Fiction Briefly
A study guide for short fiction and film. Explore Joseph Campbell's "hero's journey" and other methods authors and filmmakers use to tell a great story.
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Episodes
Mar 21, 2021
Mar 21, 2021
17 min
A fight over the throne of Wakanda represents two opposing ideas of justice. Revenge can be sweet but effective leadership requires more substance.
Feb 21, 2021
Feb 21, 2021
19 min
Clarice Starling doesn't have experience, but she has instinct and determination. She's going to need both to catch a killer even with help from a cannibal psychopath in this analysis of Silence of the Lambs.
Jan 31, 2021
Jan 31, 2021
20 min
Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained touches on the harsh realities of human nature and the difficulties of going undercover.
Jan 3, 2021
Jan 3, 2021
15 min
Sometimes taking one's "place" in society requires breaking with tradition. In this adaption of an ancient Chinese tale, Mulan carves a place for herself but sets her aims low. Still, she serves as an example of courage in the struggle to be one's self.
Dec 12, 2020
Dec 12, 2020
17 min
Can a woman in ancient Greece win an argument and remain living? Sophocles has us pondering the ambiguity of right and wrong as the gods remain silent over human disputes.
Nov 14, 2020
Nov 14, 2020
14 min
Ancient Roman author, Apuleius, makes his heroine in Cupid and Psyche the butt of a joke, but is Psyche as pathetic as she seems?
Oct 11, 2020
Oct 11, 2020
18 min
The hero's journey can be used for villains, too, and it may have you rooting for the bad guy.
Sep 8, 2020
Sep 8, 2020
17 min
Creator Lin-Manuel Miranda makes strategic storytelling choices to keep viewers entertained as opposed to well-informed.
Aug 24, 2020
Aug 24, 2020
11 min
Before George Washington and King Arthur, Theseus created a democracy and pulled a sword out a stone. He also made the Labyrinth famous.
Aug 3, 2020
Aug 3, 2020
15 min
You think you know someone until you do a background check... A look at Hercules's punishment after killing his wife and young children using Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey.
