Download American Literature Lesson Plan

NEH Hudson River Workshop
Name: Vicki Wittman
Course: American Literature
Grade Level: 9-12
TRACING THE PAST FOOTPRINTS OF AMERICAN LITERATURE
Rationale: The study of American Literature involves reading, discussing, and analyzing
many forms of writing that all contribute to a unique American perspective. By looking
to past primary source documents, the writers and the environment that influenced them,
readers can gain a better understanding of a culture and it’s people.
Essential Questions:
! What can primary sources tell us about a place and time?
! What was going on politically, economically, socially, and environmentally that is
documented through primary sources?
! How did Washington Irving and the Hudson River establish an American
Identity?
Objectives:
Upon completion of this lesson, students will be able to
! Recognize various forms of primary sources can be considered literary works
! Understand stories from the past are influenced from someone’s perspective or
interpretation of an event.
! Understand the written word gives an insight to the culture of a particular time
period.
! Understand the influences that shaped American Literature.
Materials:
Primary source documents available such as postcards, letters, recipes, postcards, train
schedules, inventories, catalogs from Colonial literature, American Revolution, and 18th
century writing. These may be web based or print documents.
Activity 1: Student response handout
Cardstock paper cut to postcard size
Postcards of Hudson River School Paintings or other nature postcards
Writings from Washington Irving, Anne Bradstreet, Benjamin Franklin, Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathanial Hawthorne, Henry David
Thoreau, Edgar Allen Poe, Walt Whitman, and Emily Dickenson, which can be obtained
from online sources or American Literature books.
Procedure:
Activity 1: Exploring primary source documents
Students will have print copies of various types of primary source documents spanning
the time from Colonial literature, the American Revolution, to 18th century writing. They
will work in small groups exploring and reading the different types of documents
available for approximately 20 – 30 minutes. After perusing documents the students will
complete a handout asking them to select 2-3 pieces and explain their interpretation of
lifestyle from that area and time period. Handout will include questions such as: What
NEH Hudson River Workshop
Name: Vicki Wittman
Course: American Literature
Grade Level: 9-12
types of transportation was available? What type of local food was eaten? How was
food preserved? How did the environment, such as rivers influence the sources? Did this
written source have anything that helped identify it as uniquely American?
Activity 2: Postcard Activity
Students will be assigned a fictional character and social role, such as a landowner, a
businessman, a day laborer, a fisherman, a servant to the wealthy, or a young woman
supporting a family during the 1700’s. Students then draw an image they may see from
the perspective of their character. On the back of the postcard they are to a message
describing what they are thinking about at the moment. Alternate activity – students are
given postcards picturing Hudson River School Paintings and are asked to write a
message from the fictional character to a family member who still lives in Europe.
Activity 3: 19th Century Communication
Using lesson developed by Washington Irving’s Sunnyside, students will read a letter by
Irving to learn how he and his family communicated in the 19th century and compare it to
how we communicate today. Students will begin by reading the letter and circling words
they are not familiar with or how it is used in context. A brief discussion will follow
about vocabulary and differences from 19th century writing and writing of today in
regards to greeting, the thank you and the closing. Following the discussion students will
write their own thank you letter, first in 19th century language then in modern English.
Activity 4: Author background and expanded study of early American
Literature writers. Students will read works by Washington Irving, Anne Bradstreet,
Benjamin Franklin, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathanial
Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, Edgar Allen Poe, Walt Whitman, and Emily
Dickenson. Students will be expected to journal their reflections after each reading
discussing what the piece tells the reader about place, time, and culture and what made it
uniquely American.
Assessment: Assessments will include the group handout from Activity 1 answering
questions about group interpretations, individual postcard from Activity 2, thank you
letters from activity 3 and the reflection journal from activity 4.
NEH Hudson River Workshop
Name: Vicki Wittman
Course: American Literature
Grade Level: 9-12
Student response sheet:
Activity 1: Exploring primary source documents
After looking over primary source documents, select 2-3 pieces and explain your
interpretation of lifestyle from that area and time period. For each selection please
answer the following questions:
Why was this piece written, what was the need?
What types of transportation was available?
What type of local food was eaten? Could you tell how food was preserved?
What could you discover about the culture of that time?
How did the environment, such as rivers and land influence the writer?
What helped identify this primary source as uniquely American?
Student response sheet:
Activity 1: Exploring primary source documents
After looking over primary source documents, select 2-3 pieces and explain your
interpretation of lifestyle from that area and time period. For each selection please
answer the following questions:
Why was this piece written, what was the need?
What types of transportation was available?
What type of local food was eaten? Could you tell how food was preserved?
What could you discover about the culture of that time?
How did the environment, such as rivers and land influence the writer?
What helped identify this primary source as uniquely American?