American Literature

This collection is designed for teachers and professors creating or revising a comprehensive American Literature syllabus. We’ve gathered study guides on classic novels, plays, and poems by some of the most frequently taught American writers, such as Mark Twain, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Toni Morrison, and Louise Glück. If you’re looking for more contemporary texts, like Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam or The Color of Water by James McBride, you’ll find those here, too!

Publication year 2017

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Social Class, Community, Globalization

Tags Travel Literature, Sociology, Poverty, Social Class, American Literature, Business & Economics, World History, Politics & Government

Publication year 1930

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Music, Coming of Age

Tags Classic Fiction, Coming of Age, Life-Inspired Fiction, US History, Harlem Renaissance, Race & Racism, American Literature, World History, Historical Fiction

Published in 1930, near the end of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes's Not Without Laughter is a coming-of-age narrative about James "Sandy" Rogers, an African-American boy from the small Kansas town of Stanton. Loosely based on Hughes's own childhood in Kansas, the novel traces the challenges of African-American life in the Midwest during the years leading up to World War I. The novel opens with a cyclone that rips the porch from the house of... Read Not Without Laughter Summary

Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Hope, Perseverance, Love, Coming of Age, Death, Marriage, Self Discovery, Literature

Tags Psychological Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Relationships, Arts & Culture, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction

Publication year 1937

Genre Novella, Fiction

Tags Classic Fiction, American Literature, Disability, Education, Education, World History, Historical Fiction

American author John Steinbeck published his novella Of Mice and Men in 1937. Despite its place in the classical canon, the novella is one of the most challenged books of the 21st century due to its depiction of violence and use of profane, racist language. The novella’s title is an allusion to Scottish poet Robert Burns’s 1785 poem “To a Mouse,” in which a farmer unwittingly and regrettably kills a mouse while plowing. Of Mice... Read Of Mice and Men Summary

Publication year 1651

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Tags US History, Religion & Spirituality, Education, Education, American Literature, World History, Classic Fiction, Biography

Of Plymouth Plantation is a firsthand account of both the events leading up to the voyage of the Mayflower and the first twenty-five years of settlement in Plymouth, Massachusetts. It was written as a journal by William Bradford, a passenger on the Mayflower who also served multiple terms as Plymouth's governor. He appears in Of Plymouth Plantation both as a narrator and as a character in the story's events, which are told in retrospect. In... Read Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647 Summary

Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Race, Immigration, Mothers, Family

Tags Historical Fiction, Immigration & Refugeeism, Gender & Feminism, Race & Racism, Trauma & Abuse, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, World History

Publication year 2003

Genre Novel, Fiction

Tags Education, Education, American Literature, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction

Tobias Wolff’s novel Old School was published in 2003. It is a work of literary fiction that can also be considered a roman à clef, as it is a thinly veiled account of Wolff’s own experience in prep school. Old School was a finalist for the 2004 Pen/Faulkner Award and the National Book Critics Circle Prize for Fiction.Plot SummaryOld School follows the unnamed narrator’s plight at a prestigious New England prep school in the early... Read Old School Summary

Publication year 1976

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Grief, The Past, Language

Tags Lyric Poem, American Literature, Arts & Culture, LGBTQ+, Classic Fiction, Biography

Throughout her life, Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979) suffered many losses. Her father died before her first birthday and her mother entered a mental institution when Bishop was only five, leaving her to the guardianship of maternal and paternal grandparents. Later, Bishop’s lover committed suicide in Brazil, prompting Bishop’s return to the US. “One Art” (1976) alludes to several of these prominent losses, though the poem objectively approaches loss. “One Art” defines loss as a special form... Read One Art Summary

Publication year 1962

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Mental Health, Justice, Power & Greed

Tags American Literature, Classic Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Mental Illness, Trauma & Abuse, Health, Relationships, Education, Education, Psychology, Psychology

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a historical fiction novel by Ken Kesey, published in 1962. Kesey drew on his experiences working in a veterans’ hospital to develop a critique of then-current psychiatric practices. The novel’s central conflict between a domineering nurse and an unruly patient can also be read as an allegory for the emerging culture wars of the 1960s. The novel was adapted into a Broadway play one year after its publication... Read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Summary

Publication year 1922

Genre Novel, Fiction

Tags Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction, Military & War, American Literature, World History, World War I

One of Ours is a 1923 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Willa Cather, an American author best known for depictions of life in the Great Plains. This novel follows the personal evolution of a young man named Claude Wheeler, dividing his story into two parts: his life on a family farm in Nebraska, and his experiences as a soldier in France during World War I. Exploring themes of youthful restlessness, the search for meaning, and the... Read One Of Ours Summary

Publication year 1919

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Social Class, Gender Identity

Tags Classic Fiction, Humor, American Literature

William Sydney Porter, better known as O. Henry, published “One Thousand Dollars” in his 1908 collection of short stories The Voice of the City: Further Stories of the Four Million. The stories explore New York City at the turn of the 20th century. Believing every person had a story to tell, O. Henry wrote about the poor and the rich and the shared experience of being human. This study guide references the 1908 edition of... Read One Thousand Dollars Summary

Publication year 1991

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Coming of Age, Power & Greed, Literature

Tags Realistic Fiction, Sports, American Literature, Children`s Literature, Horror & Suspense, Fantasy

On the Devil’s Court is a novel aimed at teenage boys that follows 17-year-old Joe Faust through the basketball season of his senior year. Written by Carl Deuker, the book was originally published in 1988 and has remained a popular print title for more than 30 years. On the Devil’s Court was the first of three young adult sports novels by Deuker to be included among the Authors League of America Best Books for Young... Read On the Devil's Court Summary