On July 4, 1803, the territory of the United States doubled in size. At the conclusion of negotiations between Napoleon Bonaparte and President Thomas Jefferson, the nation acquired the Louisiana Purchase for $15 million -- approximately 3 cents per acre of land.
Edith Wharton published Ethan Frome in 1911; a full e-text is available below, alongside links that will allow you to learn more about Wharton's life and work.
What was life like for women during the Victorian age? You will explore several websites that describe life in the Victorian era, a term used to describe the culture and society during the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901. Keep in mind that like all broad claims about a society, the following are examples of life during this time, and only begin to reveal the complexity of Victorian-era livelihood.
Exploring Arthurian Legend. Work in groups to annotate these timelines by adding non-Arthurian events with which you may be already familiar (e.g., the reign of Charlemagne, the Norman Conquest, the signing of the Magna Carta, the Crusades).
Just as the society around us shapes the way we think and act, so did it shape the people of Salem, Massachusetts in the 1600s. Look at the websites listed below, and, on a separate sheet of paper, answer the questions about life in Puritan New England. Note that many of the websites contain interactive images. Click on the images to open them, and mouse-over the image to discover more about it.
The online text, biography of Jack London, and a literary definition of "setting" are all available below. Your teacher will provide instructions for the White Fang Close Reading Worksheet.
