In this lesson, students write reviews for popular retail website Amazon.com in order to develop their reading, critical thinking, and persuasive writing skills. Students will employ the writing process after reading Charlotte Perkins Gilman's, "The Yellow Wallpaper," to create their own published reviews of the story.

Learn about the Battle of Chancellorsville and how it is connected to Stephen Crane’s novel.

In this lesson, students will discuss what myths are, identify how modern-day writers reinterpret myths to reflect contemporary themes and points of view, and rewrite a myth in a modern version from the point of view of another character in the story.

In this lesson, students read an excerpt from "A Raisin in the Sun" and a 2013 news article on the persistence of the problem of housing discrimination. Graphic organizers are provided for students to use as they read and discuss the two texts.

"The Scarlet Letter" is full of famous passages that probe themes like sin, redemption, guilt, revenge, and hypocrisy as they relate to female sexuality. At the same time, our modern-day news is full of stories that highlight the sexual double-standard that exists in our society between men and women. The extent to which this double-standard exists is the focus of this lesson, which uses an excerpt from Hawthorn's classic and an op-ed about once-convicted murderess Amanda Knox.

Discover how travel and life experiences influenced Mark Twain’s body of work.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice.” – Mark Twain

This lesson allows students to see and experience how a story can drastically change when told from the perspective of a character whose voice was not heard in the story's original form. After reading and discussing a New York Times review of the latest Tarzan film, students will select a favorite children's story and rewrite it from another character's point of view, focusing on the character's view of the elements of the plot, other characters, and himself or herself.

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In this lesson, students explore the historical context of Walt Whitman's concept of "democratic poetry" by reading his poetry and prose and by examining daguerreotypes taken circa 1850. Next, students will compare the poetic concepts and techniques behind Whitman's "I Hear America Singing" and Langston Hughes' "Let America Be America Again," and have an opportunity to apply similar concepts and techniques in creating a poem from their own experience.

Walt Whitman tried to capture the exuberance of the American spirit in his poem I Hear America Singing.  His words create an image of a working class who happily goes about its day developing a young America.  Other poets have captured their feelings as well, such as Langston Hughes in his poem I, Too Sing America.  Using the rich website Poets.org, students can explore and analyze a wealth of poetic voices that document America and ultimately create their own poem contributing to the voices that have described their America. This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.

This lesson pairs Ernest Hemingway's "Cat in the Rain" with Raymond Carver's "Little Things" to guide students to an understanding of the characteristics of minimalist fiction. When asked to think about the reasons behind the popularity of minimalism, students begin to appreciate how literature develops and learn to see it as a reflection of the culture. Afterwards, students are tasked with comparing both works using a Venn diagram. Next, students read additional Carver stories to develop a list of characteristics for minimalist writing. Finally, students explore the roots of minimalism and write using characteristics of the style.

This lesson examines Charlotte Perkin Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaer" through critcal reading and analysis of the short story. Students will also use text-dependent questions to write a reflective, thematic essay.