Spark Notes
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville: Study Guide - Mini Essays
In this online interactive literature learning exercise, students respond to 7 short answer and essay questions about Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Students may check some of their answers online.
Spark Notes
Typee by Herman Melville: Study Guide - Mini Essays
In this online interactive literature activity, students respond to 9 short answer and essay questions about Herman Melville's Typee. Students may check some of their answers online.
Curated OER
Mastering the Mighty Melville
“Bartleby the Scrivner” as an existential forerunner to The Office? Dense and often dark, Herman Melville’s stories abound with Biblical allusions and complex symbols. If you are considering using Melville’s novels or short stories with...
Curated OER
Literature Study Guide - Moby Dick
Complete with a reading schedule, literature question page, and supplementary list of literary activities, this book report form on Moby Dick would be an good resource for your junior high or high school class. The guide includes...
Curated OER
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
In this online interactive reading comprehension activity, students respond to 12 multiple choice questions about Melville's Moby-Dick. Students may submit their answers to be scored.
Curated OER
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
In this literature worksheet, students respond to 10 short answer and essay questions about Moby-Dick. Students may also link to an online interactive quiz on the novel at the bottom of the page.
Annenberg Foundation
Gothic Undercurrents
Terror, mystery, excitement. American writers of the 19th century, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Emily Dickinson, used these elements to create morally ambiguous tales that challenged the prevailing belief in...
Curated OER
Typee Quiz
In this online interactive reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 25 multiple choice questions about Herman Melville's Typee. Students may submit their answers to be scored.
Curated OER
Billy Budd, Sailor Quiz
In this online interactive reading comprehension instructional activity, students respond to 25 multiple choice questions about Herman Melville's Billy Budd, Sailor. Students may submit their answers to be scored.
Library of Congress
Moby Dick
Few first lines of literature are as well-known as the first line from Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Readers discover the classic text that contains these lines using a digital eBook. The online version contains page-by-page navigation...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Narrative Voice in Moby Dick
Call him a reliable narrator! Ishmael is the focus of a lesson that asks readers to analyze the complex character of Herman Melville's narrator as he is introduced in the first chapter of Moby Dick.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Dramatic Perspective in Moby Dick
A lesson on Herman Melville's Moby Dick asks readers to compare the first person point of view of Ishmael in Chapter 1 to Captain Ahab's dramatic monologue in Chapter 37. Readers cite evidence from the chapters to support their analysis...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Literary Genres in “Moby-Dick”
Moby Dick is more than a whale of a tale narrated by Ishmael. A activity 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
Exploring Animals in Literature
Celebrate Be Kind to Animals Week while teaching empathy and allegory with creature-related texts
Curated OER
From Fact To Fiction: Moby Dick
Students examine what makes a tragic hero and whether Captain Ahab fits the criteria. In this literature lesson, engage in group discussions and examine Captain Ahab from the novel Moby Dick. They will then engage in a debate and...
Curated OER
American Literature Authors and Their Works
Learners match American Literature authors with their short stories, poems, and books. In this American Literature lesson, students are given an overview of the authors and their main works. Then learners independently do a matching...
Curated OER
Literature of the Islands and the Sea
Students read an age-appropriate novel in which an island setting plays an important role from a provided list. This will help them understand life on an island. They will analyze the plot, theme, characterization, setting, and style...
Curated OER
Hawthorne: Author and Narrator
High schoolers read various pieces of literature by Nathaniel Hawthorne to recognize the difference between a narrator and author. Students in small groups report on the narrative point of view represented in a story they have read.
Curated OER
Anonymous Patriots: Songs of the Revolution
Give your class a deeper understanding of the context and meaning behind early American song lyrics. By reading the lyrics to "Yankee Doodle" and "Revolutionary Tea," high schoolers will practice analysis by examining the structure and...
What So Proudly We Hail
The Meaning of America: Self-Command
Even for one of the most accomplished men in American history, there was room for improvement. Challenge high schoolers to use Benjamin Franklin's Project for Moral Perfection to analyze text, make inferences, connect to historical...
What So Proudly We Hail
The Meaning of America: Enterprise and Commerce
Using Mark Twain's The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg, invite your learners to consider the concept of virtue in a democratic society devoted to gain and self-interest. This stellar resource guides your class members through a close...
What So Proudly We Hail
The Meaning of America: Freedom and Individuality
What are the strengths and weaknesses of American individualism and independence? Explore these principles through a close reading of Jack London's To Build a Fire, and engage in high-level discussion with your class by analyzing the...
ELA Common Core Lesson Plans
American Romanticism
Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter" provides the text for an activity that asks readers to select specific passages from the story, identify the aspect of American Romanticism the passage exemplifies, and then provide an...
What So Proudly We Hail
The Meaning of America: Equality
What if society sought equality by handicapping the gifted and dispelling any traces of diversity? Kurt Vonnegut Jr. offers one possible answer to this question through his incredibly engaging and thought-provoking satirical...