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Full-Text Articles in American Literature
Connecting Literature And History: Fitzgerald’S The Great Gatsby Museum Project, Adam Kotlarczyk
Connecting Literature And History: Fitzgerald’S The Great Gatsby Museum Project, Adam Kotlarczyk
Adam Kotlarczyk
Despite mixed reviews at the time of its 1925 publication, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby has come to be one of the most widely taught American books and has become a popular candidate for the title of the “Great American Novel.” Uniquely intertwining social history, biography, and literature, the text challenges readers to understand the culture and history of the Jazz Age and to see its interrelationship with the lives and motivations of the characters, as well as with the author himself. This project encourages students to engage and work closely with one of the historical elements that influenced …
Hawthorne’S “The Minister’S Black Veil”: Group Activities And Interpretations, Adam Kotlarczyk
Hawthorne’S “The Minister’S Black Veil”: Group Activities And Interpretations, Adam Kotlarczyk
Adam Kotlarczyk
Although the better-known The Scarlet Letter (1850) still draws more attention from many high school English teachers, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s darkly enigmatic short story “The Minister’s Black Veil” (1836) touches on similar themes and provides readers with diverse avenues for exploration, discussion, and analysis. Containing dramatic, psychological, and moral elements, in addition to its literary ones, it is a complex text that can confound teachers and students alike with its range of interpretations and ambiguity. This lesson allows students in small groups to choose and focus on one interpretive element. It also accommodates different learning styles, offering both creative and analytical …
Thoreau’S Walden: Experiential Learning And A Transcendental Walk, Adam Kotlarczyk
Thoreau’S Walden: Experiential Learning And A Transcendental Walk, Adam Kotlarczyk
Adam Kotlarczyk
Many English classes struggle with Thoreau’s dense and often ponderous prose in Walden. Classes often become mired in his text and its romantic ideals of seclusion and self-reliance. This activity rips the words of Walden off the page and puts them where they belong: outside. It compels students to move beyond basic interpretations of Walden as “connecting with nature” and “keeping life simple,” and instead to see and interpret their modern, living world through the lens of Transcendentalism, as Thoreau did. This lesson encourages students to see and interpret their worlds as Thoreau did through a modeling-based writing experience.