Students will view a short video in which questions have been embedded to activate their interest.  They will then read the story of the Last True Hermit, Christopher Knight.  Knight lived for 27 years in the woods of northern Maine before being caught.  He survived by building a camp deep in the woods and stealing from cabins in the surrounding area.

The students will analyze the author's point of view and the way the various characters interact in the story.  Their analysis is assessed using a short writing assignment.

This can be modified for the general education classroom.  A supplemental text, "By the Waters of Babylon" by Stephen Vincent Benet, is included.  Students can read this text and then answer the questions that are also included.

This assignment has students complete a timed writing assignment on a topic they were not previously given. It includes a brainstorming question, background reading, a rubric for grading and finally the writing prompt. Student's are able to self-review the writing as well as have peers and teacher's review the writing through a google add on app called Orange Slices.

William Butler Yeats occupies a dominant position in the lives and work of the Irish poets who followed him. We will explore some of that poetry, and consider how later poets, especially female poets, tried to come to grips with, or escape from, that dominance. As a seminar, the subject will place special emphasis on student involvement and control. I will ask you to submit one ten-twelve page essay, two shorter (five page) essays, and to accept the role of "leadoff person," perhaps more than once, That role will demand that you choose from among the assigned readings for that session the poem we should focus upon, and to offer either a provocative articulation of what the poem is about, or a provocative question which the poem confronts, and which we should grapple with, as well.

Extensive reading of works by a few major poets. Emphasizes the evolution of each poet's work and the questions of poetic influence and literary tradition. Instruction and practice in oral and written communication. Topic for Fall: Does Poetry Matter? Topic for Spring: Gender and Lyric Poetry.

Extensive reading of works by a few major poets. Emphasizes the evolution of each poet's work and the questions of poetic influence and literary tradition. Instruction and practice in oral and written communication. Topic for Fall: Does Poetry Matter? Topic for Spring: Gender and Lyric Poetry.

Teaching Autoethnography: Personal Writing in the Classroom is dedicated to the practice of immersive ethnographic and autoethnographic writing that encourages authors to participate in the communities about which they write. This book draws not only on critical qualitative inquiry methods such as interview and observation, but also on theories and sensibilities from creative writing and performance studies, which encourage self-reflection and narrative composition. Concepts from qualitative inquiry studies, which examine everyday life, are combined with approaches to the creation of character and scene to help writers develop engaging narratives that examine chosen subcultures and the author’s position in relation to her research subjects. The book brings together a brief history of first-person qualitative research and writing from the past forty years, examining the evolution of nonfiction and qualitative approaches in relation to the personal essay. A selection of recent student writing in the genre as well as reflective student essays on the experience of conducting research in the classroom is presented in the context of exercises for coursework and beyond. Also explored in detail are guidelines for interviewing and identifying subjects and techniques for creating informed sketches and images that engage the reader. This book provides approaches anyone can use to explore their communities and write about them first-hand. The methods presented can be used for a single assignment in a larger course or to guide an entire semester through many levels and varieties of informed personal writing.

The Folger Shakespeare Library provides the full searchable text of "Othello" to read online or download as a PDF. All of the lines are numbered sequentially to make it easier and more convenient to find any line.

In 1960, as President Eisenhower’s second term was drawing to a close, the mood of American voters reflected one of restlessness. Between the U.S. economy experiencing a recession and recent Cold War achievements by the Soviets including the successful launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957 and the development of long range missiles, Americans were feeling vulnerable. Along with U.S. foreign powers setbacks in 1960 (the U-2 incident and the alignment of Cuba with the Soviet Union) many Americans were beginning to question whether the U.S. might be losing the Cold War. Therefore, as two very different personalities campaigned for the Presidency, the role of the media took center

During the end of the 1800s, society had changed dramatically as a result of the Industrial Revolution. Cities had grown and the demographics of the American population had become increasingly diverse. Although the economic gains were substantial, this came at a significant social cost. The nation began to struggle with issues of unemployment, dangerous working conditions, and political corruption. Although private citizens had long been making attempts to reform these issues, many began to feel that an increased role of government would be necessary to effectively address the nation’s problems.

Have you ever wondered about the first people who lived on our continent? How did they get here? It is believed by many historians that thousands of years ago, hunters following herds of animals like woolly mammoths and bison migrated (or moved) to the Americas on foot from Asia. This belief assumes that they crossed over a frozen land bridge caused by the Ice Age.

America’s involvement in WWI left most Americans exhausted--in more ways than one. Soldiers returning home had suffered huge emotional distress from the war itself as well as from the physical injuries that many had suffered. Americans at home were deeply divided over the issues at the forefront of the League of Nations debate and the impact that the war had on thousands of immigrants with relatives overseas, many suffering in war-torn lands. Many Americans wished to return to what President Harding described as “normalcy.” Because of this desire by the American public, three trends in American society began to develop, both in rural towns and in urban areas across the country

In the 1700s England fought several wars with France over control of Europe. Conflicts over land ownership caused the hostilities between these two dominant countries to spread to North America. In 1754 the French and Indian War began. It got its name from the people that the British colonists and their American Indian allies were fighting – the French and their American Indian allies. The French and Indian war lasted from 1754 to 1763. It was also called the Seven Years War.

Even though the 1920s were “roaring” in many respects, from an economic standpoint it became clear that serious problems threatened the nation’s economy. Important industries were in trouble and overproduction plagued the agricultural sector. As the decade came to a close, the slipping economy would soon crash, thus ending a decade of innovation, cultural advances, and individual prosperity.

The Declaration of Independence was just the beginning. The colonists kept this document in mind as they fought for independence and created their own government. This Declaration has inspired, and continues to inspire, the promise of freedom around the world.

After four long and bitter years of a disastrous conflict that claimed the lives of over 620,000 soldiers, a haggard and worn president looked over the crowd and uttered the immortal words: “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

As Soviet and U.S. soldiers worked together to liberate Germany at the end of World War II in Europe, many on both sides hoped for continued friendship between the two countries. However, problems had been building between the two nations both before and during the war. Combined with the incompatibility of the economic and political systems that drove both countries, significant foreign policy clashes were imminent.

The Cold War had a significant impact on domestic life in the decade after the WWII; however, for most Americans, economic prosperity and social aspects such as pop culture and the building of suburban lifestyles by the middle class dominated thoughts of anti-Communist fear. Even though the 1950s were known as a time of unprecedented prosperity, not every subgroup of American society benefitted. The urban poor, Mexican Americans, and Native Americans were left untouched by the economic boom, living in poverty.

Clues to Walt Whitman's effort to create a new and distinctly American form of verse may be found in his Notebooks, now available online from the American Memory Collection.  In an entry to be examined in this lesson, Whitman indicated that he wanted his poetry to explore important ideas of a universal scope (as in the European tradition), but in authentic American situations and settings using specific details with direct appeal to the senses.

Written by five college reading and writing instructors, this interactive, multimedia text draws from decades of experience teaching students who are entering the college reading and writing environment for the very first time. It includes examples, exercises, and definitions for just about every reading- and writing-related topic students will encounter in their college courses.

During the thirteenth century, the Mongols built an empire from scratch through remarkable feats of organization, planning, endurance, courage, slaughter, destruction, and terror. The empire was ruled by a combination of exploitation and protection of those conquered. The Mongol peace-keeping and encouragement of long distance communications, resulted in the widespread exchange of ideas, goods, and techniques, as well as in the spread of disease.