General
- Massive site: initially teacher’s use in gathering background information. If student wants to read the originals, they are here!
- FreeBooknotes.com presents Cliff’s Notes-like help for many works.
- Several books assigned, and some not assigned but interesting to Rhetoric level students (like works of Voltaire and Darwin) are found here.
- Wordsmyth: look up words, make your own glossaries. Type in a list of vocabulary words and push send. You will get professional style glossary pages.
- Norton online quizzes – Western Literature
Unit 1 – Napoleon’s World
Week 1: When John Adams Was President
- Read Rapunzel here.
- Teaching Guide for Rapunzel
- Text of Pride and Prejudice
Week 2: Napoleon: The Man and His Career
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- Spark Notes for Pride and Prejudice
Week 3: Early Industrial Revolution
Week 4: Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase
- Rumpelstiltskin
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- Spark Notes for Pride and Prejudice
Week 5: Jefferson and the Supreme Court
- William Blake and poetry
- William Wordsworth and poetry
- James Macpherson and poetry
- Robert Burns and poetry
- Sir Walter Scott and poetry
Week 6: Madison and the War of 1812
- Lyrics to the Star-Spangled Banner
- William Wordsworth and poetry
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge and poetry
Week 7: Reshaping Europe and South America
- Johnny Appleseed
- Full version of Swiss Family Robinson
- Additional questions and activities for Swiss Family Robinson
- Full version of Frankenstein
- Spark Notes on Frankenstein
- Lord George Gordon Byron and poetry
- Percy Bysshe Shelley and poetry
- John Keats and poetry
- See many translations of Silent Night; many of them have an audio that you can listen to as well.
- Johnny Appleseed: story and crossword puzzle
Week 8: South America in Transition
- Additional questions and activities for Swiss Family Robinson
- Full version of Frankenstein
- Spark Notes on Frankenstein
- Full text of Goethe’s Faust
- Study Guide for Goethe’s Faust
- Another Study Guide for Faust
Week 9: Monroe and the American Hemisphere
- Translations of Silent Night
- Silent Night
- Additional questions and activities for Swiss Family Robinson
- Full version of Frankenstein
- Spark Notes on Frankenstein
- Short biography of Chateaubriand
- Short biography of Pushkin and his literature
- Irving and his literature
Unit 2 – The Age of Industry & Expansion
Week 10: John Quincy Adams and Political Realignments
- John James Audubon biography. Don’t miss the printables and games at the end of the biography.
- Biography of Frederic Chopin
- Listen to music by Chopin
- Thematic exploration of Island of the Blue Dolphins
- Examine Island of the Blue Dolphins through a literary lens
- Victor Hugo and the text of Les Miserables
- Spark Notes on Les Miserables
- Life of Scott O’ Dell
Week 11: Jacksonian Democracy
- Biography of Frederic Chopin
- Listen to music by Chopin.
- Thematic exploration of Island of the Blue Dolphins
- Examine Island of the Blue Dolphins through a literary lens
- Victor Hugo and the text of Les Miserables
- Spark Notes on Les Miserables
Week 12: Revolutions in Texas & Europe
- The Ugly Duckling, by Hans Christian Anderson
- Thematic exploration of Island of the Blue Dolphins
- Examine Island of the Blue Dolphins through a literary lens
- Victor Hugo and the text of Les Miserables
- Spark Notes on Les Miserables
Week 13: Victorian England
- Spark Notes: Les Miserables
- Full text of David Copperfield
- Spark Notes: David Copperfield
Week 14: Victorians at Home and Abroad
- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
- A free dramatic audio version of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
- Study guide for A Christmas Carol
- Spark Notes: Les Miserables
- Spark Notes: David Copperfield
- Charles Dickens
Week 15: Manifest Destiny
- Full text of Oliver Twist
- Spark Notes: Oliver Twist
- Spark Notes: The Raven by Poe
Week 16: Sea to Shining Sea
- Full text of The Princess and the Goblin
- The Princess and the Goblin discussion questions
- Spark Notes: The Scarlet Letter
Week 17: The Oregon Trail
- Full text of The Scarlet Letter
- Spark Notes: The Scarlet Letter
Week 18: 1848: Gold Dust & Gunpowder
- Spark Notes: Billy Budd
- Watch Beijing Opera on YouTube.
Unit 3 – Nations Uniting & Dividing
Week 19: Westerners in Asia
- Emily Dickinson poetry
- Watch a scene from Beijing Opera!
- Gustave Flaubert and his poetry
- Walt Whitman and his works
- Gerard Manley Hopkins poetry
Week 20: Franklin Pierce & the Crimean War
- Pdf download of study guide for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
- Spark Notes for Tom Sawyer
- Full text of Great Expectations
- Spark Notes for Great Expectations
Week 21: America Divides & Italy Unites
- No links for this week.
Week 22: Lincoln and the Start of the Civil War
- Pdf download of study guide for Across Five Aprils. Scroll down to download the file.
Week 23: Decisive Years of the Civil War
- No links for this week.
Week 24: Closing Years of the Civil War
- Billy Budd: Spark Notes
Week 25: Andrew Johnson vs. Radical Reconstruction
- Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
- Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
Week 26: Ulysses Grant & the Plains Indians Wars
- Emily Dickinson: The Complete Poems
- Alice in Wonderland: an Interactive Adventure. This is a site with games and activities linked to Alice in Wonderland. Great for younger students!
Week 27: Technological Progress & the Unification of Germany
- Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
- A biography of Robert Browning
- Biography of Alfred, Lord Tennyson
- The Lady of Shalott
Unit 4 – The Gilded Age
Week 28: Introducing Africa and Reforming Empires
- Just so Stories by Rudyard Kipling
- The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
- Biography of Tolstoy
Week 29: The Scramble for Empire
- Just so Stories by Rudyard Kipling
- The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
- A Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
- Spark Notes for A Heart of Darkness
Week 30: Imperialism and Culture
- Audio of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi by Jerry Pinkney
- Just so Stories by Rudyard Kipling
- The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
- Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Spark Notes for Crime and Punishment
Week 31: Waves of Immigrants
- Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- Spark Notes for The Hound of the Baskervilles
- Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Spark Notes for Crime and Punishment
Week 32: Captains of Industry
- A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- Spark Notes for The Hound of the Baskervilles
- Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Spark Notes for Crime and Punishment
Week 33: Labor Issues and the New South
- A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Spark Notes for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
- Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Spark Notes for Crime and Punishment
Week 34: Farmers, Populists, Gold Strikes and Gold Standards
- A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
- Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Spark Notes for Crime and Punishment
Week 35: Powerful Men and Inspiring Women
- The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
- Biography of Henrik Ibsen
- Spark Notes for A Doll’s House
Week 36: The Balkan Problem & American Imperialism
- Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
- The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
- Spark Notes for The Importance of Being Earnest
- An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde