Great Literature Shorter than a Novel
Sometimes, the best way to get students interested in literature is reading interesting literature. Let the writing speak for itself. Here are some full-proof pieces that inspire great discussions, and great imitation. If you recommend any worthy literature, please sent it my way!
The works are organized by author's last name and Fiction or Non-Fiction
Fiction
"Temporary Poem Of My Time" by Yehuda Amichai
A beautiful and painful poem about growing up in Israel.
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/temporary-poem-of-my-time/
A beautiful and painful poem about growing up in Israel.
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/temporary-poem-of-my-time/
"Invisible Cities" by Italo Calvino
http://www.scribd.com/doc/18789131/Calvino-Italo-Invisible-cities
http://www.scribd.com/doc/18789131/Calvino-Italo-Invisible-cities
"Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
A poem about the rise and fall of power.
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15831
A poem about the rise and fall of power.
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15831
"Joyas Voladoras" by Brian Doyle
Written by Brian Doyle when he found out his child was born with a missing heart chamber, but and the essay is a beautiful metaphorical rumination about life in the animal kingdom.
http://theamericanscholar.org/joyas-volardores/#.UUmiUhklgcM
Written by Brian Doyle when he found out his child was born with a missing heart chamber, but and the essay is a beautiful metaphorical rumination about life in the animal kingdom.
http://theamericanscholar.org/joyas-volardores/#.UUmiUhklgcM
"A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss" Harry Graham
Go gettum! - don't just sit around gathering moss.
http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/59341/
Go gettum! - don't just sit around gathering moss.
http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/59341/
"Invictus" by William Ernest Henley
The most famous line of the poem: "I am the master of my fate:/ I am the captain of my soul"
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/invictus/
The most famous line of the poem: "I am the master of my fate:/ I am the captain of my soul"
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/invictus/
"Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes
An autobiographical poem reflecting on the process of writing
http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~keith/poems/English_B.html
An autobiographical poem reflecting on the process of writing
http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~keith/poems/English_B.html
"Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka
A classic short story that pulls the hearts of anyone who has felt like an outsider, even if it's about a guy who turns into an insect. Opens the discussion for existentialism.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5200/5200-h/5200-h.htm
A classic short story that pulls the hearts of anyone who has felt like an outsider, even if it's about a guy who turns into an insect. Opens the discussion for existentialism.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5200/5200-h/5200-h.htm
Select short stories from Suddenly, a Knock on the Door by Etgar Keret
His writing is quirky, whimsical, and sometimes dark. Make sure to read his stories ahead of time before recommending!
Best: "Suddenly, a Knock on the Door," "Lieland," "What Do We Have in Our Pockets?" "What, of Goldfish, Would You Wish?" and "Guava"
(Some available on the following site) http://somethingoutofsomething.tumblr.com/lieland
His writing is quirky, whimsical, and sometimes dark. Make sure to read his stories ahead of time before recommending!
Best: "Suddenly, a Knock on the Door," "Lieland," "What Do We Have in Our Pockets?" "What, of Goldfish, Would You Wish?" and "Guava"
(Some available on the following site) http://somethingoutofsomething.tumblr.com/lieland
"If" by Rudyard Kipling
A letter, poem form, written from parent to child about how to live life.
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/if/
A letter, poem form, written from parent to child about how to live life.
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/if/
"Sonrisas" by Pat Mora
Living between two worlds symbolized by two rooms she straddles and the people in each room.
http://eng298.blogspot.co.il/2008/04/introduction-sonrisas-by-pat-mora.html
Living between two worlds symbolized by two rooms she straddles and the people in each room.
