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
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!
Nomadland
No One is Talking About This
Nothing Gold Can Stay
Not Without Laughter
No Two Persons
O Captain! My Captain!
October
Of Mice and Men
Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647
Of Women and Salt
Old Man at the Bridge
Old School
One Art
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
One Of Ours
One Summer: America, 1927
One Thousand Dollars
On the Banks of Plum Creek
On the Devil's Court
On the Equality of the Sexes
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 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Science & Technology, Family, Death
Tags Humor, Fantasy, Technology, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 1923
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Death, Environment
Tags Lyric Poem, Science & Nature, Modernism, American Literature, Education, Education, Classic Fiction
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 1865
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Grief, Death
Tags Lyric Poem, Grief & Death, Transcendentalism, US History, American Literature, World History, Classic Fiction
Publication year 1913
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Death, Aging
Tags Lyric Poem, Science & Nature, Grief & Death, American Literature
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 1938
Genre Short Story, Fiction
Themes Aging, Loneliness, War, Death, Conflict, Safety & Danger
Tags American Literature
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 2013
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Nation, Community, Teamwork
Tags US History, American Literature, Sports, World History, Humor, Biography
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 1937
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Perseverance, Environment, Community, Childhood & Youth
Tags Historical Fiction, Life-Inspired Fiction, Children`s Literature, American Literature, World History, Classic Fiction
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
Publication year 1790
Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction
Themes Gender Identity, Equality
Tags Gender & Feminism, Education, American Literature