American Literature

Everything happens somewhere.  ESRI has developed a series of GeoInquiries™ to explore the geographic elements of the stories.

  1. Beyond religion: Scarlet Letter
    Explore the patterns of religion in the U.S. and world beyond the Puritan foundations found in The Scarlet Letter.
  2. Virus of Fear: Witchcraft in Salem
    Explore the geographic context and spatial extent of  the witch trials in the American colonies.  (The Crucible)
  3. Poe and the Red Death
    Discover the impact of tuberculosis on 1800’s America and modern society.
  4. The Red Badge of Courage
  5. Learn about the Battle of Chancellorsville and how it is connected to Stephen Crane’s novel.
  6. Twain: Travel Blogger
    Discover how the travel and life experiences of Mark Twain’s body of work, “Travel is fatal to prejudice.”
  7. Hurricane Warning
    Explore the geographic context of Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.
  8. Our Town, Your Town
    Explore the essential services in a small American town in the early 1900s and compare the services that our offered in a community today.
  9. Gatsby: Then and now
    Among the ash heaps and millionaries, explore the geographic and demographic context of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
  10. The mockingbird sings for freedom
    Explore the deomgraphic and social context of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
  11. Depression, dust and Steinbeck
    Explore the economic, environmental, and cultural differences in Steinbeck’s work.
  12. Hiroshima
    Learn about the Hiroshima explosion and how the height of the explosion and its effects are linked. This activity investigates Hirsohima by John Hershey.
  13. Dr. King’s Road to a Birmingham Jail
    Explore the events leading up to and beyond Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”s
  14. Finding Mango Street
    Explore the ethnic diversity of U.S. states and neighborhoods. This activity explores The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.
  15. F451: Ban or burn the books
    Explore banned books, population density, religion, and global literacy related to Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
  16. Serving the Wild
    Explore Chris McCandless’ journey into the wilds of Alaska and the factors that led to his death. (Into the Wild by John Krakauer)

Link to ESRI GeoInquiries™ page