Category: E1-Resources

Resources for Introduction to Literature: English 1.

Birthplace of Jonathan Swift.

Jonathan Swift Poetry

Jonathan Swift (1667 – 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, poet and Anglican cleric best remembered in the literary world for his satirical novel, Gulliver’s Travels. As a writer, he developed close,...

Robert Louis Stevenson poetry offers vivid and compelling images of childhood, travel, and more.

Robert Louis Stevenson Poetry

Robert Louis Stevenson, in addition to his famous prose works, also wrote poetry ranging from children’s nursery rhymes to poems of travel and adventure. Here are a few samples for your enjoyment. From A...

Portrait of William Butler Yeats by John Singer Sargent.

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...

Edgar Allan Poe and his New York cottage, Fordam House, c. 1908.

Silence by Edgar Allan Poe

Silence by Edgar Allan Poe There are some qualities — some incorporate things, That have a double life, which thus is made A type of that twin entity which springs From matter and light,...

George Orwell as he faced the world in 1936.

George Orwell Resources

Would you like to learn more about George Orwell, the author of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four? George Orwell (1903-1950) was the pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair, an English novelist whose work is known for...

Eudora Welty’s home in Jackson, Mississippi is now a museum open to visitors.

A Worn Path by Eudora Welty

A Worn Path by Eudora Welty It was December—a bright frozen day in the early morning. Far out in the country there was an old Negro woman with her head tied red rag, coming...

Orwell hard at work in the winter of 1945

George Orwell Timeline by Steven Kreis

George Orwell, 1903-1950 From The History Guide by Dr. Steven Kreis | Resources | Chronology | Select Bibliography | Resources George Orwell (The Chestnut Tree Cafe) George Orwell George Orwell (O. Dag) George Orwell (Petri Liukkonen)...

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson Biography

Robert Louis Stevenson Biography By Richard Dury, from the RLS Website Life and Publications Summary Robert Lewis (later: “Louis”) Balfour Stevenson was born in Edinburgh on 13 November 1850. His father Thomas belonged to...

Mark Twain, as photographed by A.F. Bradley, c. 1907, from the Library of Congress.

Mark Twain Resources Index

Resources for Mark Twain (1835-1910) Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835 – 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. His best-known novels include The Adventures...

Edgar Allan Poe, from a 1904 daguerrotype.

Edgar Allan Poe Resources

Many writers in the American canon have written both poetry and prose; few, however, are equally known for both. Edgar Allan Poe was one such writer. Indeed, it is almost as difficult to find...

White Heron

“A White Heron” Audio

Listen to “A White Heron” “A White Heron,” an 1886 short story by American author Sarah Orne Jewett, features Sylvia, a young girl who comes from a big city to live in the country...

Edgar Allen Poe

The Purloined Letter Dramatized

Although suspenseful music accompanies this 1952 dramatization, “The Purloined Letter” by American author Edgar Allan Poe lacks the element of horror found in most of Poe’s other short stories. Instead, this is one of...

Bust of Guy de Maupassant

“The Diamond Necklace” Audio

“The Diamond Necklace” (La Parure) is a short story by French author Guy de Maupassant, considered a master of the form.  A 19th-century Naturalist author, de Maupassant was a protégé of Gustave Flaubert and...

Alexander Pope

Solitude An Ode by Alexander Pope

Solitude: An Ode by Alexander Pope     I How happy he, who free from care The rage of courts, and noise of towns; Contented breaths his native air, In his own grounds. II...

Swift by Jervas, oil on canvas

Jonathan Swift Resources

Jonathan Swift Resources Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) wrote some of the most brilliant prose in the English language and is often regarded as its foremost satirist. While best known for his masterpiece Gulliver’s Travels and,...

Jonathan Swift Biography

This Swift biography paints a vivid portrait of the life and works of Jonathan Swift, an early British novelist. Introduction to Literature, Module 1.9.

George Bernard Shaw, playwright

George Bernard Shaw Resources

George Bernard Shaw Resources George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) was a prolific writer who worked as an art, music, and theater critic. Irish-born and largely self-educated, he found his calling writing popular plays, including Pygmalion...

Mark Twain, as photographed by A.F. Bradley, c. 1907, from the Library of Congress.

Mark Twain Biography (1911)

American author Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) is best known for his humorous stories, many taking place on or near the great Mississippi River.

Charlotte Brontë Biography

The Life of Charlotte Brontë by Elizabeth Gaskell “Hand in hand they used to make their way to the glorious moors, which in after days they loved so passionately.” The Children Who Never Played...

Treasure Island Adaptations

Treasure Island, the beloved adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, was originally serialized in the children’s magazine Young Folks in 1881 – 1882 under the title Treasure Island, or the mutiny of...

Jane Eyre Trailers

Jane Eyre Adaptations Jane Eyre, the classic 1847 novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë, has been a beloved favorite of generations of readers. It is no surprise, then, that it has been adapted a...

Mark Twain House Video

Where did Mark Twain live? The Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, Connecticut, was the home of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) and his family from 1874 to 1891. Designed by Edward Tuckerman...

Tchaikovsky’s Tempest Overture

Tchaikovsky and Shakespeare One of the most influential composers of the 19th century and the first Russian composer to achieve lasting international fame, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is best known today for his ballets Swan...

Theatrical release poster by Bill Gold; original illustration by Bob Peak

My Fair Lady (1964) Movie Trailer

My Fair Lady is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story presents Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl...