Allegories are similar to metaphors: in both the author uses one subject to represent another, seemingly unrelated, subject. However, unlike metaphors, which are generally short and contained within a few lines, an allegory extends its representation over the course of an entire story, novel, or poem. This lesson plan will introduce students to the concept of allegory by using George Orwell’s widely read novella, Animal Farm, which is available on Project Gutenberg.

Explore the patterns of religion in the U.S. and world beyond the Puritan foundations found in The Scarlet Letter.

In this lesson, students will watch a 25-minute video, Aretha Franklin ABC News Close Up (1968), as a pre-lesson activity. In class, students examine a timeline of landmark events that occurred during the women's movement from 1961 to 1971. While watching multiple live performances of Aretha Franklin, including "Dr. Feelgood," "Do Right Woman," "Respect," "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," and "Chain of Fools," students will seek to identify Gospel influences and investigate whether issues related to women's rights are reflected in the songs as well. The extension activity includes an insightful personal narrative that provides an account of sexism that existed during the Civil Rights era.

Like many 19th century photographers, Mark Twain struggled with how best to portray fictionalized characters while creating social commentary. In this lesson, students will compare and contrast Twain's novel and excerpts from Frederick Douglass' narrative to original photos of 19th century slaves. After writing journal entries about Huck Finn's Jim and Frederick Douglass, students write an essay evaluating the reliable depiction of slavery.

Students will explore the connotations of the colors associated with the characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby." They will discuss the meaning of connotation and how word meanings can change. Next they will work in groups to explore the cultural connotations of a particular color, present findings to the class, keep a color log as they read the novel, and write an analysis of a major character.

Students will study poems about death, including A.E. Houseman's "To an Athlete Dying Young" and Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night." Students will be able to read, analyze and interpret the poems from both the thematic level of death and the detailed level of poetic form. This lesson also includes a guided analysis of a Shakespearean sonnet.

We are naturally curious about the lives (and deaths) of authors, especially those, such as Edgar Allan Poe and Ambrose Bierce, who have left us with so many intriguing mysteries. But does biographical knowledge add to our understanding of their works? And if so, how do we distinguish between the accurate detail and the rumor; between truth and exaggeration? In this lesson, students become literary sleuths, attempting to separate biographical reality from myth. They also become careful critics, taking a stand on whether extra-literary materials such as biographies and letters should influence the way readers understand a writer's texts.

Students will explore the question "What is an American" through both historical and modern lenses, discussing how the concept of American identity and the American Dream has evolved over time. Through a power point presentation, class discussion, reading historical and modern interpretations, and completing an art project, students will gain an understanding of the emergence of an American identity.

Students develop a working definition of transcendentalism by answering and discussing a series a questions about their own individualism and relationship to nature. Over the next few sessions, students read and discuss excerpts from Emerson’s “Nature” and “Self-Reliance” and Thoreau’s Walden. They use a graphic organizer to summarize the characteristics of transcendental thought as they read. Students then examine modern comic strips and songs to find evidence of transcendental thought. They gather additional examples on their own to share with the class. Finally, students complete the chart showing specific examples of transcendental thought from a variety of multimodal genres.

Explore banned books, population density, religion, and global literacy related to Fahrenheit 451by Ray Bradbury.

William Faulkner's self-proclaimed masterpiece, As I Lay Dying, originally published in 1930, is a fascinating exploration of the many voices found in a Southern family and community. The following curriculum unit examines the novel's use of multiple voices in its narrative.

This lesson examines Jay Gatsby from a different perspective than students are probably used to - as opposed to the loving protagonist, they will view him as the law-breaking criminal he is. Students learn about the prohibition-era setting of the novel and read several op-ed pieces related to the text.

This is a minilesson regarding the origin stories of the Indigenous Peoples' of North America.

In this lesson plan, students will be introduced to literary theory--Feminist, Marxist, Psychological, and Mythological--and how to apply them to works they've read.

In this lesson, mature students are introduced to The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Students view a powerpoint presentation with background information about the book before beginning the reading. This lesson also has helpful notes for the teacher about addressing the mature themes of the novel before beginning to read.

In this lesson, students analyze Jacob Lawrence'sThe Migration of the Negro Panel no. 57(1940-41), Helene Johnson's Harlem Renaissance poem"Sonnet to a Negro in Harlem"(1927), and Paul Laurence Dunbar's late-nineteenth-century poem"We Wear the Mask"(1896), considering how each work represents the life and changing roles of African Americans from the late nineteenth century to the Harlem Renaissance and The Great Migration.

In this three-part lesson on the inner chapters of "The Grapes of Wrath" students will first determine the function of Steinbeck's opening chapter then explore the relationship between the inner chapters and the Joad narrative chapters throughout the novel. Students will view two documentaries along the way as well as read two relevant articles in order to draw their own conclusions about the purpose of this novel's inner chapters.

In this lesson, students are introduced to the book On The Road by Jack Kerouac. This page has information for teachers to help them decide what to focus on in the book, along with an introductory powerpoint and a test.

This literacy assessment includes two text excerpts and 13 text-dependent questions and explanatory information for teachers regarding alignment to the CCSS.