Curated OER
Annotated Timeline of The American Literary Movement
Study the transformation of American literature starting from Colonial times up until the present. Each of the nine periods (Romanticism, Realism, Postmodernism, etc.) is introduced and important literary agents from that period are...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Literary Genres in “Moby-Dick”
Moby Dick is more than a whale of a tale narrated by Ishmael. A lesson studying Herman Melville's classic novel asks readers to examine the different genres the author weaves into his story. Instructors model how to conduct a stylistic...
Curated OER
Crane, London, and Literary Naturalism
Students read London's "To Build a Fire" and Crane's "The Open Boat" and compare and contrast the authors' style as they explore the genre known as American literary naturalism.
Curated OER
Integrative Lesson on Genres of American Literature (Senior, Literature)
To begin this lesson, the instructor will present a PowerPoint detailing the genres of Romanticism, Realism, and Naturalism. Learners will follow along with an instructional sheet that will aid in the identification of setting, tone,...
Education Oasis
Creative Writing Unit: Analyzing, Interpreting, Discussing and Writing Various Genres of African-American Literature
A six-week unit takes high schoolers through various works of African-American literature, including poems, plays, and short stories. The lesson plan format includes a week-by-week description of activities, goals, materials, and...
Curated OER
Annotated Timeline of The American Literary Movement
How did literature evolve in America? This presentation briefly covers the transition from Puritan American all the way until today's Contemporary Period. Key figures from each time period are introduced, and a brief overview of each...
Curated OER
Lesson 1: Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury
I love Faulkner, his experimental style and stream of consciousness are so exciting. Your learners can analyze William Faulkner and his novel, The Sound and the Fury by defining his place in American literary history and exploring his...
Curated OER
"What is an American?"
Eleventh graders ponder about what it means to be an "American." They discuss the impact of an author's word choice and sentence structure on text. They identify some major themes and development of the Letters... Compose paragraphs and...
Curated OER
The American Crisis, Number 1
Use this presentation about Thomas Paine's The American Crisis series to guide any number of assignments. The slides provide instructions for a literary terms assignment, an open response journal entry, two research writing projects, and...
Curated OER
The South, the North and the Great Migration: Blues and Literature
Here is a complex lesson plan that interweaves the history of the Jim Crow South and the Great Migration with the study of poetry, art, and blues music from the Harlem Renaissance. The plan helps young historians develop a deep...
University of Southern California
Coming to America After the War
As part of their exploration of the American dream, class members examine primary source materials to compare immigrant experiences of those arriving early in our country's history to those arriving in the US after World War II. To...
Curated OER
Analyzing the Use of Irony in a Short Story
Ninth graders examine how literature connects to real-life and see how irony aids in the development of theme. They read Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, and discuss elements of foreshadowing and situational irony. Then learners will write...
Curated OER
Kumeyaay Indians
Useful for literary analysis, citing textual evidence, or summary skills, this lesson about the Kumeyaay Indians would be a good addition to your language arts class. Middle schoolers read novels and summarize the literature in their own...
Curated OER
Text Features of Fiction, Poetry, Drama: Story Matrix
How do novels differ from plays? Explore with your class the text features of fiction and drama by reading The Hidden One: Native American Legend and then performing a reader’s theater script based on the story. Class members create a...
Curated OER
Introducing the Essay: Twain, Douglass, and American Non-Fiction
Students analyze American essayists Mark Twain and Frederick Douglass in an introduction to American literary non-fiction writing. In this essay history lesson, students identify methods for writing essays. Students read and analyze...
Japan Society
Changing Times, Changing Styles: New Japanese Literary Styles of the Late Nineteenth Century
Focusing on Doppo's "Unforgettable People" and late nineteenth century Japanese literature, this resource also leads to discussions of form being dictated by content. Explore the development of new literary styles first-hand by...
Curated OER
Presidential Biography: Bicentennial Quarter
A biography is a type of literary genre that everyone needs to be familiar with. Here, the class will read two different biographies of George Washington and discuss how they are similar and different, then decide weather they can glean...
Penguin Books
A Teacher’s Guide to the Signet Classics Edition of Mary Shelley ’s Frankenstein
Contrary to popular belief, the monster's name in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is not Frankenstein. A teacher's guide for the novel helps readers make sense of key details in the text, define vocabulary words, and discuss prominent...
Curated OER
Exploring Literary Genre Through Latin American Literature
Students explore poetry and its meaning. After reading poems, students explore the literary elements such as the setting, character, problem, events and resolution. They compare and contrast descriptions given in poems. Students...
Curated OER
Searching For The American Dream
Ninth graders explore the meaning of the American dream and how it has been explained in various forms. After reading various immigrant accounts, 9th graders use poetry and writing to explain how different cultures view the American...
Curated OER
Crane, London, and Literary Naturalism
Students identify the key characteristics that comprise American literary naturalism in Jack London's "To Build a Fire" and Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat." In this naturalism analysis lesson, students identify characteristics of the...
Curated OER
Stephen Crane: The Open Boat
Students explore the genre of American literary naturalism by reading,"The Open Boat" by Stephen Crane. They examine the relationship of man and nature through analysis of the characters, narration and descriptive vocabulary.
Curated OER
Novel Ideas: History of the American Novel
Explore the history of the American novel in the contexts of literature and US history. How does a novel or piece of writing from a particular time showcase the mood during that historical period? After conducting research and discussing...
Scripps Ranch High School
The Crucible Journal Project
While reading Arthur Miller's The Crucible, start or end each day with a journal activity. The project includes a list of prompts for each act of the play. Pupils choose a prompt every time they write and connect their own experiences to...