Students use Library of Congress primary sources to examine 19th and 20th century social life in the United States in order to formulate ideas about the American Dream.

An illustrated sheet music cover for a Whig campaign song, "The American Marseillaise," composed by Benjamin Cahill to mark the July 4, 1844, Boston Clay rally. In keeping with the title and the occasion of the piece the artist evokes the memory of the Revolution, and draws a parallel between George Washington and Whig presidential candidate Henry Clay. Oval medallion portraits of Washington (left) and Clay (right) are suspended by ribbons decorated with wreaths or leaf clusters. From each oval hang the tendrils of a vine. The ribbons are held by an eagle (center) and are labeled "Pater et Fili" (i.e., father and son), referring to Washington and Clay respectively. Below the eagle is a view of Boston and its harbor with the Bunker Hill Monument obelisk (its size considerably exaggerated) surrounded by crowds of troops and people.|Entered . . . 1844 by B. Cahill.|The Library's copy of the cover was deposited for copyright on July 3, 1844.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1844-11.

On the cover of a patriotic song dedicated to Lincoln's secretary of the navy Gideon Welles Uncle Sam rides a "ram," or ironclad steam vessel, down the Mississippi River. The Library's copy of the music cover was deposited for copyright on August 22, 1863, soon after two decisive Union victories on the Mississippi: Vicksburg (July 4) and Port Hudson (July 9). Welles was responsible for ushering the Union navy into the age of ironclad steamers. Several lines of verse on the cover praise the ironclad rams as "shaking the world with rampant dismay! Iron-harnessed, steam-driven, t sweeps o'er the sea, Our American Rampart, the shield of the free!" |Entered . . . 1863 by H. Tolman & Co. . . . Mass.|Published by Henry Tolman & Co. 291 Washington St.|Signed: Green, eng. (Probably Henry F. Green or Greene).|Title appeas as it is written on the item.|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1863-11.

A critical look at Irish Repeal movement leader Daniel O'Connell's condemnation of slavery in the United States. Clay portrays O'Connell's agitation against slavery as an affront to American friends of repeal, who contributed sizable amounts of money for "rent" to support the insurgent movement in Ireland. Conversely, Clay also portrays English-supported American abolitionists as inimical to repeal. In the cartoon is an effeminately dressed Robert Tyler, son and personal secretary to John Tyler, as well as a published poet and repeal advocate. Armed with his "Epitaph on Robert Emmet" (an earlier Irish patriot) and "Ahaseurus" (his religious poem, published in 1842) young Tyler presents O'Connell to his father. Robert Tyler proclaims, "Mr. O'Connell this is my Father, he is a great friend to repeal and when he is re elected he will give you his "mite." I am his Son and though I've got no money I've a great deal of Poetry in me--I have begun Robert Emmet's epitaph-from the sale of which I have no doubt I shall be able to send a large Army to Ireland." President Tyler, rising from his chair, says, "Welcome Mr. O'Connell! I'm just what Bobby says I am--I am all for repeal no halfway man but go the whole figure you jolly old Beggar." O'Connell wears knee-breeches and a hat decorated with a republican cockade and a clay pipe. He holds a club marked "Agitation" and a sack "Repale Rint" (i.e., "repeal rent"), and retorts, "Arrah! give up your Slaves I'd rather shake hands wid a pick-pocket than wid a Slave Holder, and if we ge our repale we'll set em all free before you can say Pathernoster--I dont want any of your blood-stained money!" An abolitionist resembling William Lloyd Garrison, with a document "Petition to Tyler to emancipate his slaves" under his arm, touches O'Connell's shoulder. He reassures the Irishman, "Friend Daniel, we will join you in all your views. your cause and ours is one only we dont want to meddle with Irish repeal for fear we may lose our English friends." On the left a black house slave standing beside Tyler's chair adds "By jolly I wish Massa Harry Clay [Kentucky senator Henry Clay] was here--Dis dam low Irishman not dare talk to him dat way!"|Entered . . . 1843 by H.R. Robinson.|H.R. Robinson 142 Nassau St. New York, Lithy in all its branches.|Signed with monogram: EWC (Edward Williams Clay).|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 71.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1843-2.

