Learn about the type and place of humor in Southern authors through information and links to several authors including Mark Twain, Augustus Baldwin Longstreet, George Washington Harris, Joel Chandler Harris, and more.

Jonathan Swift initially did his best to conceal the fact that he was the author of Gulliver's Travels. This article explores how Swift constructed the work to operate as an elaborate game, parodying travel literature, pretending to be...

A scanned copy of the 1880 publication of Humorous Pictures by Major Seccombe, a poetry book for children.

This unit focuses on satire and humor; it defines satire as a literary device used to expose follies, vices, and hypocrites to bring about change. It includes links to Gullivers Travels and Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift, "The Rape of...

Ben Jonson's play is offered here in multiple digital formats. It includes a substantial introduction offering background on the play and its author.

Paterson Joseph describes how his research into Black British history led him to write his first play, Sancho: An Act of Remembrance. In this one-man show, Paterson Joseph inhabits the life of Ignatius Sancho, the 18th-century composer,...

This article introduces Richard Brinsley Sheridan and his famous play "The School for Scandal".

This article introduces "The Beggar's Opera" and its many satirical targets, including the court of George I, the politician Robert Walpole, the British legal system, and Italian opera.

Writers and craftsmen including Alexander Pope, John Dryden, Jonathan Swift, and Josiah Wedgwood found inspiration in the classical period. This article explores how their works adopted the style, genres, aesthetic values, and subjects...

"The Beggar's Opera" was an instant hit and became the most performed play of the 18th century. This article explores the elements that made up John Gay's work, from its popular tunes and dances to its satirical targets and depiction of...

This article introduces the characters, conventions, and historical context of Restoration comedy, and explores what the genre has to say about gender, courtship, and class.

Frances Burney's "Evelina" unveils the dizzying and dangerous social whirl of Georgian London, where reputations and marriages are there to be made and broken. This article investigates Burney's critique of fashion culture and the...

This article shows how Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock progresses from satirizing the foolishness of wealthy young women to exposing the violence that results from unequal power relations, whether between men and women, rich and...

Ashley Marshall suggests that there is more to Dryden's satiric poetry than the expression of high-minded moral values. Trace how Dryden's personal vendettas motivated some of the cruder and more vicious attacks in Mac Flecknoe, and how...

This resource provides a wealth of information about the period of American literature from 1860-1914. There are eight good articles discussing the movements of realism, regionalism, and naturalism, the rise of black American literature,...

Literary analysis of themes typically found in the work of Charles Dickens considers questions of poverty and wealth, crime and punishment, industrialization, childhood, caricature, and similar concepts of interest to readers of...

This lesson focuses on the short story "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut which portrays the year 2081 in a society where all people are equal and the same. Links are provided to the text and a study guide for the story. Students are...

This is an online photocopy of the original text of the children's book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (c1884), a humorous novel about slavery.

This is an online photocopy of the original text of the children's book Deborah Dent and Her Donkey by Leadenhall Press (1887), an illustrated, humorous children's tale.

This is an online photocopy of the original text of the children's book Rollo's Journey to Cambridge by John T. White (1887), a humorous illustrated children's novel.

This is an online photocopy of the original text of the children's book Bill Nye's Chestnuts Old and New by Bill Nye (1894), a collection of nonfiction, humorous stories, sketches, photographs, and memoranda from the Harvard Series.

This is an online photocopy of the original text of the children's book The Bull Calf and Other Tales by A.B. Frost (1892), a collection of humorous cartoons tales.

This site from Washington State University provides a good look at the regionalism and local color of American literature from 1865-1895. A definition is included, practitioners, characteristics, and techniques. There are many links to...

"Israeli author Amos Oz examines politics, love and humor amid the chaos of his country's conflict with the Palestinians." Partial transcript of an interview. Audio and video clips available.