Instructify

BY BILL FERRIS

Everyone needs help wrapping their heads around a book from time to time. If you teach literature, that time occurs every day. You can outsource some of the necessary explanation by sending your students to 60 Second Recap, a site that summarizes the plot, characters, and themes of a book in 60-second episodes for each.

Jenny, your perky host, breaks down the elements of what makes each book work. The videos delve into how Animal Farm was an allegory for Stalinist Russia, talk about the use of Dickens’ doubling motif in Great Expectations, and examines the plot of The Great Gatsby as a 200-page party crawl.

Students can post their own recaps in the Club Recap section. 60SR also explains literary terminology like theme, motif, subtext, and so on, so kids can write on those topics with authority. Speaking of writing, they’ll want to check out the videos on “How to write a paper that won’t put your teacher to sleep.” Have them watch it in class. A couple times, if you have to. Finally, if you have students who enjoy reading books that haven’t been assigned for class, check out the Pick of the Week, which features a one-minute review of books geared toward young readers.

So far, 60 Second Recap only has about two dozen books in its library. However, this number is only going to go up. They take requests, too, so if you’re planning on reading Heart of Darkness next semester, maybe drop them a line so it’ll be ready when you start reading it.

60 Second Recap

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