I’m teaching characterization in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter. I will focus on the theme of respect by looking at the book’s protagonist, Hester Prynne, and tracking her journey from scorned societal outcast to respected contributor within her community. …
Studying epic poetry, particularly Homer’s The Iliad, is a great way to explore the theme of anger, as this theme is present from the very beginning of the poem which begins with the line, “Sing, Goddess, sing of the rage …
Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is a meta-fictional novel that redefines truth-telling. The narrator layers factual “happening-truth” with “story-truth,” where he re-imagines, exchanges details, and makes statements like, “A true war story cannot be believed” (O’Brien 71). Using the …
During a unit on the dystopian novel, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, I would include this conversation by Epictetus about stress management. I would introduce this quote after reading Chapter 2, at which point Katniss volunteers to take her …
After reading the novel, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair with my students, which exposes the ugly truth of the meat industry, I would present Abraham Lincoln’s conversation self-determination. We would use this conversation to prompt a thorough investigation of Sinclair’s …
While Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio depicts small-town America through the lens of the Lost Generation, filled with feelings of disillusionment, uncertainty and loss, student’s today can identify with the struggles of his small-town characters, especially George Willard. These students are …
I’m getting ready to teach the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and I want to focus on happiness. I could use the Diogenes conversation right before introducing the novel to get the kids thinking about the meaning of happiness. …
In teaching a unit on The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, I want to focus on the theme of self-motivation, as so many of the novel’s characters are motivated by different things, some harder to figure out than others; …
One of the greatest moments in American literature occurs in Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, when Huck makes the decision to help Jim escape slavery, even though it goes against everything he has been taught. The theme …
Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God is a perfect novel to use to study happiness. The main character spends a great deal of the novel in unhappy situations. After a study of the novel, I would use the …
In the novel Lord of the Flies, the theme of self-discipline is evident when the stranded boys attempt to recreate the disciplined society that they grew up in on the island. Mid-way through a study of the novel I would …
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Peterson offers one of the most poignant stories of friendship available in children’s literature. Two friends, Jess and Leslie, find each other and become friends during a time when they both need companionship. Though their …
Copyright © 2025 Teach Different. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2023 Teach Different. All rights reserved.
