Despite the controversies, Huckleberry Finn has remained a staple in high school literature study because teachers seek to engage students with texts that provoke discussion and questions. Primary sources from the Library of Congress can help deepen students' thinking around the issues central to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and other literary works.
With National Poetry Month around the corner, let's consider a very basic question: what makes a poem a poem? Noted poet and former Librarian of Congress Archibald MacLeish, considers this in his poem Ars Poetica.
How can you share your response to a major world event? In the 19th and early 20th centuries, you might have put your thoughts down in a poem and sent it to a newspaper. The 1918 entry of the United States into World War I triggered an especially dramatic outpouring of these personal responses in verse.
At the 12th Annual Library of Congress National Book Festival, we explored the use of primary sources along with books to address a variety of teaching points for students at any level.
Are you looking for a way to introduce fables to your students? (You might be aware of common core standards that require students to recount fables and determine the lesson or moral.) Let the Library of Congress help.
Where can you find digitized rare books, information about the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, the National Book Festival, and myriad other resources to support literacy and reading? Visit READ.gov, from the Library of Congress.
April has been set aside as a time to celebrate and explore the rich and varied legacy of poetry. This conversation with Library of Congress staff Peter Armenti, Digital Reference Specialist, and Rob Casper, Director of the Poetry and Literature Center, explores how to find poetry resources from the Library.
April has been set aside as a time to celebrate and explore the rich and varied legacy of poetry. The online activity “Making Connections through Poetry” invites students to analyze primary source images and documents from the Library of Congress and then create a poem to share their understanding of history.
