Curated OER
The Memory Play in American Drama
Students take a closer look at a memory play. In this American drama lesson, students read Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie and analyze it as a memory play. Students discuss the linear and non-linear aspects of the play prior to...
Curated OER
Mutability Questions
In this poetry analysis instructional activity, students read the poem "Mutability," by William Wordsworth and then respond to 6 discussion questions. The questions require students to consider the role of religion and the impact of...
Curated OER
Thornton Wilder's Our Town: The Reader as Writer
Pupils read a play and create their own play using Thornton Wilder's Our Townas a resource. In this play lesson, students analyze how theatrical elements contribute to a play's meanings and effects. Pupils recognize differences between...
Curated OER
Jabberwocky Questions
In this poetry analysis worksheet, students answer 5 short answer and essay questions based on the content and literary elements of Lewis Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky." Questions require students to compare good and evil forces in the...
Curated OER
Touchstone Vs. Jaques: a Analyzing Mood in As You Like It
Students recognize ways Shakespeare creates and uses mood augment their analysis of the text and help them in making performance choices. They, in groups, select words, phrases, lines, that reveal their character's mood.
Curated OER
Mark Twain and the American West
Students analyze Mark Twain's "Western" voice. In this literature instructional activity, students read Roughing It by Twain and watch "The West." Students examine Twain's history and compare it to the history of America's developing...
Curated OER
A Quiz on William Golding's LOTF: Fun Trivia Quiz
Check pupils' understanding of William Golding's modern classic novel Lord of the Flies with this 10 question quiz that covers elements of the story's plot, character recognition, and some literary analysis. As with all Fun Trivia...
National Endowment for the Humanities
A Raisin in the Sun: Whose "American Dream"?
How does Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun factor into a discussion of the American dream? High schoolers define the American dream and recognize the historical setting of the play. Additionally, they identify forms of...
Curated OER
Fossil Fuels (Part III), The Geology of Coal
Do not overlook this set of lessons just because your school does not have a data analysis system. There is plenty of material here to administer a complete mini unit on the formation, distribution, and properties of coal. Since it...
C.S. Lewis Foundation
Study Guide to Surprised by Joy
This resource makes accessible the text that portrays the occurrences leading to C.S. Lewis’s finding of God. It encourages the reader to personally reflect upon, and examine Surprised by Joy. The document is divided into two sets where...
Curated OER
Define My Own Destiny: Using Arrested Development and Lauryn Hill to Teach Hansberry's Raisin in the Sun
Literary themes don't just belong to literature. High schoolers listen to the lyrics of modern songs by Arrested Development, Lauryn Hill, and others to enhance their study and to connect to characters, conflicts, and themes of Lorraine...
Curated OER
Shakespeare's Sonnets by William Shakespeare
In this online interactive reading comprehension activity, students respond to 8 short answer and essay choice questions based on various Shakespearean sonnets. Students may also access an online quiz on the sonnets using the link at the...
Curated OER
Lesson 22: As constant as the Northern Star: Examining Static and Dynamic Characters in Julius Caesar
Students examine the play Julius Caesar. In this literature analysis lesson plan, students work in groups to identify changes in various characters from the story. They examine various aspects of the character's personality and...
Curated OER
Illuminating Language in Love's Labor's Lost
High schoolers reflect on literature using multiple intelligences. In this literature analysis lesson, students make creative visual representations of vocabulary terms from a speech in the play. They work in small groups to analyze...
Curated OER
"What are these...?"
High schoolers discuss the "witches" of Shakespeare. In this literature analysis lesson plan, students research the influence of Macbeth's sisters on his behavior. They examine various terms used to describe the sisters, and discuss...
Curated OER
Sophocles' Oedipus the King
Introduce your class to the Greek tragedy with a study of Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. Learners examine the features of a Greek tragedy, Sophocles’ achievements and contributions, and the universal themes that make the drama an enduring...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.9
As the saying goes: there are no new stories. Standard 9 for reading literature in the Common Core addresses this fact and requires that students be able to analyze how authors use the themes, stories, and characters of earlier works....
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Music of African American History
High schoolers examine role spirituals have played in African American history and religion, examine Harriet Tubman's use of spirituals in her work, explore power of spirituals in Civil Rights Movement, and work with oral tradition,...
Speak Truth to Power
Jamie Nabozny: Bullying: Language, Literature and Life
Class members identify bullying in contemporary texts and role play how they might change those scenes to examples of anti-bullying. They then re-define their initial definitions of bullying and discuss what they would like to see as...
Curated OER
Othello's Father of the Bride
High schoolers read and analyze Act one of the play Othello. They examine the themes of love and marriage and interpret Brabantio's words by using different subtexts.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Shakespeare's Macbeth: Fear and the Motives of Evil
Learners use an online search engine (or a printed concordance) to locate passages that highlight Macbeth's response to fear and his descent into evil. They analyze the motives of Macbeth's increasingly desperate and evil actions.
Curated OER
The Grapes of Wrath: Scrapbooks and Artifacts
Students complete research to enhance their reading of "The Grapes of Wrath". Using the text, they identify and locate cultural artifacts and discuss their symbolic connotations. As a class, they create a museum exhibit of the various...
Curated OER
Play Ball!
Students pretend as if they have been hired by the commissioner of Major League Baseball. Their task is to explain the mathematics of baseball so that more people enjoy the game.
Arts Midwest
The Joy Luck Club: Culture and History
Explore San Francisco's Chinatown in a lesson about the first few chapters of The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. Kids research Chinatown on the Internet and create a virtual tour of the neighborhood, including the foods, cultural events, and...