Does EIL Have an Answer Key?
Does Excellence in Literature Have an Answer Key? No, this is a literature and writing course — there are no multiple choice questions. Because the Excellence in Literature courses are designed to prepare students...
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Is There a Teacher’s Manual?
Is There a Teacher’s Manual for Excellence in Literature? Since the Excellence in Literature (EIL) guides are designed to be self-directed, they are written so that you do not need a teacher’s manual. The front of...
G. K. Chesterton on Aesop and his Fables
G. K. Chesterton on Aesop and his Fables G. K. Chesterton discusses some elements of fable and the fame of Aesop, in his introduction to a 1912 edition of Aesop’s Fables. Aesop embodies an epigram...
George Herbert Biography
George Herbert (1593–1633) wrote some of the most beautiful devotional poetry in the English language. Learn more about this poet’s life and work.
The Ruins of Rome in the Fifteenth Century by Edward Gibbon
This brief excerpt from Edward Gibbon’s History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is the first paragraph of the final chapter in the book. As you read it, be sure to observe how Gibbons uses a quote...
Pride and Prejudice: A Play by Pamela Whalan
Pride and Prejudice: A Play by Pamela Whalan Enjoy an excerpt from Pride and Prejudice: A Play, by Pamela Whalan, who has adaptated Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice for the stage. Sometimes acting out...
Social Background of Pride and Prejudice by Pamela Whalan
The Social Background of Pride and Prejudice by Pamela Whalan Matrimony and Finances: Women’s Options, Marriage Settlements, and Family Obligations Cost of Living: Travel and Clothing Earning Money: Property, Military, Law, and Church Work...
A Leak in the Dike by Phoebe Cary
A Leak in the Dike A Story of Holland by Phoebe Cary THE good dame looked from her cottage At the close of the pleasant day, And cheerily called to her little son Outside the...
Of Education by John Milton
Of Education by John Milton Of Education was published anonymously as a tract in 1644. It represents John Milton’s views “concerning the best and noblest way of education.” Milton believed that education was to “fit a man to...
Creating Outlines by Kathleen Lietzau
Creating Outlines by Kathleen Lietzau What is an Outline? Macro Outlines Micro Outlines Crafting an Outline Moving from the Outline to the Paper What is an Outline? An outline is a way of formally...
Hermitage Video Tour
Gary Bembridge offers a short video tour of the beautiful Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. The State Hermitage Museum is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums in the world,...
Edgar Lee Masters Biography
What did contemporary scholars think of Edgar Lee Masters (1868-1950) during his lifetime? Here’s an interesting biography and analysis published in 1918, written by popular Yale professor William Lyon Phelps. Edgar Lee Masters was...
P. G. Wodehouse Biography
P. G. Wodehouse Biography Sir Pelham Grenville (P. G.) Wodehouse (1881 – 1975) was a British humorist whose life spanned nearly a century. Best known for his novels featuring Bertie and Jeeves, Wodehouse (pronounced Woodhouse) also wrote short stories,...
The Village Blacksmith by Longfellow
THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Under a spreading chestnut-tree The village smithy stands; The smith, a mighty man is he, With large and sinewy hands; And the muscles of his brawny arms...
Jane Austen Biography
This brief Jane Austen biography by David Cody is likely to whet your appetite for learning more about Jane Austen and her works.
Robert Frost Resources
Robert Frost Resources Robert Lee Frost (1874 – 1963) was a highly-regarded American poet known for realistic depictions of New England rural life as well as his use of American colloquial speech. His work used homespun...
Modernism, Faith, and Intellectuals
In a Modernist* culture hostile to Christianity, how did T. S. Eliot, C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, and many more join the faith — and how did other intellectuals like Virginia Woolf react?...
F. Scott Fitzgerald Resources
F. Scott Fitzgerald Resources Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (1896-1940) led a life as colorful as one of his Jazz Age novels. Although he wrote only four complete novels and short stories, he is widely...
Fitzgerald Audio Recordings
F. Scott Fitzgerald Audio Recordings Listen to these 1940s recordings of F. Scott Fitzgerald reading and reciting famous literature — he has a magnificent, magical voice that seems to give insight into his works...
Fitzgerald Collection at USC
The F. Scott Fitzgerald Collection at the University of South Carolina A fascinating F. Scott Fitzgerald Collection of documents has been made available online. According to the library’s description, “This F. Scott Fitzgerald Centenary website was launched...
In the Bleak Midwinter by Christina Rossetti
In the Bleak Midwinter by Christina Georgina Rossetti In the bleak midwinter Frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow,...
Christina Rossetti Biography
Christina Rossetti Biography Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 – 1894) was an English poet who wrote a variety of romantic, devotional, and children’s poems. She is famous for writing the words to the Christmas carol In the Bleak Midwinter. The Life...
Advent Poems by Christina Georgina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti’s classic Christmas carol, “In the Bleak Midwinter,” offers a vivid poetic look at the Incarnation. In a similar way, her less-known Advent poems describe the season of waiting and watching. Advent (1851) ‘Come,’ Thou dost say...
Goethe Biography (1911)
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), German poet, dramatist and philosopher, is known for Faust and Letters to a Young Poet, among other things.
William Butler Yeats Poetry
William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939) was an Irish Symbolist poet, as well as a two-term Irish Senator. He was a master of traditional poetry forms, and is widely considered one of the most...
The Courtship of Miles Standish by Longfellow
The Courtship of Miles Standish by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow This narrative poem written in 1858 by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow tells a charming tale of a courtship during the early days of Plymouth...
Part 9: The Courtship of Miles Standish
The Courtship of Miles Standish—Part 9 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow IX. THE WEDDING-DAY Forth from the curtain of clouds, from the tent of purple and scarlet, Issued the sun, the great High-Priest,[54] in his...
Part 8: The Courtship of Miles Standish
The Courtship of Miles Standish—Part 8 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow VIII. THE SPINNING WHEEL Month after month passed away, and in, autumn the ships of the merchants 825 Game with kindred and friends, with...
Part 7: The Courtship of Miles Standish
The Courtship of Miles Standish—Part 7 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow VII. THE MARCH OF MILES STANDISH.[44] Meanwhile the stalwart Miles Standish was marching steadily northward, 725 Winding through forest and swamp, and...
James Fenimore Cooper Resources
James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) Cooper is considered the first fully American novelist – someone who achieved literary success writing about American issues, characters, and settings. He was influenced in his writing by the adventure novels...
