Modernism
1915 - 1946
The reader and the reader’s response to a text is the focus of this time period. Writers began to experiment with form and structure in order to evoke a particular response from readers.
Featured author for this period...
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
- A Farewell to Arms
- In Our Time
- The Old Man and the Sea
- The Sun Also Rises
- The Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park - a "Hemingway Around the Web" site with valuable links for research.
- Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure - a neat site from PBS, this resource will help you draw connections between the author's work and his life.
- "The Dangerous Spring: Ernest Hemingway's Spring"- an interesting article from the Washington Post.
- Nobel e-Museum: Ernest Hemingway - visit the official website of the Nobel Foundation and read Hemingway's biography, his Nobel prize acceptance speech and more.
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
- Short Story: "In Another Country" -p. 809
- Additional Resources:
- Short Story: "Hills Like White Elephants" (handout)
CBS Sunday Morning: "Remembering Ernest Hemingway"
Even more to explore...
Sherwood Anderson
- Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small Town Life- links to the full e-text from Bartleby.com
- Perspectives in American Literature: Sherwood Anderson- a great research source from California State University
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
- Short Story: "The Corn Planting" -p. 815
- Additional Resources:
- Short Story: "The Egg" (handout)
W.H. Auden
- W.H. Auden- from the Academy of American poets, biographical information and links to some of his works
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
- Poem: "The Unknown Citizen" -p. 777
e. e. cummings
- e.e. cummings- a page from the Academy of American Poets with biographical information and e-texts.
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
- Poem: "old age sticks" -p. 774
- Poem: "anyone lived in a pretty how town" -p. 775
H.D.
- H.D. - from the Academy of American poets, biographical information and links to some of her works.
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
- Poem: "Pear Tree" -p. 735
- Poem: "Heat" -p. 736
T.S. Eliot
- Modern American Poetry: T.S. Eliot - from the Department of English at the University of Illinois, this site offers biographical information as well as links to selected works and analysis/criticism
- T.S. Eliot- from the Academy of American poets, biographical information and links to some of his works
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
- Poem: "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" -p. 716
William Faulkner
- William Faulkner, Biography- from the Nobel Foundation
- Mississippi Writers Page: William Faulkner -from the English Department of the University of Mississippi, an extensive biography and more.
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
- Short Story: "A Rose for Emily" -p.862
- Speech: Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech -p. 875
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Robert Frost
- Robert Frost- from the Academy of American poets, biographical information and links to some of his works
- Modern American Poetry: Robert Frost - from the Department of English at the University of Illinois, this site offers biographical information as well as links to selected works and analysis/criticism
- Perspectives in American Literature: Robert Frost- a great research source from California State University.
- Robert Frost Farm: Derry, NH - Never been there? Here's a virtual look at what's just 20 minutes away from LHS.
- Robert Frost: Online Resources - comprehensive, multi-media resources from the Library of Congress.
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
- Poem: "Birches" -p. 882
- Poem: "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" -p. 885
- Poem: "Mending Wall" -p. 886
- Poem: "Out, Out" -p. 888
- Poem: "The Gift Outright" -p. 890
- Poem: "Acquainted with the Night" -p. 892
Archibald MacLeish
- Archibald MacLeish- from the Academy of American poets, biographical information and links to some of his works.
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
- Poem: "Ars Poetica" -p. 796
Edgar Lee Masters
- Modern American Poetry: Edgar Lee Masters - from the Department of English at the University of Illinois, this site offers biographical information as well as links to selected works and analysis/criticism.
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources
- Poem: "Lucinda Matlock" -p. 663
- Poem: "Richard Bone" -p. 664
Marianne Moore
- Marianne Moore- from the Academy of American poets, biographical information and links to some of her works.
- Modern American Poetry: Marianne Moore- from the Department of English at the University of Illinois, this site offers biographical information as well as links to selected works and analysis/criticism.
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources
- Poem: "Poetry" -p. 798
Ogden Nash
Ogden Nash Online - selected works and lots of links.
Katherine Anne Porter
- American Masters: Katherine Anne Porter- interesting information from PBS
- Perspectives in American Literature: Katherine Anne Porter- a great research source from California State University.
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
- Short Story: "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” -p. 848
Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Modern American Poetry: Edward Arlington Robinson - from the Department of English at the University of Illinois, this site offers biographical information as well as links to selected works and analysis/criticism.
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
- Poem: "Luke Havergal" -p. 660
- Poem: "Richard Cory" -p. 662
Wallace Stevens
- Wallace Stevens- from the Academy of American poets, biographical information and links to some of his works.
- Modern American Poetry: Wallace Stevens - from the Department of English at the University of Illinois, this site offers biographical information as well as links to selected works and analysis/criticism.
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
- Poem: "Of Modern Poetry" -p. 794
- Poem: "Anecdote of the Jar" -p. 795
John Steinbeck
James Thurber
- The Thurber House: A Literary Center for Writers and Readers- an interesting site offering lots of information on Thurber.
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
- Essay: "The Night the Ghost Got In" -p. 898
Eudora Welty
- The Eudora Welty Foundation
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
- Short Story: "A Worn Path" -p. 820
William Carlos Williams
- William Carlos Williams- from the Academy of American poets, biographical information and links to some of his works.
- Modern American Poetry: William Carlos Williams- from the Department of English at the University of Illinois, this site offers biographical information as well as links to selected works and analysis/criticism.
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
- Poem: "The Red Wheelbarrow" -p. 733
- Poem: "The Great Figure" -p. 733
- Poem: "This is Just to Say" -p. 734
Thomas Wolfe
- Thomas Wolfe Memorial
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
- Short Story: "The Far and the Near" -p. 784
E.B. White
- New York Times Books: Life & Times- E.B. White- an extensive resource with many great links.
- Meet the Author: E.B. White- a resource from Houghton Mifflin.
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
- Excerpt from Essay: "Here is New York" -p. 903
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Overall "Text to World" & "Text to Text" Connections for this Literary Period
- American Memory Timeline - from the Learning Page at The Library of Congress, this link will help you connect American history to American literature.
Works Cited
“1920s-Mid-1930s Harlem Renaissance.” American Masters: The American Novel. 2007. Public Broadcasting Network. 20 June 2007 <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americannovel/ timeline/ harlemrenaissance.html >.
The American Experience. New Jersey. Prentice Hall Literature, 1991.