World Literature series #13: The Thousand and One Nights

Concluding the World Lit series from Annenberg Learner is the collection of Arabic tales known as The Thousand and One Nights, which includes the stories of Aladdin, Ali Baba, and Sinbad.

Click on the illustration of Shahrazad (or Scheherazade) below to watch the excellent video about The Thousand and One Nights at learner.org featuring comic book writer Bill Willingham (Fables). At their site you can also read excerpts from the collection and explore a map, timeline, and slideshow about it.

World Literature series #12: The God of Small Things

Next up in the World Lit series from Annenberg Learner is the Indian novel The God of Small Things written in 1997 by Arundhati Roy. The novel shifts back and forth through time and tells the story of fraternal twins Rahel and Estha.

Click on the illustration of the twins' mother Ammu below to watch the excellent video about The God of Small Things at learner.org. At their site you can also read excerpts from the novel and explore a map, timeline, and slideshow about it.

World Literature series #11: One Hundred Years of Solitude

Next up in the World Lit series from Annenberg Learner is the Latin American novel One Hundred Years of Solitude written in 1967 by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez. The novel is written in a magical realism style to tell the multi-generational story of the Buendía family.

Click on the photograph of Gabriel García Márquez below to watch the excellent video about One Hundred Years of Solitude at learner.org. At their site you can also read excerpts from the novel and explore a map, timeline, and slideshow about it.

World Literature series #10: Things Fall Apart

Next up in the World Lit series from Annenberg Learner is the modern African novel Things Fall Apart written in 1958 by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe. Set in the late nineteenth century, it tells the story of a man named Okonkwo, his native Igbo culture, and the eventual conflict with British colonialism.

Click on the photograph of the Igbo woman below to watch the excellent video about Things Fall Apart at learner.org. At their site you can also read excerpts from the work and explore a map, timeline, and slideshow about it.

World Literature series #9: Candide

Next up in the World Lit series from Annenberg Learner is the classic French satire Candide by Voltaire. It explores hypocrisy through the naïve title character and his mentor Dr. Pangloss.

Click on the illustration of Pangloss and Candide below to watch the excellent video about Candide at learner.org, with Kristin Chenoweth, Aisha Tyler, and Harold Ramis. At their site you can also read excerpts from the work and explore a map, timeline, and slideshow about it.

Bonus! Check out the previous Fine Art Thing about Leonard Bernstein which includes a video of the finale from his Candide operetta.