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Signature

Profiles of contemporary Southern writers

Grade Levels:: 9-adult
Length:: 60 minutes
Taping Rights:: Unlimited
MARC Record:: Downloadable
Teaching Materials:: See Below

From William Faulkner to Flannery O’Connor, Southern writers have brought distinctive voices to American literature. This KET series profiles five Kentucky writers as well as an Appalachian writer with close ties to the state who are helping to continue that tradition of originality. These portraits of artists in mid-career—Barbara Kingsolver, Bobbie Ann Mason, Ed McClanahan, Marsha Norman, Lee Smith, and George C. Wolfe—humanize and demystify the creative process. Biography, process, and performance come into play as we learn where writers come from, how they go about their work, and how they perform, or read, their own work.

Each program features interviews with the writer as well as colleagues, friends, relatives, and critics; visits to places that have figured in or inspired the writer’s work; and readings from that work. The teacher’s guide includes biographical information, a short bibliography on each writer, and ideas for writing activities for students.

Program of Studies:
Reading: Forming a Foundation, Interpreting Text, Developing an Initial Understanding, Reflecting and Responding to Text, Demonstrating a Critical Stance
Arts and Humanties: Humanity in the Arts
Practical Living/Vocational Education: Career Awareness, Exploration, Planning
Speaking, Listening, and Observing

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The schedule listed here includes only airings on the KET ED channel. See the complete Signature broadcast schedule for airings on all KET channels.

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2008/09 Block Feeds on KET ED

Block Feed: Programs 101-201 Program Details: 3 hours, 59 minutes; Tuesday, October 28 at 6:00 am on KETED; Tuesday, November 4 at 2:00 am on KETED; Tuesday, November 18 at 2:00 am on KETED; Tuesday, March 31 at 6:00 am on KETED; Tuesday, April 7 at 2:00 am on KETED
Block Feed: Programs 202-203 Program Details: 1 hours, 59 minutes; Tuesday, October 28 at 2:00 pm on KETED; Tuesday, March 31 at 2:00 pm on KETED; Tuesday, April 7 at 10:00 am on KETED

Episodes Included in These Block Feeds

101. Bobbie Ann Mason: Mason visits her hometown of Mayfield in Western Kentucky and talks about the influence of the place and its people on her work. The program includes readings from Mason's novels In Country and Feather Crowns as well as several short stories, plus an excerpt from the Hollywood film of In Country. 57 minutes.
102. Ed McClanahan: The author reads from his novel The Natural Man and his humorous autobiographical work, Famous People I Have Known, and talks about his influences, ranging from Charles Dickens to Ken Kesey. Visits to boyhood haunts in Northern Kentucky prompt stories of where some of McClanahan's ideas and characters came from. 57 minutes.
103. Marsha Norman: Backstage scenes of Norman working with actors, designers, producers, and others to mount a Broadway version of The Red Shoes frame the story of the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, a Louisville native. Norman and others read from 'night, Mother, which won the Pulitzer, and the Tony Award-winning musical of The Secret Garden, for which Norman wrote the script. 58 minutes.
201. George C. Wolfe: The frenetic pace and artistic sophistication of the New York theater scene are literally and figuratively miles away from the segregated but nurturing African-American community of 1960s Frankfort, KY and the childhood of Tony Award-winning playwright and director George C. Wolfe. This program explores the juxtaposition of past and present in the life and work of the man who wrote The Colored Museum; wrote and directed Jelly's Last Jam and Bring In 'Da Noise, Bring In 'Da Funk; directed Angels in America; and assumed leadership of one of New York's most important cultural institutions, the New York Shakespeare Festival/Joseph Papp Public Theater. 57 minutes.
202. Lee Smith: Growing up in the Appalachian mountains of southwestern Virginia, 9-year-old Lee Smith was already writing—and selling, for a nickel apiece—stories about her neighbors in the coal boomtown of Grundy and the nearby isolated hollers. Since 1968, she has published nine novels, including Fair and Tender Ladies and Oral History, as well as two collections of short stories, and has received eight major writing awards. The sense of place infusing her novels reveals her insight into and empathy for the people and culture of Appalachia. 58 minutes.
203. Barbara Kingsolver: Just as the lead character in her first novel, The Bean Trees, left her small Kentucky town for adventure out West, so did Barbara Kingsolver leave Carlisle, KY to settle in Arizona, where she has written critically acclaimed novels, poetry, short stories, and nonfiction pieces. This portrait examines how the author sees her self-described "wallflower" youth as a gift that led to her "fierce wish to look inside people" as well as an "aptitude for listening" that she uses in her work today. 57 minutes.

Related Resources

University of Kentucky graduates Bobbie Ann Mason and Ed McClanahan are two of the writers featured in KET’s Living by Words. They also answered questions from high school students in the KET production SignatureLIVE.

See the bookclub@ket index by author for further information on books by Barbara Kingsolver, Bobbie Ann Mason, and Ed McClanahan.

Teaching Materials

TEACHER'S GUIDE: Inside Kentucky, call KET Tape Duplication at (800) 945-9167, or e-mail tapes@ket.org.
Annenberg Media
(800) LEARNER (532-7637)
P.O. Box 2345
South Burlington, VT 05407-2345
VIDEO: Inside Kentucky, call KET Tape Duplication at (800) 945-9167, or e-mail tapes@ket.org.
Annenberg Media
(800) LEARNER (532-7637)
P.O. Box 2345
South Burlington, VT 05407-2345
DOWNLOADABLE GUIDE: http://www.ket.org/education/guides/signature.pdf
Part I: Programs 101-103; PDF format.
KET Online
DOWNLOADABLE GUIDE: http://www.ket.org/education/guides/signature2.pdf
Part II: Programs 201-203; PDF format.
KET Online

Kentucky Academic Expectations

This program relates to the following Kentucky Academic Expectations.

1.2	Reading
1.3	Observing
1.4	Listening
2.24	Aesthetics
2.36	Career Path

Kentucky schools may tape and retain programs according to the rights listed above. For further information, contact the KET Education Division.

bookclub@ket

SignatureLIVE

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Last Updated: Friday, 10-Oct-2008 03:14:14 EDT