American Giants

These works are not necessarily covered in my literary work this year, but have proved helpful to many of my students. Authors include: Twain, Faulkner, Crane and Miller.

Mark Twain: Huck Finn Oh, the resources to be found for this book. "As an amusement, it is too fleeting. As a public exhibition, there is no money in it." Finally, something real. Check out the Huck Finn Curriculum and the Essays

• Huck Finn. Just a wonderful site. The complete text, with the first set of illustrations and some early reviews. This recent review is also helpful. For more on Twain, The Literary Whipping Boy, Come here.
• Student Essay An essay on the beginning of the book.
• Twain Home Another great site. If it is not here, it's not out there.
• A Banning in Denver. The author commenting on the banning of his book.
• DeCanon Jane Smiley talks to NPR about removing this book from the Canon. Needs RealAudio.Cecil's Points This article comments on Smiley's.
• Sarcasm a Discussion of the Sarcasm in the novel.
• Hannibal, Missouri. Boyhood home of the author, with some nice pictures of the house.
• Questions More questions on the book.
• Gospel of Mark One more Essay on Twain.
• African-American Experience. This is a Library of Congress exhibit, with a heavy emphasis on graphics.
• First Person/Third Person. This is an exhibit of original source material on slavery, taken from Duke University
• Fugitive Slave Law A discussion on the fugitive slave law. Interesting stuff. Respond to the author if you like it.
• Abolition An interesting page detailing the abolition of slavery.
• Slave Narratives. These are examples of slave narratives, taken from the Lehrman Collection in Houston.
• Documenting the American South The Southern Way...
• The South A basic primer on the American South.
• Paddleboats on the Mississippi A great page of links and pictures on paddleboats and the Mississippi River.
• The Big River A great information source on the river.

William Faulkner'sThe Unvanquished

• Faulkner. Just a great site. Go here first for almost anything, including a great exchange between Bill and Clark Gable.
• Faulkner. A decent site with some good information, particularly for English teachers
• The Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech. The famous speech, ding donging towards Doom.
• Faulkner Photos A basic information page, with some neat pictures.
• Rowan Oaks Faulkner's Home.
• Barn Burning A collection of student essays on the short story.
• Faulkner Reads to You This site has a collection of audio clips of Faulkner reading. You need some high speed access, but worthwhile.

• Pictures A picture of Biff, Happy and Dad to start with, then a picture of the author. Play the sound file, if you have time.
• Academia: An American class in Japan has a site for Miller. You should read of the comments from that class. Also, from the same site, the author has put Miller in an American tradition. Another essay on an African story, discusses Miller's 5 points of tragedy.
• The play is referred to constantly in modern business writing. This essays is difficult to read, but is a pretty good connection to the play. This article focuses on one salesman's reaction to the play. Computers and databases are just one more thing, like a clutter buster to sell. This article talks about the modern salesman...very technical. Finally, this a response to the play from a very young reader.
• Biographies: Business World has a brief profile of the writer in it's pages. A more full biography can be found at Penguin. If you need an interview with the man, Mr. Showbiz has what you need. One more Miller homepage is all we need, complete with Quicktime video.
• Other viewers like to see "Death" as a microscope of our modern society, and specifically our modern dramas. This essay celebrates the courage of it's ending,
• Finally, the play is also a launch pad for some creative ideas. This story uses the Salesman as a Faust character.

Stephan Crane's The Red Badge of Courage A lovely, violent novel.

• Stephen Crane Man, Myth and Legend
• The book If you left your book in your locker...
• War is Kind... Poems from the man.
• The Civil War There are flashier sites, but this one brings home the goods.

Back to the Beach Copyright © Finestkind publications and Bob Barsanti.