Here are some links to other websites which will aid classroom or home study using Real Reads American classics books.
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Mark Twain
The official website of Mark Twain’s estate.
The Victorian mansion of the Clemens family in Hartford, Connecticut, is a fascinating museum of the author’s life and era.
Hannibal, Missouri has preserved the Clemens and ‘Thatcher’ family homes, as well as other sites made immortal in Mark Twain’s books.
The Missouri Historical Society – search here for ‘Mark Twain’.
Search for ‘Underground Railroad’ for a list of historical sites connected with the secret escape routes and safe houses used by abolitionists to assist the liberated refugees.
www.missouricaves.com/team/mark-twain-cave
The Missouri Caves Association site has photos of the actual Mark Twain Cave, just south of Hannibal, the childhood home of Sam Clemens, on which he based Tom’s St Petersburg.
Moby Dick
www.whale-world.com/facts-aboutwhales-for-kids.html
Good basic information about whales.
Based in New Bedford, Massachusetts, which replaced Nantucket as the principal whaling port on the North American east coast. This site covers all aspects of whaling.
The Awakening
www.katechopin.org/the-awakening
The Kate Chopin International Society’s page for materials and links relating to The Awakening.
edsitement.neh.gov/curricula/kate-chopins-awakening
A three-lesson plan with resources, created by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
www.lpb.org/programs/kate-chopin-a-re-awakening
Information about Kate Chopin from an award-winning documentary on her life and work produced by Louisiana Public Television.
The Call of the Wild
www.biography.com/writer/jack-london
A biography of Jack London
maps.google.com – The Call of the Wild
A themed Google map showing the places mentioned in The Call of the Wild.
The Great Gatsby
www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1564.html
This page, part of a wider US history site, concentrates on the Roaring Twenties and provides excellent background information about American society at the time of The Great Gatsby.
This ‘Historical Snapshot of Life in the 1920s’ offers a chance to learn about many aspects of life – from science to popular films to hairstyles – in that hectic decade.
This site, produced by Ohio State University, gives the background to Prohibition in the United States. It also examines how successful the move was in stamping out alcohol, how it was enforced and why it was repealed.
www.biography.com/writer/f-scott-fitzgerald
The Biography Channel site devoted to F. Scott Fitzgerald provides an excellent overview of the author’s life and lasting influence.
www.halloweencostumes.com/a-guide-to-the-roaring-20s
This page gives an excellent overview of the Roaring Twenties in America.
In Search for the Great Gatsby House on Long Island (+Map)
One family’s adventure to find Gatsby’s house! (Credit with thanks to Anna and family)
In Search for the Great Gatsby House on Long Island (+Map)
One family’s adventure to find Gatsby’s house! (Credit with thanks to Anna and family)
The Red Badge of Courage
www.civilwarhome.com/chancell.htm
Part of the excellent Civil war home project, this site is devoted to the Battle of Chancellorsville, which provided the inspiration for The Red Badge of Courage.
xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/CRANE/badge.html
This site, devoted to The Red Badge of Courage, has accounts of American and British reaction to the novel when it was published as well as links to useful Civil War sites.
www.online-literature.com/crane
A comprehensive collection of the author’s work, with biographical information and a forum for discussion.
The Scarlet Letter
This is the fascinating interactive site of Plimoth Plantation, a ‘living museum’ that recreates the settlement established by seventeenth-century English colonists in Massachusetts.
teacher.scholastic.com/researchtools/researchstarters/plymouth
Information about the Plymouth Colony, including links to details of Boston and the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
An excellent resource for information on the famous Witch Trials, and about life in colonial Massachusetts.