With its focus on nature, individualism, imagination, and rejection of traditional authority, Romanticism has great appeal to young high schoolers. After examining classic paintings and poems as well as current works, class members...

The words of Henry David Thoreau on Civil Disobedience seem particularly relevant today, as are his writings and those of other transcendental thinkers who ask what it mean to live deliberately and what are the responsibilities of...

Enhance your unit on The Scarlet Letter with a thorough and applicable lesson. Learners use the anchor text in this unit plan that asks them to consider the Transcendental concepts intertwined within Nathaniel...

Although Westward Expansion is often romanticized, its impact was devastating on Native American communities. Primary source documents, including pictures of United States troops invading indigenous lands and Native American tribes, tell...

Learners analyze slavery and its effects on humanity using Frederick Douglass' autobiography. In this slavery instructional activity, high schoolers analyze instances of reality and romanticized myth using a slave narrative. Learners...

Modern readers apply classic themes to Victor Hugo's masterpiece, Les Miserables. After they discuss tricky vocabulary and plot elements from the novel, class members compare Hugo's written work to a stage or film adaptation of the...

Students study slavery from the perspctive of an American slave. In this Frederick Douglass lesson, students complete the suggested pre-reading and post-reading activities included for Douglass's autobiography, Narrative of the Life of...

Fifth graders examine and critique the art, artists, and artisans of late 18th century America.