The Lottery Learn what's behind this perplexing story.

Message Control How are you influenced by media on a daily basis, and why?

The Power of the Spoken Word "Spoken word" poetry or "slam" poetry is fast becoming a powerful art form

The Crucible "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller: One Play, Two Stories

Edgar Allan Poe Who is the man behind the frightening poetry and prose?

E E Cummings What are E E Cummings’ contributions to American literary history, and why are they significant?

Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath is one of the most famous American confessional poets of the mid-20th century

The Beat Movement Investigate how San Francisco inspired the Beats and how the Beats inspired San Francisco

Earnest Hemmingway Earnest Hemmingway Throughout the World

Mark Twain Meet the master of satire and Realism.

Native American History from the Trail of Tears to the Reservations Before reading A Yellow Raft in Blue Water learn about Native American Reservations.

W.E.B. DuBois' The Souls of Black Folk Read more about the first widely circulated expression of how African Americans themselves felt about their status 38 years after the end of slavery.

The Catcher in...America? Explore both the popularity and controversy surrounding Salinger's novel in the United States.

The Harlem Renaissance Look back at what lasted and what did not after this period of cultural rebirth.

Desegregating Little Rock, Arkansas Imagine yourself in the shoes of African-American students in the 1940s (before you read The Autobiography of Malcolm X).

The Internment of Japanese Americans Make a virtual visit to the internment camps in America during World War II (while you read Farewell to Manzanar).

Emily Dickinson Find out who Emily Dickinson was.