This Random House for High School Teachers reader's guide includes an introduction, discussion questions, and author biography designed to enhance student reading of Karen Russell’s book of short stories, Vampires in the Lemon Grove.

Explore the geographic context and spatial extent of the witch trials in the American colonies. Play: The Crucible by Arthur Miller

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.

This Random House for High School Teachers reader's guide includes questions designed to enhance discussion of Alice Walker's collection of short stories based on her own life, The Way Forward is With a Broken Heart.

In the TED Ed lesson focused on poetry, students will identify three recognizable characteristics of poetry: musical language; condensed language, and intense emotions. The video also pulls in song lyrics and how modern poetry is often discovered in rap. Discussion questions and additional resources are available in the sidebar.

These activities engage students in deep discussions and thinking about the concept of evil. Students explore the idea of evil in the works of Poe and then apply it to the world around them. 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.

Students will learn about characters and their traits. Using graphic organizers and video clips, students will be able to determine character traits and the main idea of a text.

Shakespeare sometimes gets a bad rap in high schools for his complex plots and antiquated language. But a quick peek into the rhythm of his words reveals a poet deeply rooted in the way people spoke in his time and still speak today.

Published in 1929, The Sound and the Fury is often referred to as William Faulkner's first work of genius. Faulkner's style is characterized by frequent time shifts, narrator shifts, unconventional punctuation and sentence structure, as well as a stream-of-consciousness technique that reveals the inner thoughts of characters to the reader. This curriculum unit will examine narrative structure and time, narrative voice/point of view, and symbolism throughout The Sound and the Fury.

This Random House for High School Teachers reader's guide includes an introduction, discussion questions, and author biography designed to enhance student reading of author John Pipkin's brilliant and illuminating novel, Woodsburner.

In this lesson, students will pair reading and discussion of Tim O'Brien's story "The Things they Carried" with a letter-writing activity intended to help students analyze text to identify figurative and connotative meaning as well as ultimately organize and create their own piece of prose.

This lesson plan gives students a step by step process to write a mystery story. Students first read and analyze the characteristics of a mystery, then take a try at writing their own.

This resource contains a set of discussion questions for Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, relating to structural choices, character influences, and reader interpretations.

Explore the demographic and social context of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

In this 1-3 day lesson with 5 activities, students will develop the ability to make evidence-based claims, working individually and in pairs.