ENG 102: Prof. Anzelone's Classes: Videos

23 minutes

22 minutes

34 minutes

29 minutes

This overview of the biography and fiction of William Faulkner from the Famous Authors series introduces the major themes of Faulkner’s poems, plays, short stories, and novels. The film contextualizes life in the American south in the first half of the 20th century; Faulkner’s southern upbringing, family history, and race relations in the wake of the Civil War were a major influence on his fiction. In 1924, Faulkner left his small town of Oxford and spent six months in New Orleans, where he was finally able to see the conditions of his upbringing from a distance and become acquainted with a literary circle with Sherwood Anderson at the center, jump-starting his serious fiction writing. (35 minutes)

Flannery O’Connor is often likened to Faulkner for her portrayal of the character and lifestyle of the South, Kafka for her fascination with the bizarre, and Beckett for her dark humor—comparisons that underscore the fact that her voice has a unique place in the canon of American literature. This program provides a biographical sketch of O’Connor that illuminates her efforts to come to terms with what she perceived as the fundamental absurdity of the human condition while never shying away from incendiary social issues. Readings from Wise Blood, “The Displaced Person,” “The River,” “The Life You Save May Be Your Own,” and “Revelation” are included. (21 minutes)