Angus Fletcher
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"A brilliant examination of literary invention through the ages, from ancient Mesopotamia to Elena Ferrante, showing how writers created technical breakthroughs as sophisticated and significant as any in science, and in the process, engineered enhancements to the human heart and mind"--
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"Narrative was divorced from philosophy in 375 BCE when Plato warned that it triggered passions and irrationality, and ever since it has been considered as rhetoric-it enhanced communication rather than thinking. Today, AI researchers define all types of intelligent thought-deduction, invention, problem-solving-as forms of logic. Logic is the source of mathematics, analytic philosophy, and other branches of truth-seeking; causal thinking is the source...
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For two-thousand years, democratic authors treated comedy as a toolkit of rhetorical practices for encouraging problem-solving, pluralism, risk-taking, and other civic behaviors that increased minority participation in government. Over the past two centuries, this pragmatic approach to extending the franchise has been displaced by more idealistic democratic philosophies that focus instead on promoting liberal principles and human rights. But in the...
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Angus Fletcher is distinguished professor emeritus of English and comparative literature at the Graduate School of the City University of New York. His books include Time, Space, and Motion in the Age of Shakespeare and A New Theory for American Poetry. Harold Bloom (1930–2019) was Sterling Professor of the Humanities and English at Yale University.
Anyone who has ever said one thing and meant another has spoken in the mode of allegory. The allegorical...
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Great Courses volume 16
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English
Description
Film scripts often use literary techniques to build the story world, form characters, and set the right tone. By adopting a collage method taken from the surrealist movement, Pulp Fiction shows that visual arts can influence story in much the same way. Explore the various ways connections can be made between seemingly unrelated characters and events.
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Great Courses volume 6
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English
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One of the most common pitfalls of scriptwriting is poor plotting. The human mind is actually designed to plot - the key is learning how to constrain this natural tendency so your story doesn't simply wander. See how plotting backwards can help you stay on track and why you should forget about creating a three-act structure.
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Great Courses volume 5
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English
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Your job as the writer is to create a great story; the rest of the work is up to others. So how do you make sure your story creates the cognitive effect you want? The answer is tone. Look at the two most important ways writers shape tone and then dive into four influential tones used in screenwriting, using both literature and award-winning scripts as your guide.
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Great Courses volume 23
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English
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See why soap operas are an enduring and brilliant form of storytelling, despite their reputation. By focusing on the subjective and the most primal of human emotions, soap operas allow viewers to experience deep feelings that may be difficult or absent in real life. Grey's Anatomy shows how the conflict between wanting to belong and feeling like an outsider can fuel this kind of storytelling.
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Great Courses volume 20
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English
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Follow Professor Fletcher as he shows you how a television pilot works. Or, in the case of the original Game of Thrones pilot, how it doesn't. Compare the initial failed script with the later successful one and see how a story can be reshaped to better achieve its desired effect and discover why writing a TV pilot is like building an engine.
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Great Courses volume 8
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English
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How does a script go through 19 rewrites and multiple directors to emerge as one of the most influential films of the 20th century? Reverse engineer this story that traces its roots back to ancient Rome and see how a sublime tragedy can be even more powerful when brought down to a human scale.
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Great Courses volume 14
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English
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Most Hollywood films use simple but strong emotional effects to lull audiences into an easy enjoyment in a world with moral certainty. But some movies want to make you think critically and offer no easy answers. Ambivalence can be a crucial tool for writers who want to challenge audiences and this lecture will show you how it can be used to powerful effect.
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Great Courses volume 4
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English
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Character is the key ingredient in most successful stories; make great characters and audiences will want to follow them anywhere. Professor Fletcher presents a simple recipe for creating memorable characters with three simple ingredients. Discover why fear is the most powerful driver of human behavior and why this is a key to creating and sustaining great characters.
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Great Courses volume 15
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English
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The gritty soul of the Western genre was revived by the release of Unforgiven - a film that is not just a lesson in great genre writing, but in how to bring old stories back to life. Look at the ways the various story elements help create an anti-hero audiences will root for as you explore how a seemingly forgotten genre can be revived with the right script at the right time.
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Great Courses volume 11
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English
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A comedy with an ending more like a tragedy and with a tone that effortlessly fuses irony and sentiment, Annie Hall was an instant success that almost didn't happen. Use what you have learned about reverse engineering stories to better understand how to reach your ultimate (psychological) destination in a script.
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Great Courses volume 22
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English
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The success of the procedural story harkens back to the Victorian heyday of Sherlock Holmes, whose adventures always followed a similar pattern but with important variations. This same technique drives the success of shows like CSI, as this lecture demonstrates by looking at the pilot episode, which encapsulates the show's combination of problem solving and problem making.
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Great Courses volume 19
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English
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Begin your transition from the big screen to the small by looking at the different ways television and film scripts approach storytelling. See why the conflicts and plotting of TV must operate differently from film to sustain story over time and how you can determine which format is best for the kind of story you want to tell.
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Great Courses volume 7
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English
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Begin your exploration of great film scripts with Casablanca. Learn how to identify its cognitive effect and reverse engineer the four main story components to unlock the tools you will use to understand every script. Casablanca will also introduce you to the first of the "big three" storytelling genres: the heroic.
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Great Courses volume 12
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English
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The influence of Joseph Campbell and the idea of an archetypal journey have long been credited as part of the success of George Lucas's epic space opera. However, neuroscience has since debunked the idea of this "monomyth" and Professor Fletcher shows you how the power of the script comes down to something much simpler: childlike wonder.
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Great Courses volume 10
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English
Description
Take a look at the film whose immense success gave us the term "blockbuster," examining why the feeling of relief is one of the most primordial of human emotions and how it can best be put to use in good storytelling. Also gain an appreciation for the value of improvisation and collaboration with actors in the filmmaking process.
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Great Courses volume 9
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English
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The basic plot of all romantic comedies is essentially the same, so the surprise success of When Harry Met Sally can teach writers volumes about all the other ways you can make a story great. Professor Fletcher demonstrates the subtle ways screenwriters can add naturalistic details to make a predictable story still feel realistic and rewarding.
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