The Harlem Renaissance is one of the most interesting eras in African American literature as well as a highly regarded period in our country's literary history. The works produced during this span reflect a turbulent social climate in America ... a time fraught with both opportunities and injustices for minorities. In this enlightening guide, author and educator Lynn Domina examines the literature of the Harlem Renaissance along with the cultural and societal factors influencing its writers.

This compelling book illuminates the cultural conditions affecting the lives of African...

Slavery is a central feature of American history, one with which the nation still has not come fully to terms. In this book, that seminal topic is examined in a fresh way--through literature. Organized chronologically to show evolving attitudes toward American slavery in the 19th century, the work focuses on four key 19th-century texts that are frequently taught, using them as a gateway for understanding this critical period and why slavery had to be destroyed if the Union was to be maintained.

In addition to examining the four works--Frederick Douglass's "Narrative of the Life of...

This one-stop reference to the "Jazz Age"--the period that began after the First World War and ended with the stock market crash of 1929--digs into the cultural, historical, and literary contexts of the era. Author Linda De Roche examines the writing of the time to look beyond the common conceptions of the Roaring Twenties and instead reflect on the era's complexities and contradictions, including how gender and race influenced social mores.

The book profiles key American literature of the time, including F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby," Ernest Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises,"...

This book helps students to better understand key pieces in literature from the Gilded Age and Progressive Era by putting them in the context of history, society, and culture through historical context essays, literary analysis, chronologies, documents, and suggestions for discussion and further research. It provides teachers and students with selections that align with the ELA Common Core Standards and that also offer useful connections for curriculum that integrates American literature and social studies.

The book covers Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's...

Part of Greenwood's new Historical Exploration of Literature series, this book provides teachers with ready-reference works that align language arts and social studies standards for secondary classes on the topic of the Chicano Movement. It will serve to help students better understand key pieces in American literature from the Chicano Movement by putting them in the context of history, society, and culture through historical context essays, literary analysis, chronologies, documents, and suggestions for discussion and further research.

The book includes works such as...