http://eng298.blogspot.co.il/2008/04/introduction-sonrisas-by-pat-mora.html
"Keeping Quiet" Pablo Neruda
http://www.bu.edu/quantum/zen/readings/keepingQuietNeruda.html
http://www.bu.edu/quantum/zen/readings/keepingQuietNeruda.html
"My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke
A poem depicting the relationship between a young boy, his father, and his mother through their waltz
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/172103
A poem depicting the relationship between a young boy, his father, and his mother through their waltz
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/172103
"O Captain! My Captain!" by Walt Whitman
The end of an adventure of triumph and despair
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/o-captain-my-captain/
The end of an adventure of triumph and despair
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/o-captain-my-captain/
"The Second Coming" by William Butler Yeats
The source for titles "Things fall apart" and "Slouching toward Bethlehem" - a post WWI poem
http://www.potw.org/archive/potw351.html
The source for titles "Things fall apart" and "Slouching toward Bethlehem" - a post WWI poem
http://www.potw.org/archive/potw351.html
This list taken from Sheridan Blau's Sample Syllabus
Li-Young Lee, "Persimmons"
Dionisio Martinez, 2 poems
Audre Lord, "Hanging Fire"
Gwendolyn Brooks, 9 very short poems
Robert Hayden, "Those Winter Sundays"
Stanley Kunitz, "Touch Me"
W. H. Auden, "Musee de Beaux Artes"
Langston Hughes, "Theme for English B"
Robinson Jeffers, "Carmel Point"
William Carlos Williams, 6 very short poems
Edwin Arlington Robinson, "Richard Cory," "Reuben Bright"
A. E. Housemen, "To an Athlete Dying Young"
Gerard Manley Hopkins, "The Windhover," "Pied Beauty," "Spring and Fall"
Thomas Hardy, "Hap"
Emily Dickinson, #185, 241, 249, 254,303,435, 465, 1129
Robert Browning, "My Last Duchess"
Wm Wordsworth, "Composed Upon Westminster Bridge," "My Heart Leaps Up"
Andrew Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress"
Richard Lovelace, "To Lucasta, Going to the Wars"
George Herbert, "The Altar," "Easter Wings," "Prayer I," "The Flower"
Ben Jonson, "On My First Son"
John Donne, "Song," "Woman's Constancy," "The Sun Rising," "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning," "The Flea," "Elegy 19...," plus Holy Sonnets #5, #7, #10
Christopher Marlowe, "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love"
Sir Walter Raleigh, "The Nymph's Reply-," "The Passionate Man's Pilgrimage"
Thomas Wyatt, "They Flee from Me"
Anon (15th Cent), "Western Wind"
Li-Young Lee, "Persimmons"
Dionisio Martinez, 2 poems
Audre Lord, "Hanging Fire"
Gwendolyn Brooks, 9 very short poems
Robert Hayden, "Those Winter Sundays"
Stanley Kunitz, "Touch Me"
W. H. Auden, "Musee de Beaux Artes"
Langston Hughes, "Theme for English B"
Robinson Jeffers, "Carmel Point"
William Carlos Williams, 6 very short poems
Edwin Arlington Robinson, "Richard Cory," "Reuben Bright"
A. E. Housemen, "To an Athlete Dying Young"
Gerard Manley Hopkins, "The Windhover," "Pied Beauty," "Spring and Fall"
Thomas Hardy, "Hap"
Emily Dickinson, #185, 241, 249, 254,303,435, 465, 1129
Robert Browning, "My Last Duchess"
Wm Wordsworth, "Composed Upon Westminster Bridge," "My Heart Leaps Up"
Andrew Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress"
Richard Lovelace, "To Lucasta, Going to the Wars"
George Herbert, "The Altar," "Easter Wings," "Prayer I," "The Flower"
Ben Jonson, "On My First Son"
John Donne, "Song," "Woman's Constancy," "The Sun Rising," "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning," "The Flea," "Elegy 19...," plus Holy Sonnets #5, #7, #10
Christopher Marlowe, "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love"
Sir Walter Raleigh, "The Nymph's Reply-," "The Passionate Man's Pilgrimage"
Thomas Wyatt, "They Flee from Me"
Anon (15th Cent), "Western Wind"
Non-Fiction
"Why Boys Become Vicious" by William Golding (writer of Lord of the Flies)
A reflective essay that pairs nicely with Lord of the Flies. Controversial ideas that can spark good conversation.
Link to the document
A reflective essay that pairs nicely with Lord of the Flies. Controversial ideas that can spark good conversation.
Link to the document
Why do NPR Reporters have Such Great Names? by Deirdre Mask
A fun article about the amazing names of National Public Radio figures.
A fun article about the amazing names of National Public Radio figures.
