Guest Thinkers — February 16, 2011

Literature in 60 seconds?

I got an e-mail from the folks at 60second Recap about their service. They use video trailers to summarize – and/or interest students in – great works of literature.

Check out the new book trailer for Night by Elie Wiesel. Do you think the trailer will make more students interested in reading the book (I thought it was interesting that they said “watch to find out,” not “read to find out”)? Also, here’s a complete series of videos for George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Many more are available at the site.

What do you think of these videos? Are these viable alternatives to the venerable CliffsNotes or the more recent SparkNotes or eNotes? Do these types of services fill a valuable function for students? If so, would it be more valuable for students to make these themselves?

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