Category Archives: World Literature

Bring Shakespeare to Old Time Radio–Common Core Standard 9

Most students are probably not aware that copyright protection laws are relatively new, so they might be surprised to learn just how many famous authors like Shakespeare borrowed and adapted others’ ideas. They should already know (I hope) that Stephanie Meyer’s books aren’t entirely original vampire stories, but they probably don’t know how many earlier “versions” of Romeo and Juliet you can find. Common Core Standard 9.  Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work (e.g., how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from Ovid or the Bible or how a later author draws on a play by Shakespeare). Although there are many authors who treat themes and topics from earlier works in their own, Shakespeare is one of the easiest to approach with students simply because one can find more information online about him than nearly any other author.  If you are lucky … Continue reading

Posted in Audio, Classical Literature, Common Core Standards, Drama, Lesson Plans, Shakespeare, Technology Integration, World Literature | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Broaden Students’ Cultural Perspectives with Project Gutenberg

Common Core Standard six of “Reading: Craft and Structure” provides an important opportunity to expose our students to different perspectives from cultures other than their own.  This standard also gives us a great reason to explore some of the thousands of free texts that Project Gutenberg has to offer including many collections of short stories which can be downloaded to just about any digital device from an e-reader, a pc or laptop to a smartphone or tablet. 6. Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature. I found some excellent collections of short stories grouped by nationality and by topic.  You must scroll to the bottom of the short stories bookshelf page, to see “Other” collections grouped by themes.  With Halloween coming right up, I’m working on organizing a few … Continue reading

Posted in American Literature, Classical Literature, Common Core Standards, Lesson Plans, World Literature | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment