American Perspective; The International American Girl : Innocents Abroad
Description:
Episode 3: Most people know the Mark Twain who wrote Huckleberry Finn and other classic pictures of America. Few have read the book he wrote about a group of Americans traveling in Europe, called Innocents Abroad. Dr. Wilson presents this derisive, un-romantic, comical and revealing book, first by summarizing it, then by analyzing the themes which appear through it and in other similar discussions of Europe by patriotic Americans. Twain's travelers do not take this trip to learn about Europe. They go to confirm their impressions of the natural superiority of everything American, to mock those who would Europeanize themselves, to return with their preconceptions strengthened. "Has this traveler died with the end of the Nineteenth Century?" asked Dr. Wilson. In an age of shrinking distances and increased communications, how many of us are still innocents abroad? (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche) Episode 4: The heroine of this program is Henry James" Daisy Miller. The villain is Daisy Millerism, defined by Dr. Wilson as "The assumption that you can behave in Rome as you do in Schenectady and not pay the consequences." Dr. Wilson relates the plot of the brief tragic-comedy, Daisy Miller. He also presents some searching comments on the presence of Daisy Miller in twentieth century Europe and America, and on the effects of innocence, patriotism, cosmopolitanism, and the importance of understanding fully the implications of what you're doing. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche) In nineteen half-hour episodes, Graham C. Wilson presents a lively and at times controversial discussion of some the problems with which American literature has tried to deal. Among these, the two most important are our relations with foreign countries - chiefly European - and our definition of the American hero. If we understand these problems and their presentation in our literature, we will have made great progress in understanding ourselves, Dr. Wilson believes. His informal and witty lectures provide the audience with an unusual introduction to the subject. Graham C. Wilson is a professor of Renaissance literature at the San Jose State College in California. Prior to this series, Dr. Wilson prepared a television series designed to help English teachers present the plays of Shakespeare to their students. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
