This article features a brief history of American literature.

Use the text and the video "Thanatopsis" by William Cullen Bryant to identify and understand the characteristics of American Romanticism.

Educated white men weren't the only ones contributing to a truly American literature. Read about the literature written by Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Irish Americans. All added to the melting pot of...

This biography features Mark Twain as a regional realist author, world renown for his ability to portray real Americans in the late nineteenth century. Click "Mark Twain Activities" for artifacts and activities.

This article is a brief history of the Early American novel with citations.

Use the text and video excerpt of "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman to identify and understand the characteristics of American Romanticism. "Song of Myself" is a poem by Walt Whitman that is included in his work Leaves of Grass. It has...

This Washington State University site provides a wonderful source for all the literary movements that have taken place in American Literature from 1620-1920. Click on the movement (listed on the left)you are interested in (Naturalism,...

A scanned copy of the 1898 publication of True Stories of American History for Young People by Marshal Huntington Bright, a nonfiction book for children.

A scanned copy of the 1898 publication of Four-footed Americans and Their Kin by Mabel Osgood Wright, a fiction book for children.

Pair artifacts with appropriate literary texts, and find tips for using them together in the classroom by selecting a literary movement and a discipline with this handy tool.

Read about the impact of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin. Included is an engraving of her done in 1855.

This website provides a nice exhibit of history paintings from the 1700s. There are eight paintings discussed depicting various historical events including religious and mythological stories.

Detailed encyclopedia entry describing the history of literature in Alabama and how its writers have contributed to both American and world literature.

This lesson plan gives students a chance to explore the art and literature of Indians, Africans, Mayans, and Native Americans. Provides plenty of links to photo examples, and lesson extension ideas.

A brief summary of The Adventures of Huck Finn by Mark Twain. Also includes an online text of the work as well as links to other informational websites.

This Cambridge History of English and American Literature entry explains Peacock's role in the rise of gothic fiction in the early 19th century Romantic era.

Lesson explores the genre of Gothic literature. Includes discussion of Frankenstein, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allen Poe among others.

ThisNation site provides the full text of James Russell Lowell's "Abraham Lincoln". This is a printer friendly version!

Although this site is intended for teachers in class preparation, it is information packed and has thought provoking questions at the end.

This article focuses on American women in the 19th century and the movement from a domestic ideology to the emergence of feminism.

This site contains the full text of "John Donne: His Life," as it appears in "The Cambridge History of English and American Literature." Comprehensive biography of Donne.

A survey of Campion's works from the Cambridge History of English and American Literature. Includes link to an essay on his prosody.

This site provides an essay about Flannery O'Connor's works by Patrick Galloway. The essay discusses Christianity and other themes in O'Connor's works.

American writers and intellectuals played an important role in articulating the changes taking place in Industrial America in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Learn about some of the prominent writers, scientists, and philosophers at that...