This channel is for people who want to engage with literature, language and history, not just memorize the “right” answers. Explore English poetry, language, and literature in their historical and cultural contexts, with an emphasis on close reading and critical thinking.
The content is for teachers, students, and independent readers who want to deepen their understanding, sharpen analytical skills, and gain confidence as readers of English literature. You will find close readings, short lectures on technique and form, and discussions of the history and background to major texts.
I am John Yamamoto‑Wilson, a Cambridge PhD and retired professor of English literature at Sophia University, Tokyo, now focusing on helping viewers read more thoughtfully and teach more effectively. Viewers are invited to join this community of learners, leave questions in the comments, and suggest poems or topics for future videos.
■ Contact: Facebook Messenger (www.facebook.com/anosensei)
Ano Sensei: The Poetry Professor
My video analysis of Coleridge's "Kubla Khan" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkU2n...) has been getting a lot of views recently. Many thanks to everyone who's been watching and sharing! But my video on Coleridge's Preface to Kubla Khan hasn't been getting the same attention - and it should! The Preface, in which Coleridge claims to have conceived the poem after taking opium, and to have lost the remainder of it when a man called from the neighbouring village of Porlock, is as much a part of the story as the poem itself/ Did it really happen like that? Did Coleridge make it all up? Check the link and find out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFVd8...
1 month ago | [YT] | 1
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Ano Sensei: The Poetry Professor
I'm making study guides where possible to accompany my YouTube videos. The latest one, on Shakespeare's Stratford friends, is here: educationalhub.org/shakespeare-stratford-friends-s…
1 month ago | [YT] | 1
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Ano Sensei: The Poetry Professor
Ano Sensei: The Poetry Professor
There have been quite a few new subscribers recently, so I'd like to welcome them - Welcome! - and make sure they know about the Ano Sensei Educational Hub website: educationalhub.org/.
You'll find free courses, study guides to accompany many of the videos, which are also embedded, along with navigation tools to help you find your way around the content. Pure magic!
1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 3
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Ano Sensei: The Poetry Professor
Does Hamlet know that Polonius and the king are listening when he delivers "To be or not to be"? And if he does, what implications does that have for our understanding of the content of his speech?
I've been creating study guides for some of my more successful YouTube videos, guides that go beyond the scope of the video itself. The page on Hamlet's speech explores the eavesdropping question in depth, traces the critical history of the speech back to Samuel Johnson, and looks at contemporary plays that shed light on Shakespeare's dramatic purpose in the Nunnery scene, along with questions for essays/debate.
I've also written a guide to the formal techniques used in Shelley's Ode to the West Wind, supplementing the video's focus on its thematic content.
Both pages can be accessed on my website:
Hamlet: educationalhub.org/shakespear...
Shelley: educationalhub.org/shelley-we...
I've got more like these in the pipeline. I'd be glad to know what you think, and which videos you'd like to see given supplementary treatment in this kind of way.
1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 1
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Ano Sensei: The Poetry Professor
After fifty years of teaching literature, I am convinced that many people's experience of poetry has been shaped — and limited — by how it was taught to them: as a puzzle to be solved, with a "right" answer determined by someone else.
It doesn't have to be that way.
I've built a free eight-lesson course on the Ano Sensei Educational Hub website. Journey Through Poetry approaches poetry from a different direction entirely. Each lesson combines video, close reading, and a companion digital book. The emphasis throughout is on what the poem means to you, not on memorising received opinion.
If you've ever felt that poetry was somehow beyond you, or that you were reading it "wrong", this course was made with you in mind.
educationalhub.org/courses/journey-through-poetry
1 month ago | [YT] | 3
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Ano Sensei: The Poetry Professor
YouTube courses are a new way forwards for educational channels like mine. Currently, I have several complete courses, along with one or two I am still adding to.
Here are some you may find of interest.
Complete courses:
Journey through poetry: www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
Romantic Poetry: www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
Transformational grammar: www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
In development:
Poetry lives: A course in poetic technique: www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
6 months ago | [YT] | 2
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Ano Sensei: The Poetry Professor
Followers of my grammar videos may be interested in my posts on Quora, where I answer specific requests for explanations of various aspects of English grammar: www.quora.com/profile/John-R-Yamamoto-Wilson
1 year ago | [YT] | 0
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Ano Sensei: The Poetry Professor
Changes in YouTube's algorithm have made things harder for small channels, especially channels that have seasonal popularity, with - in my case - a big difference between the number of viewers during school term time and the holidays. One way forward is to encourage people to join as channel members. Accordingly, I am increasing the number of members-only videos on this channel. This includes new videos and some "oldies but goodies" that viewers have largely forgotten about.
I have also more or less stopped answering grammar questions. I still acknowledge them and give short replies, but if you want to get into discussion about a grammar point, you'll have to join as a channel member and post your question here: https://youtu.be/JiEmdhU06oM?feature=...
Please let me know what you think about the channel and the direction it is moving in, together with any suggestions you have for video topics, etc. Your feedback is welcome and helps me to develop the channel in a way that benefits everyone. Thank you.
2 years ago (edited) | [YT] | 1
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Ano Sensei: The Poetry Professor
Hi! It seems I forgot to publish episode 6 of the Journey through Poetry series. Here it is: https://youtu.be/Fd35yqTIJU0
2 years ago | [YT] | 0
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