Helen Hunt Jackson Biography
Helen Maria Hunt Jackson (1831-1885) was an American poet and novelist and advocate for improved treatment of Native Americans by the United States government. She is best known for Ramona, a novel about the plight...
Tagged: american lit
September Poems
One of my favorite September poems is a story by Quaker poet, John Greenleaf Whittier. Barbara Frietchie by John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892) Up from the meadows rich with corn, Clear in the cool September...
William Cullen Bryant Biography
WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT (1794-1878), American poet and journalist, was born at Cummington, a farming village in the Hampshire hills of western Massachusetts, on the 3rd of November 1794. He was the second son of...
Herman Melville Biography
In this brief Herman Melville Biography, you will learn about his first job at the age of 12 and how his sea adventures were transformed into literature.
Henry James Biography
American author Henry James, a transitional figure between literary realism and modernism, is often numbered among the great English-language novelists.
Washington Irving: A Biography
American writer Washington Irving, best known for “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” was an essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat.
![Major Andres Tree by Arthur Rackham (1867-1939) (from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) (New York Public Library Digital Collections) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://i0.wp.com/www.excellence-in-literature.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Major_Andres_Tree_Rackham-sm-1.jpg?fit=256%2C331&ssl=1)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow A short story by Washington Irving Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is the story of the ill-fated 1790 courtship of Katrina Van Tassel, daughter of a wealthy...
Anne Bradstreet Biography
Anne Bradstreet was the first American Puritan writer; the first writer published in America; the first female poet published in both England and America.
A Resign by Bill Nye
This tongue-in-cheek letter of resignation was written by humorist Edgar Wilson “Bill” Nye, and appeared in Bill Nye’s Red Book in 1906. A RESIGN. |Postoffice Divan, Laramie City, W. T., Oct. 1, 1883. To the...
Edgar Lee Masters Biography
What did contemporary scholars think of Edgar Lee Masters (1868-1950) during his lifetime? Here’s an interesting biography and analysis published in 1918, written by popular Yale professor William Lyon Phelps. Edgar Lee Masters was...
The Village Blacksmith by Longfellow
THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Under a spreading chestnut-tree The village smithy stands; The smith, a mighty man is he, With large and sinewy hands; And the muscles of his brawny arms...
Nathaniel Hawthorne Biography
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) was an American author, best known for The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables. Hawthorne resources for EIL 3.4.
Ralph Waldo Emerson Biography
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,...
Henry David Thoreau Biography
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...
Mark Twain Resources Index
Resources for Mark Twain (1835-1910) Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835 – 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. His best-known novels include The Adventures...
Mark Twain Biography (1911)
American author Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) is best known for his humorous stories, many taking place on or near the great Mississippi River.
Washington Irving Biography
Washington Irving Biography Irving’s family Boyhood European travels Rising fame Love and poverty Tragedy, memorialized Literature as a profession Home at Sunnyside Minister to Spain Personal appearance and character End of life Sources Other...
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Biography
Family and boyhood Early career and travels A Harvard professor Evangeline Other important works Struck by tragedy Writing until the end Description of the man Longfellow’s poetry His character Sources Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Biography...
Benjamin Franklin Biography (1911)
Benjamin Franklin Biography Family history and education Writing and printing career Helping his fellow man Fight against the Stamp Act Continental Congress Colonial diplomacy in France Making peace Franklin in person Life philosophy Printing...
Herman Melville Resources
Herman Melville (1819–1891) led a remarkably interesting life and his stories of the sea are colored by his personal experiences. He is most famous for his masterpiece, Moby Dick. Herman Melville biography You may...
Old Ironsides by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr
OLD IRONSIDES by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr This was the popular name by which the frigate Constitution was known. The poem was first printed in the Boston Daily Advertiser, at the time when it...
