In college, my friend a professor whom we all described as the filmmaker version of Shaft. He was a dedicated teacher, a bold and thoughtful filmmaker, and his syllabus included the phrase “Get ya asses to class.” Needless to say, his students loved him.
Thug Notes has a similar approach to the canon of English literature. Sparky Sweets, PhD recaps the plot of classic novels and dives into the major themes of the books. For example, his take on To Kill a Mockingbird:
Even cooler? In the Youtube comments, people are clamoring for Sweets to tackle other works of English literature. Most badass way to get people involved in literature ever.
(via Book Riot)
I just spent the last hour viewing all five episodes. What a hoot! I don’t think I could get away using his videos in class. This series is definitely going somewhere. I’m adding it to my upcoming blog posts of traditional and non-traditional lit resources. hmm, I guess Sparky would fit well in the non-tra list.