a character in the book. You'll get an overview of the plot, and we'll talk a bit about Mockingbird as an example of bildungsroman (again) and Southern Gothic, and look into the novel as a commentary on the racism and patriarchy of the Alabama in which Harper Lee grew up.
2x11 - Race, Class, and Gender in To Kill a Mockingbird
May 8, 2014
In which John Green teaches you MORE about To Kill a Mockingbird. In this installment, John teaches you about race, class, and gender in the American south, as seen through the eyes of Scout and Harper Lee. John will talk about how Scout learns about these aspects of the social order as she interacts with the people of the town, learns from Calpurnia, watches the trial of Tom Robinson, and endures the attack of Bob Ewell. You'll also learn a little bit about Demi Moore and Mila Kunis, and John will ask just who is the Mockingbird, anyway? Not that he'll answer that, but he'll ask it.
2x12 - Aliens, Time Travel, and Dresden - Slaughterhouse-Five Part 1
May 15, 2014
In which John Green teaches you about Kurt Vonnegut's most famous novel, Slaughterhouse-Five. Vonnegut wrote the book in the Vietnam era, and it closely mirrors his personal experiences in World War II, as long as you throw out the time travel and aliens and porn stars and stuff. Slaughterhouse-Five tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, a World War II veteran who was a prisoner of war, survived the Battle of the Bulge and the fire-bombing of Dresden, goes home after the war, and has trouble adapting to civilian life (this is the part that's like Vonnegut's own experience). Billy Pilgrim has flashbacks to the war that he interprets as being "unstuck in time." He believes he's been abducted by aliens, and pretty much loses it. You'll learn a little about Vonnegut's life, quite a bit about Dresden, and probably more than you'd like about barbershop quartets as a metaphor for post-traumatic stress.
2x13 - PTSD and Alien Abduction - Slaughterhouse-Five Part 2
May 22, 2014
In which John Green continues to teach you about Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. (WARNING: When Slaughterhouse-Five was published, some of the crude language in the book caused controversy. We quote one mildly controversial line in this video. If you're mature enough to read this book, you're likely mature enough to tolerate this quote, but we're obliged to warn you about it.) Anyway, this week, John is going to talk about Slaughterhouse-Five's status as an anti-war novel, and what exactly anti-war novels are good for. He'll also get into the idea of free will, and to what degree Billy Pilgrim's time travel and abduction by aliens were hallucinations induced by posttraumatic stress disorder. John will even give you an interpretation of why the Tralfamadorians look like toilet plungers. Hint: it has to do with plunging metaphorical toilets.
2x14 - Slavery, Ghosts, and Beloved
May 29, 2014
In which John Green teaches you about Beloved by Toni Morrison. I'll warn you upfront, this book is something of a downer. That's because it deals with subjects like slavery, the death of a child, a potential haunting, and a bunch of other sad stuff. John will talk about Beloved in relation to slavery, and how that terrible institution affected individuals, families, and all of American culture in the years surrounding the Civil War. We will also not be getting into whether or not Beloved was a ghost because it really has no bearing on what the book has to say. Also, as usual, spoilers abound, so we recommend you read the book before you watch this video!
2x15 - Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance
June 5, 2014
In which John Green teaches you about the poetry of Langston Hughes. Langston Hughes was a poet and playwright in the first half of the 20th century, and he was involved in the Harlem Renaissance, which was a cultural movement among African Americans of the time that produced all kinds of great works in literature, poetry, painting, sculpture, music, and other areas. The Harlem Renaissance mainly happened in Harlem, the traditionally black neighborhood in upper Manhattan in New York City. Langston Hughes was primarily known as a poet, but he was involved deeply in the movement itself as well. John will teach you a bit about Hughes's background, and he'll examine a few of his best-known poems.
2x16 - The Poetry of Sylvia Plath
June 12, 2014
In which John Green teaches you about the poetry of Sylvia Plath. When a lot of people think about Sylvia Plath, they think about her struggles with mental illness and her eventual suicide. Her actual work can get lost in the shuffle a bit, so this video really tries to focus on the poetry. You'll learn about Sylvia Plath's role as a feminist poet, and you'll also learn about her extraordinary ability to recreate the experiences of real life in a beautiful and relatable way.

Crash Course Literature: All seasons

S0: Specials
1 Episode
S1: Literature 1
8 Episode s
S2: Literature 2
16 Episode s
S3: Literature 3
9 Episode s
S4: Literature 4
12 Episode s

2x1 - A Long and Difficult Journey, or The Odyssey

2x2 - Fate, Family, and Oedipus Rex

2x3 - Ghosts, Murder, and More Murder - Hamlet Part 1

2x4 - Ophelia, Gertrude, and Regicide - Hamlet Part

2x5 - Don't Reanimate Corpses! Frankenstein Part 1

2x6 - Frankenstein, Part 2

2x7 - Reader, it's Jane Eyre

2x8 - If One Finger Brought Oil - Things Fall Apart Part 1

2x9 - Things Fall Apart, Part 2

2x10 - To Kill a Mockingbird, Part 1

2x11 - Race, Class, and Gender in To Kill a Mockingbird

2x12 - Aliens, Time Travel, and Dresden - Slaughterhouse-Five Part 1

2x13 - PTSD and Alien Abduction - Slaughterhouse-Five Part 2

2x14 - Slavery, Ghosts, and Beloved

2x15 - Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance

2x16 - The Poetry of Sylvia Plath

S0: Specials

S1: Literature 1

S2: Literature 2

S3: Literature 3

S4: Literature 4