Read about Mary Ann Cross -- better known as George Eliot -- who was the author of "Middlemarch" and "Silas Marner." This page includes biographical information as well as insight into individual literary works by Eliot.

This is an article discribing Romanticism and the Romantic Period from 1798-1832 including its beginning with the publication of Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge. Characteristics include heightened imagination, nature...

Lorna Dee Cervantes is presented in this brief biography, drawing attention to political and social messages which are camouflaged by vivid use of nature in her writings. See "Lorna Dee Cervantes Activities" for related materials.

Interesting commentary and analysis of Ovid's "Metamorphoses". Examples in the essay are linked to the poem itself. Topics range from the nature of the gods and goddess to many Roman virtues. Good reading!

Fifth graders learn that even in the most fantastical settings, literature can teach us real lessons about life. Students explore the opposition of good and evil; the value in courage, adventure, forgiveness, and honesty; and the...

This site from TheatreHistory.com provides great information on restoration drama. Links are given throughout for additional information on related subjects. The article is medium sized in length and discusses everthing from women...

An excellent site from the UK that analyzes the Shakespearean comedy. Includes a comparison to "Romeo and Juliet," an analysis on the nature of love, stagecraft ideas, and thematic elements.

Marianne Moore is the focus of this brief biography, remembered for her twentieth century poetry which embraced nature in a scientific sense as well as humanity. See "Marianne Moore Activities" for related materials.

Not all manuscripts during the Middle Ages and Renaissance were religious in nature. This period abounded with volumes that contained histories, romances, fables, and legal and scientific writings. The rise of universities paralleled the...

Young children are naturally interested in their names, and it is usually the first written language they recognize. Thus, using students' names is a powerful tool for introduction of the alphabet. Students explore their names and the...

This Library of Congress site provides a brief description of Crane's life as a war correspondent during the Spanish-American War and then provides some excerpts from some of his war correspondences. A bibliography of related works of...

Full text of three Stephen Crane famous poems: "In Heaven, "A Man Said to the Universe", and "Should the Wide World Roll Away". Explanatory note and select bibliography.

This University of Virginia Library site provides the text of Stephen Crane's "The Blue Hotel".

This is the text of the short story "The Beginning of the Armadillos" by Rudyard Kipling, the story of the tortoise and a hedgehog who combine their natural assets and transform themselves into armadillos to escape the hungry attention...

Two online photos of Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862 CE). Also provides commentary and quotes on the man's physical nature and appearance.

Classic Reader provides numerous classic works from famous authors. One work from the early 1900's is A Daughter of the Land, the eighth novel written by the noted author, movie producer, nature photographer, and naturalist named Gene...

This is the full text of the children's novel Whitefoot the Wood Mouse by Thornton W. Burgess, a story that provides important lessons about animals, nature, and the environment.

"Self-Reliance" is an essay written by American transcendentalist philosopher and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson. It contains the most thorough statement of one of Emerson's recurrent themes, the need for each individual to avoid...

This is the text of Chapter 18 of Walden by transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau. By immersing himself in nature, Thoreau hoped to gain a more objective understanding of society through personal introspection. Simple living and...

How best can we understand the internal experience of alienation? In both her essays and her fiction, Virginia Woolf shapes the slippery nature of subjective experience into words, while her characters frequently lead inner lives that...

This is an online photocopy of the original text of the children's book Canoemates: A Story of the Florida Reef and Everglades by Kirk Munroe (1892), a novel about the Florida Reef and the Everglades.

An excellent article detailing the major events of the life and works of Henry David Thoreau. Complete with links to Thoreau's most famous works and interesting details about his life.

This site from Washington State University provides a good definition of American realism and explains the literary time period it encompasses. There is also a section that lists the characteristics of realism, practitioners, and context...

In this lesson plan, students use the ocean and their five senses as inspirations to create their own unique haikus. Lesson provides assessment criteria and a list of sources.