Lesson Plans on the Intersection of History and Literature

What we see or read is only part of something. Behind the words, story, book, or presentation is a period of history, a culture, and a person who created that work. As students read mandated curriculum they gain knowledge not only from the work itself, but about the era and person that created it. This kind of multi-curricular experience broadens minds and develops higher-level thinking skills. If Sandra Cisneros was brought up during the 1700's in a wealthy British family, how could a character like Esperanza from "The House on Mango Street" ever have made the page? An author's background, culture and environment definitely has an effect on a work. Because Cisneros grew up in a rough neighborhood in Chicago, as a Mexican-American immigrant, her characters allow readers to vicariously participate in that particular experience, and from that particular perspective. She also simultaneously involves readers in the universal human experience by delving into issues that effect everyone, regardless of their culture, race, class or geographic location. This is something that great works, such as this one, provide.

Sometimes literature from a particular time period may seem difficult for students to digest because of unfamiliar word choice, a different language style, or archaic modes of behavior that aren't relevant today. It's important to assess where students are at in terms of what they already know. We call it "activating prior knowledge". What is their background knowledge? If they don't know what a soliloquy is, go over that unfamiliar vocabulary first before delving into the story. Vocabulary has a way of provoking further discussion about eras, styles, cultures and behaviors. Going over unfamiliar vocabulary opens up discussions that lead to further discussions, so don't be afraid to go over it. Depending on your students' background knowledge (remember: it's key to access this first), you might also show clips from movies that represent specific time periods (clips-not entire features), or, find out what they are studying in social studies and history to make a connection with certain literature. One of the nice things about great literature is that it usually always have some kind of universal theme or themes that can easily tie into other subjects that students are learning.

When students work collaboratively they are enhancing interpersonal skills, and learning from each other. As groups are assigned, I think it's important that teachers assign specific roles to each member of the group, so that the work is distributed evenly, and every student gets to make a contribution.

The list of lessons below can help students learn about history, and the personalities behind the classics in literature, as students research and investigate time periods and real life situations that contributed to these stories. While students get the back story of the story, they also develop their own writing abilities and make connections between historical information, vocabulary, and organizational structure.

Authors, Eras and Story Lesson Plans:

Get Behind the Mind of the Author

In this lesson students analyze poetry written by Yeats. As students get into their groups of four or five, they read a poem by Yeats and they list emotions and images that come to mind after reading the poem. They then create posters that represent Yeats as an author. I like that this lesson delves into this literary era, and that students work together to examine poetry. I might also include looking at modern day song lyrics and modern day artists. Students would then compare and contrast Yeats' poetry to contemporary lyrics to see if there are any similarities, and then they could formulate an essay about their findings.

Time Periods and Tales

After reading the article "Frankenstein Meet Your Forefathers" students will get into pairs and will be given a slip of paper that lists a famous literary work such as "The Crucible", "Romeo & Juliet" and "The Scarlet Letter". In pairs students will research the historical time period, and real life circumstances, that lead to the creation of these works and design a poster that reflects the book's era. I think students should work in pairs, but each pair should work on different aspects of the same novel. The history behind each of these stories is so vast, that there is plenty of information to go around.

Write About Your Favorite Author

In this lesson students fill out a worksheet about a favorite author. They are put into groups and asked to write a collaborative piece about that author. Focusing on revision, student groups come up with a biographical essay that they share with the class. This lesson provides a good model for group collaboration. When conducting this lesson, I would model the construction of a group essay prior to having students work on their own, and would leave this model on the board, overhead or LMO, for students to refer to during the lesson.

Eras and English

Several literary eras such as the Anglo-Saxon Era, the Elizabethan Era, and the Commonwealth era are researched, as students get into groups representative of each era. Student groups then create Power Point presentations that showcase their research and present this information to the entire class. This lesson combines technology and literature. When students get into their groups, I think it's important to assign each member of the group a specific role and/or task. By assigning specific roles and tasks to each member of the various groups, all students are given equal responsibility and no one is left behind.