Resources for Literature and Composition: English 2.
E2-Resources / E4-Resources / Poetry
by EILeditor · Published November 27, 2023 · Last modified November 20, 2023
In this lovely poem by English poet Anna Laetitia Barbauld, an expectant mother speaks to her unborn baby, that “little invisible being” soon expected. To a Little Invisible Being Who is Expected Soon to Become...
E2-Resources / E4-Resources / Poetry
by EILeditor · Published November 20, 2023 · Last modified November 27, 2023
Poem by Mrs. Anna Letitia Barbauld, 1743-1825. London: Printed for J. Johnson, No. 72, St. Paul’s Church-Yard, 1791. Epistle To William Wilberforce, Esq. on the Rejection of the Bill for Abolishing the Slave Trade...
E2-Resources / E4-Resources / Poetry
by EILeditor · Published November 13, 2023 · Last modified November 27, 2023
In this imaginative farewell poem from Roman poet Ovid to his wife, English poet Anna Laetitia Barbauld writes of aging. OVID to his WIFE: Imitated from different Parts of his Tristia. Jam mea cygneas...
Biography / E2-Resources / E4-Resources / Excellence in Literature: The Curriculum
by EILeditor · Published October 9, 2023 · Last modified November 20, 2023
Best known by his pseudonym Lewis Carroll, the author and mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodson (1832–1898), was born at Daresbury, near Warrington, in England on the 27th of January 1832. He was the eldest son...
Biography / E2-Resources / E3-Resources / Excellence in Literature: The Curriculum
by EILeditor · Published October 6, 2023 · Last modified November 20, 2023
Biography of Amy Lowell BY RACHEL JIRKA Amy Lowell was born on February 9, 1874, to a wealthy and influential family in Brookline, Massachusetts. She was the youngest of five children born to Augustus...
by Janice Campbell · Published February 10, 2021 · Last modified February 8, 2021
The Ballad of Reading Gaol (gaol is the British spelling of jail) narrates the story of an execution that occurred while Oscar Wilde was imprisoned in the late 1890s. It does not attempt to...
by Janice Campbell · Published February 9, 2021 · Last modified February 6, 2021
Robert Burns (1759 – 1796), a Scottish poet and lyricist is not only the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, but he has long been considered the national...
by Janice Campbell · Published February 8, 2021 · Last modified February 6, 2021
Much of Sir Walter Scott’s poetry reflects the stories and themes of courage, justice, and romance found in his novels. Here are three of his shorter poems, “Lochinvar,” “Breathes There the Man,” and “Old...
Henry David Thoreau was a passionate abolitionist, and in this heartfelt speech he encourages his state to “dissolve her union with the slaveholder . . . and each inhabitant of the State dissolve his union...
In her 1908 work, A Collection of Stories, Reviews and Essays, author Willa Cather (1873 – 1947) offers young writers some sage advice. On the Art of Fiction One is sometimes asked about the “obstacles”...
Alexandre Dumas, also known as Alexandre Dumas père, was a French author and playwright, best known for his historical adventure fiction. As one of France’s most widely read authors, his works have been translated into dozens...
“A Poison Tree,” which explores the dangers of anger and revenge, was first published in Blake’s Songs of Experience in 1794. It has been set to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams in his Ten Blake...
Learn more about the life, character, and career of the 17th-century British author of Robinson Crusoe and other works in this Daniel Defoe biography.
Audio / Video / Biography / Classics-Based Writing Resource / E1-Resources / E2-Resources / E4-Resources
by EILeditor · Published October 24, 2015 · Last modified November 18, 2023
Why do William Shakespeare’s plays still touch us today? This Renaissance playwright, poet, and actor had a unique way with words and a timeless grasp of human nature. His works are considered to be...
This Joseph Conrad biography comes from the Yale Modernism Lab, where you’ll find a wealth of resources about modernist writers in the years 1914-1926. You can view their original works and find out how...
Audio / Video / Biography / E2-Resources
by EILeditor · Published October 20, 2014 · Last modified November 18, 2023
This biography of T.S. Eliot comes from the Yale Modernism Lab, where you’ll find a wealth of resources about modernist writers in the years 1914-1926. You can view their original works and find out...
Biography of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) by Dr. Ann Woodlief Ralph Waldo Emerson is truly the center of the American transcendental movement, setting out most of its ideas and values in a little book, Nature,...
British writer and scholar C.S Lewis (1898–1963) is the author of the Chronicles of Narnia, Till We Have Faces, Mere Christianity, and many scholarly works.
by EILeditor · Published September 28, 2014 · Last modified August 29, 2020
Henry David Thoreau Biography by Dr. Ann Woodlief Henry David Thoreau was a complex man of many talents who worked hard to shape his craft and his life, seeing little difference between them. Born...
Classics-Based Writing Resource / E2-Resources / Short Stories
by EILeditor · Published September 10, 2014 · Last modified December 13, 2020
Bulfinch and Mythology Thomas Bulfinch was an American writer born on July 15, 1796 in Newton, Massachusetts. Bulfinch belonged to a well-educated merchant family, and he himself had an extensive classical education at such...
by EILeditor · Published April 8, 2014 · Last modified December 12, 2020
Shakespeare was, of course, a master of the written word.It’s precisely because of this, though, that people forget that much of his work was originally meant to be performed, not merely read. Sometimes it...
by EILeditor · Published April 8, 2014 · Last modified December 13, 2020
Among the composers mentioned in Willa Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop are Giuseppe Verdi, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Stephen Foster. Here are a few works of theirs to enjoy; your library may have other...
by Janice Campbell · Published April 7, 2014 · Last modified December 12, 2020
Heart of Darkness Opera Composer Tarik O’Regan has written a chamber opera based on Joseph Conrad’s novella, Heart of Darkness. Here is a video interview in which the composer discusses the process of creating...
Biography / E2-Resources / Poetry
by EILeditor · Published March 24, 2014 · Last modified August 28, 2020
Edward Lear Resources John Cousin tells us that Edward Lear (1812-1888) was an “artist and miscellaneous author [who was born] in London and settled in Rome as a landscape painter. He was an indefatigable...
One of the first poems I recite when trying to soothe a fussy infant is “The Owl and the Pussy-Cat,” a poem I memorized through endless readings when I was a child. Its rollicking...
John Dryden Biography Family and education Early adult life Prolific playwright Poet Laureate Poetry and politics Religious matters Reversal of fortunes Life overview Sources Family and education Poet, dramatist, and satirist John...
E2-Resources / Resources for Teaching
by EILeditor · Published December 4, 2013 · Last modified November 14, 2023
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was an immensely gifted writer who produced a large variety of work ranging from humorous to tragic. He had the capacity to be ridiculous (The Importance of Being Earnest) as well...
Enjoy these images of the Walden Pond that inspired Thoreau.
THE JUMBLIES by Edward Lear I. They went to sea in a Sieve, they did, In a Sieve they went to sea: In spite of all their friends could say, On a winter’s morn,...
The Walrus and the Carpenter by Lewis Carroll “The sun was shining on the sea, Shining with all his might: He did his very best to make The billows smooth and bright— And this...
Here’s the Everyday Educator — our annual newsletter handout. It has book lists and helpful articles about homeschooling topics. We’d rather be sharing it in person, but for now, you can download the Everyday Educator here. I hope you enjoy it!
Resources
