LibGuides: American Literature Early 19th Century: Media

Authors & Their Works

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The American Transcendentalists: Concord, Massachusetts (54:00) The ideas and ideals of three American Transcendentalists—Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller—initially given expression through The Dial continue to shape the discourse of literature, philosophy, and religion worldwide.
Edgar Allan Poe: A Journey in Verse (34:00) Edgar Allan Poe was truest to his heart a poet. He has blessed American literature with some of the most striking and moving imagery ever created. His phrasing and lyricism have forever changed the landscape of poetic verse. Includes “The Conqueror Worm,” “To My Mother,” “Israfel,” “Annabel Lee,” “The City in the Sea,” “Eldorado,” “To Helen,” “The Haunted Palace,” “Evening Star,” and “The Raven.”
Emily Dickinson (21:00) Blending daguerreotypes, paintings, manuscripts, excerpts from Dickinson’s letters, and readings from nearly a dozen of her poems, this program presents the biography of one of America’s most unique and influential voices in poetry.
Henry David Thoreau: In His Own Words (32:00) Filmed on location in and around Concord, Cambridge, and Cape Cod, this delightful program brings Henry David Thoreau’s Walden and "Civil Disobedience" to life through the captivating delivery of Thoreau impersonator Jeffrey Hyatt. Long passages, as expressed by Hyatt, capture the energy and intensity of Thoreau’s words, while presenter James H. Bride II and Thoreau specialists Lawrence Buell, Robert Richardson, and Joel Myerson provide commentary on the works, Thoreau’s life, and the times in which he lived.
Herman Melville: "Bartleby the Scrivener" (59:00) 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."
Walt Whitman (22:00) A collage of photos, paintings, and manuscripts accompanies excerpts of letters from Whitman and Ralph Waldo Emerson, as well as readings from sections of Leaves of Grass, such as “Song of Myself,” “I Sing the Body Electric,” and “Native Moments.” .

Performances & Readings

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Edgar Allan Poe’s "The Cask of Amontillado" (17:00) "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.
The Last of the Mohicans (88:00) This 1936 adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper's classic early American novel tells of the 1756 siege of Fort William by the French and Huron Indians. The hero Hawkeye, a colonial scout, is played by Randolph Scott. Also starring Binnie Barnes, Henry Wilcoxon, and Bruce Cabot. Directed by George B. Seitz.