Mark Twain’s Autobiography
Ask a humorist to write his autobiography, and you just might end up with a short story such as Mark Twain’s Burlesque Autobiography. This short story is entirely fictional, and is not intended to...
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America by Herman Melville
Although Herman Melville is best known as the author of Moby Dick, from which sprang one of the best first sentences in literature — “Call me Ishmael.”— he also wrote poetry, essays, and travel...
Ralph Waldo Emerson Poems
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) was an American transcendentalist poet and writer. A native of Boston, he lived most of his life in that region of Massachusetts, and his book Nature inspired Henry David Thoreau,...
Poetry by Oliver Wendell Holmes
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr (1809-1894), a professor of anatomy at Harvard University, wrote poetry as a hobby. Some of his most memorable poems tell historical stories. In both his life and his work, he...
Elegy for Hawthorne by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
In poetry, an elegy is a reflective poem, usually a lament for the dead. In this elegy for American poet and author Nathaniel Hawthorne, his friend and college classmate, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow mourns his...
Hawthorne and His Mosses by Herman Melville
Hawthorne and His Mosses By Herman Melville From The Literary World, August 17 and 24, 1850 [with the original creative spelling] By a Virginian Spending July in Vermont A papered chamber in a fine...
My Brigantine by James Fenimore Cooper
My Brigantine by James Fenimore Cooper MY brigantine! Just in thy mould and beauteous in thy form, Gentle in roll and buoyant on the surge, Light as the sea-fowl rocking in the storm, In...
James Fenimore Cooper: Cambridge History
James Fenimore Cooper Cambridge History of American Literature (1917-1921), Book II, Chapter VI by Carl Van Doren James Fenimore Cooper: Youth, Naval Career Precaution The Spy The Pioneers The Pilot The Last of the...
In the Churchyard at Tarrytown by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
In the Churchyard at Tarrytown [written to honor Washington Irving at the time of his death] by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Here lies the gentle humorist, who died In the bright Indian Summer of his...
To the Lighthouse Study Guide
Study Guide for To the Lighthouse © by Cathy Decker, 1998 In this study guide by Dr. Cathy Decker, a professor from Chaffey College (CA), you’ll find questions you might want to consider when you read...
Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses by Mark Twain
It is likely that the literary offenses of James Fenimore Cooper are no more dire than the offenses of at least half the authors represented in a modern bookstore, but Mark Twain certainly enjoyed humorously critiquing...
A Psalm of Life by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A PSALM OF LIFE WHAT THE HEART OF THE YOUNG MAN SAID TO THE PSALMIST by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream! For the soul...
Benjamin Franklin 13 Virtues
An Excerpt from the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Illustrated by E. Boyd Smith; edited by Frank Woodworth Pine, 1916 IX. PLAN FOR ATTAINING MORAL PERFECTION T was about this time I conceived the bold...
The Road to Independence: Chapter 3 Outline of U.S. History
Outline of American History (a publication of the U.S. State Department) Chapter 3: The Road to Independence Rebellion that made a new nation “The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was...
Meet Benjamin Franklin by Stephen Kaufman
Meet Benjamin Franklin, America’s First International Celebrity His range of interests and influence still astonishing after 300 years By Stephen Kaufman, 07 January 2006 Without inherited wealth or social position, the 10th son of...
Romantic Period — American Literature
The Romantic Period, 1820-1860: Fiction Outline of American Literature: Chapter 4 Protagonists of the American Romance are haunted, alienated individuals. By Kathryn VanSpanckeren The American Novelist The Romance: Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Edgar Allan Poe...
Democratic Origins and Revolutionary Writers: Outline of American Literature Chapter 2
Outline of American Literature Chapter 2 Democratic Origins and Revolutionary Writers, 1776-1820 By Kathryn VanSpanckeren Introduction and Overview The American Enlightenment: Benjamin Franklin, Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur The Political Pamphlet: Thomas Paine Neoclassicism:...
Emily Brontë: A Biographical Sketch
Emily Jane Brontë 1818-1848 A Biographical Sketch by Sara Selby Emily Jane Brontë’s life, though short and tragic, had an overwhelming influence on her work. Marked by violent emotional upheavals, her childhood on the...
Poetry by Shakespeare’s Contemporaries
In Shakespeare’s time, the fields of art and science were blossoming. Here are a few poems by Shakespeare contemporaries, including Sidney and Marlowe.
Letter to Sir Walter Raleigh by Edmund Spenser
LETTER TO SIR WALTER RALEIGH (an introduction to The Faerie Queene) A LETTER of the Authors expounding his whole intention in the course of this worke;(1) which, for that it giveth great light to...
King Lear: As Told in Tales from Shakespeare
King Lear by William Shakespeare Adapted by Charles and Mary Lamb in Tales From Shakespeare Other works by Charles Lamb [Note: I offer this rather Victorian-style retelling of King Lear by the Lambs to...
The Execution of Lady Jane Grey
The 16th Century that shaped Shakespeare’s writing wasn’t all poetry, art, and music. It was also an era that saw the execution of many for their faith. This brief excerpt from John Foxe’s Book...
Why Read Beowulf? by Robert F. Yeager
Why Read Beowulf? By Robert F. Yeager Beowulf, the rousing Old English poem of man and monster, has been a classroom classic for generations. Its own survival as a text is nearly as epic...
Top 10 Reasons to Read Fiction
Dr. Randy Laist of Goodwin College offers a thoughtful list of his top 10 reasons for reading fiction. Building cultural literacy is just the beginning — stories not only offer a portal into other...
Outline of U.S. History: A Free Text
Here is a free American history text book that is available online or for download as a PDF from the United States Department of State.
Literary Analysis: Elements of Narrative
Learn basic concepts of literary analysis, including plot, character, and setting with Professor Randy Laist of Goodwin College.
Light Shining Out of Darkness by William Cowper
William Cowper’s beautiful hymn, Light Shining Out of Darkness, is best known for the lines “God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform.” Listen to it here.
Techniques of Literary Summary and Analysis
Using the nursery rhyme, “Jack and Jill,” Professor Randy Laist explains basic techniques of literary summary and analysis.
At the Close of the Year by John Newton
A poem by John Newton (1725-1807), a British sailor and slave trader who experienced conversion and became a writer, Anglican minister, and activist for the abolition of slavery.
A Short History of England by G.K. Chesterton
Gilbert Keith Chesterton’s A Short History of England is an inviting introduction to British history through the end of the nineteenth century. You may listen to it in the audio player below, or read it...
