The United States of America was founded on firm ideals of both the pursuit of happiness and a spirit of reverence. Through a close reading of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The May-Pole of Merry Mount," you can examine what some consider was a...

Young scholars examine Nathaniel Hawthorne's style of humor and compare it to other humorists. They discuss the purpose of literary humor and determine how it develops characters and plots in stories. They analyze the use of different...

Use Nathanial Hawthorne's immortal text on the influence of religion on the early American settlements, as well as its continued impact on American culture, with a unit that focuses on The Scarlet Letter. In addition to Hawthorne's...

Terror, mystery, excitement. American writers of the 19th century, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Emily Dickinson, used these elements to create morally ambiguous tales that challenged the prevailing belief in...

Students describe the basic beliefs of the Puritan religion; identify the principle figures in the Salem Witch Trials;explain the events that led to the mass hysteria suffered by the town; analyze the First Amendment; and examine...

The ultra-glamorous Muppet, Miss Piggy, launches a study of discrimination and ways to develop a more inclusive community.  A series of videos and activities raise awareness of discrimination and journal prompts asks participants to...

A gold mine for American history teachers, this presentation cascades through the middle of the 19th century with the central themes of moral and social reform. Between the blossoming Mormon church, the tightening of the Temperance...

Pupils identify examples of discrimination in our country's past and present. They examine how bias is harmful to the community as a whole. They also describe what changes have been made to protect different groups.

Lesson on why Aylmer, the protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne's story "The Birthmark," undertakes his fatal experiment. Lesson contents contain literary text, strategies for analysis, and vocabulary.

Primary source material from Nathaniel Hawthorne's, My Kinsman, Major Molineux, 1831. With questions for discussion.

Hawthorne's short story that examines how America has changed in the generation since the Revolution by depicting the growth and challenges faced by a young man in the story.

A collection of twelve primary resources, primarily from American literature, that addresses questions about how the United States could function as a democracy, and differences between the concepts of the North and the South concerning...

A description of American Romantic authors, their backgrounds and what they wrote. These writers made American literature truly American.

A timeline of political and social events and American literature. Part of a larger site. Hyperlinks to information about individual authors.

A good look at the first major American philosophy, transcendentalism. Read about the ideas that transcendentalists believed, and find out the members of the Transcendental Club. Many American authors of the time espoused the ideals of...

A detailed look at the philosophy behind American Transcendalism, and a discussion of many of those who practiced it.

A brief timeline which includes American literature and American historical events. Ranges from 1830 to 1839. Includes the first co-educational college, Oberlin College. Hyperlinks to various authors of the period.