This lesson explores authors craft and sturcture through and event that directly effects students. 

This lesson focuses on the vocabulary and skills students need to define, identify, discuss and apply a variety of informative writing techniques. The texts in this lesson are infographics related to marginalized people. Students are asked to apply the techniques they learn to an informative text of their own. 

The purpose of this interactive lesson is for students to analyze the evidence in support of a claim in an argument, and to evaluate whether the argument is supported. Adult students preparing for the GED extended response and who place at least at a Grade 8 reading / writing level will find this tool useful. This lesson can also be a stand alone primer for those wanting to evaluate / present better arguments at work and in life. This lesson is designed for a face-to-face, instructor-led classroom setting.

This lesson guides students through analysis of non-print media as a vehicle for argument.
Added to this are Pulitzer Prize Winning Photographs for them to pick from.

In this unit you will learn about the formal parts of an argument and how they work together. You will also learn about a common and not always honest way that people making arguments attempt to persuade their audiences, sometimes through manipulation.

This unit contains two lessons, a primary source reading, an information literacy activity, and a discussion activity.

This resource was created as part of a Developmental Reading course redesign project, with contributions from Theresa Love and David Pontious and support from an Open Oregon Educational Resources grant.

These 3 lessons are for high ABE/low ASE students at a level D-E Reading level to practice identifying key points in video and text and analyzing the causes and effects of social issues, and identifying solutions to these problems. By watching two short videos and reading EPA materials on the effects of lead exposure and a short article on the specific drinking water crisis in Flint, MI, students will examine key issues, analyze the problem and its causes, identify approaches to solving this problem and ones like it in other locations, and apply this approach to other scenarios that are relevant to their immediate lives.

Students are often asked to perform speeches, but rarely do we require students to analyze speeches as carefully as we study works of literature. In this unit, students are required to identify the rhetorical strategies in a famous speech and the specific purpose for each chosen device. They will write an essay about its effectiveness and why it is still famous after all these years.

By analyzing Dear Abby's rant about bad grammar usage, students become aware that attitudes about race, social class, moral and ethical character, and "proper" language use are intertwined.

In this lesson students use the Informational Text Analysis Tool to deconstruct the essential elements of informational text. Informational text is more important to teachers than ever before, especially with the rise of the new Core standards. The Library of Congress is an excellent resource for finding and using texts to build students' reading skills.Through a diverse array of classic and contemporary literature as well as challenging informational and primary source texts, students build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspective.

This is an English literature lesson plan that analyzes the motif of home in the context of post World War II segregation in California based on the book Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley. It is one lesson in a series of interdisciplinary lessons that are detailed in the plan.

This lesson guides students through analysis of non-print media as a vehicle for argument.

In this lesson Students individually consider a visual text and draw conclusions based on what they see. They write about their conclusions and explain the evidence used to make that determination. Students will be able to analyze a visual text. Students will be able to develop and support a claim about the visual text based on evidence found in the text.

Students will analyze photos for specific details that reveal the owner of a specific room.Then the analysis will include literature but will focus on literary devices and connotations.Also, students will have the opportunity to summarize text and then use evidence to support specific connotations.

The goal for this unit is to have students analyze a variety of sources on a current events subject of their interest, identify the different perspectives, and defend their own position.This is one lesson from a larger unit on Evaluating Media. This unit will also cover identifying credible sources, analyzing fake news and the role of propaganda, identifying the different ways news is communicated in different communities. This unit will take place in the beginning of the school year to help instill evaluative and critical thinking research skills as we discuss and explore our big ideas throughout the school year. The end goal is to have students create a digital resource for their topic that we can share out as an educational tool for others. We’ll be creating a padlet that links to all of their presentations (students will have their choice in medium, as long as it is digital) that we will share with our school community and ideally can connect and share with other schools and students. There is also a possibility of using PenPalSchools to share out final resources, but that would depend on getting approval from the district to utilize that website.

In the paper-based Ancient Civilizations activity, students create their own civilization and see how it fares over the years based on choices they make for location, animals, plants and natural resources. Students create an artistic rendering of their civilization, trade resources between their civilizations and go to war with an unnamed enemy. This activity was inspired by Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond.