Curated OER
To Walt Whitman
Students examine the poem To Walt Whitman by Angela de Hoyos. They divide into groups. Each group creates a poem written from one of two perspectives: to Walt Whitman or to de Hoyos from Whitman.
Curated OER
The Great Gatsby
Eleventh graders investigate the concept of the American Dream. They use the novel "The Great Gatsby" as an example from literature. Students brainstorm in order to define the American Dream.
Curated OER
Islamic Art
Young scholars examine the various forms of Islamic Art. Using the art, they identify the basic elements and research its history and style of calligraphy. They create a piece of art based on information they collected and demonstrate...
Curated OER
Writing Process
Students read Macbeth and work in groups to organize and create an outline for a persuasive essay. In this persuasive essay lesson, students work in tiered learning groups to organize their thoughts for a persuasive thesis about the...
Curated OER
Who's Sharing Our Stories on "The Hill"?
Learners explore parliamentary structure. They study the roles & responsibility of key players or representatives. This lesson presents a wide variety of rich activities students can engage in to further their understanding of...
Curated OER
Black Bayou Lake Short Story
Tenth graders use Microsoft Word to create an original short story. The setting must be Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge. The characters must be animals found at Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge. The story must contain...
Curated OER
In Africa, in Slavery, in Afro-American Cleveland
Pupils examine several pieces of nonfiction relating to African religion, slave religion and present-day evangelical denominations. They work in groups of six or seven to prepare a presentation on one of the following: a)...
Curated OER
The Thrill of Big-Wave Surfing
Students view a PBS Nature program about big-wave surfing and participate in a class discussion about their experiences with surfing, body boarding, or body surfing. Students create a drawing based on a reading and post their art around...
University of Pennsylvania
"Black Boys and Native Sons" Literary Criticism
This critical essay first appeared in DISSENT in 1963. It looks at the work of Richard Wright, James Baldwin, and Ralph Ellison.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: How to Read and Analyze an Essay (English Iii Reading)
[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] In this lesson's activities, you will determine the purpose of description, narration, and exposition essays, analyze their literary devices, and examine text features. You...
Lumen Learning
Lumen: American Literature: Reader Response Criticism
This lesson focuses on reader-response literary criticism including the purpose of reader response, the structure of a reader-response essay, how to criticize with examples, and an example of a reader-response essay using "The Secret...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Literary Visions
Twenty-six half hour videos on literary analysis for high school students that feature authors, scholars, actors and noted critics. Topics include The Art of the Essay, Setting and Character in Short Fiction, Responding to Literature and...
University of Illinois
University of Illinois: Modern American Poetry:gwendolyn Bennett
This page offers a biography of Gwendolyn Bennet, as well as critical essays on some poems. Includes a picture.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Analyze Literary Essays' Inclusion of Personal Opinions and Facts
In this lesson, you will learn how to identify and discuss the use of facts, personal examples, and ideas and how they are woven into a literary essay.
Luminarium
Luminarium: Passion vs. Rationalism in "Paradise Lost"
Critical essay examining Milton's views on emotion and intellect. Features short excerpts and comparisons to Pope and Voltaire.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Introducing the Essay: Twain, Douglass and American Non Fiction
This lesson plan serves as an introduction to American literary non-fiction writing and focuses primarily on teaching some basic approaches to recognizing rhetorical strategies adopted for persuasive effect in essays and non-fiction. The...
Pennsylvania State University
Alexander Pope's "Essay on Criticism" [Pdf]
Pope's entire "Essay on Criticism" is available at this site in .pdf format.
Virginia Tech
Some Observations About Hawthorne's Women
A somewhat Freudian look at Hawthorne's characters, this critical essay includes source references.
Absolute Shakespeare
Absolute Shakespeare: "Julius Caesar" Character Analysis
William Hazlitt's critical essay on the characters in "Julius Caesar" is presented here, including lengthy quotations from the text of the play.
Lumen Learning
Lumen: Introduction to Writing About Literature
This is an introduction to writing about literature; it includes a list of learning objectives for writing about literature including finding and using historical sources to discuss the historical context, finding and using literary...
Other
Emily Dickinson: Early Feminist Essays (Pub. 1886 1915)
This is an eclectic mix of Dickinson's letters, some early essays about her writing, and remembrances of her by friends and family. The texts of 32 of her poems are annotated with references to other Dickinson writings. The entire site...
Other
Essays and Reviews: Mourning for Hokujurosen: Poem by Yosa Buson
This poem is followed by a brief commentary. The writer explains images in the poem, and some of Buson's philosophical beliefs which affected the poem.
Rutgers University
Rutgers University: Glossary of Literary and Rhetorical Terms: Heroic Couplets
A short definition of the term Heroic Couplet along with a short example from a piece of poetry from Pope's Essay on Criticism.
University of Illinois
University of Illinois: Modern American Poetry: Emily Dickinson (1830 1886)
A collection of critical reviews of 16 of Emily Dickinson's poems. Most poems are analyzed by multiple critics. In addition, there are two biographical sketches, and essays examining her use of the dash and her lack of titles.