Curated OER
Literary Analysis: Summary vs. Analysis
What is the difference between summary writing and literary analysis? A 16-slide presentation offers some basic requirements for both types of writing and helps readers identify each based on keywords used in both types of writing....
Curated OER
Magical Musical Tour: Using Music Lyrics to Teach Literary Elements
While music lyrics are often used to teach literary elements, the richness of this resource comes from the wealth of exercises, activities, and support materials provided in the packet. Although designed for gifted learners, the...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Glass Menagerie: Key Themes
Using the list of expressionist techniques generated in the first instructional activity, groups analyze how Williams uses these techniques to develop one of the play's themes. The whole class then shares and discusses the examples they...
Brigham Young University
Introducing the Text and Learning the Process of Script Analysis
Where do directors and set designers get their ideas so that the set they build creates the mood and atmosphere the director wants for a production? From the script! Introduce theater high schoolers to the script analysis techniques used...
Curated OER
Poetry Reading and Analysis Worksheet - As You Like It
Enhance your lesson on Shakespeare with this poetry activity. After reading lines 139-167 from As You Like It Act II, Scene 7 (provided on the first page), middle schoolers work on a graphic organizer to paraphrase each part of the poem....
University of North Carolina
Literature (Fiction)
An informative installment of the Writing for Specific Fields series helps readers learn how to interpret and write about fiction. The website details nine easy steps for writing a literary analysis—a useful method for all readers!
Novelinks
The Tempest: Concept Analysis
Use a handy concept analysis guide as you begin your unit on William Shakespeare's The Tempest. With character descriptions, literary themes, and anticipated affective issues, the guide can help those new to using The Tempest craft a...
Curated OER
Macbeth News Broadcast
Here is an authentic assessment task for Shakespeare's Macbeth. Young literature scholars prepare, perform, and record a news broadcast about the major events in the play. For example, groups may choose to report on the death of Lady...
Curated OER
Introducing Jane Eyre
"How can a magazine reflect a particular time and culture?" Using this prompt, your class explores the Victorian Era as it relates to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. They can also play the "Victorian Women's Rights" game for the year 1840...
Learning to Give
Teaching Playwriting in Schools
The world is a stage, and so is your classroom! Hone the skills of the next generation of Tony® award winners with a set of exercises, reference pages, writing prompts, and excerpts from famous plays.
Curated OER
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: Concept Analysis
Make sure you are well-informed before embarking on a study of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. This resource includes an analysis of the text that a teacher can use to prepare a unit of study. It covers plot elements, themes,...
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of William Shakespeare's King Lear
King Lear is a powerful and complex tragedy that looks deeply into political power and family dynamics, loyalty, betrayal, aging, and madness. This teaching guide includes scene-by-scene plot summaries, information about the elements of...
Southwest Career and Technical Academy
Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story - Compare and Contrast
West Side Story, the modern retelling of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, won ten Academy Awards for its rousing depiction of the tale of star-crossed lovers. But how closely does the plot align to its source material? Compare and...
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classics Edition of Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac has enjoyed popularity since its debut in 1897 due in large part to the themes it addresses. Instructors planning on using the play with their classes will find much to like in this teaching guide. The...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 2
Continue a thoughtful analysis of Sophocles' Oedipus the King by discussing the importance of dialogue within the play's structure. Ninth graders examine how Oedipus speaks about himself to his subjects and Creon before recording their...
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of William Shakespeare's The Tempest
Imperialism, colonialism, utopianism. There are certainly a lot of "isms" reflected in The Tempest, just as there are a lot of stormy relationships. Instructors new to using the play in their classroom and those more seasoned will find...
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure
Trying to get a hold on the author's intent in Measure for Measure can be a problem—no wonder the drama is considered one of Shakespeare's "problem" plays. This guide provides instructors with information about why the play is considered...
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classics Edition of Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Double, double scholars' appreciation of the Scottish Play with a guide that adds a rich brew of pre-reading background information, chapter discussion questions, activities, and writing prompts to provide readers with a "firm and good"...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: Leadership and a Global Stage
Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is, among other things, the study of a ruler's ambitions. Young scholars watch videos, read articles, and keep a Commonplace Book while studying the play. At the end of Act III, pupils stage the play that...
Curated OER
Creating Plays from Children's Stories
Students explain how individual elements (e.g., plot, theme, character, conflict, etc.) comprise the structure of a play. They write an original one-act play with developed characters, specific setting, conflict, and resolution.
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of The Crucible by Arthur Miller
A 20-page guide is a must-have for any instructor, seasoned veteran, or first year-teacher, using Arthur Miller's The Crucible as an anchor text. The guide begins with extensive background information about Miller and the McCarthy era...
Curated OER
The Negro Speaks of Rivers Theme of Race
In this poetry analysis worksheet, students explore the theme of race in the Langston Hughes "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," as they read an excerpt about the perspectives that black people throughout history have taken with regards to...
Curated OER
The Negro Speaks of Rivers Theme of Memory and the Past
In this poetry analysis worksheet, students read a paragraph regarding Langston Hughe’s use of collective voice in the poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers Theme of Memory and the Past.” Students then answer 4 discussion questions about the...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.10
How do you assess what your pupils have learned over the course of the year? Find out how competent they are at reading and analyzing age-level literature with the ideas presented here. Included in this resource are two suggested...