Mrs. Ruland's United States History Class
Novels in US History
Literature is an important aspect of American history. Historical fiction can provide the reader with information about society and life during the time period portrayed or during the time period in which it was written. Historical fiction can also provide information on the problems affecting the common man. Many of the great American authors wrote about the inequities in the system; their books became the impetus for reform.
Each student will choose one novel from the following list (first come, first served and no duplicates). Students will read their book, write a book report, and prepare a short (3-5 minutes) presentation to the class that will concentrate on the social history reflected in the novel. Presentations will be made when the class arrives at that time period in the course. Book reports will be due on the day scheduled for the presentation. For novels that span a longer period, they will be discussed during the first unit that is encompassed by the novel. Since the novels will span the whole year, grades will be applied to the 4th quarter marking period.
You are encouraged to research your choice carefully. Find a copy of the book you think you would like to read and look through it. Some of these books are quite difficult, and you may want to choose another. I hope that we will have a variety of novels chosen.
You can view the Current Listing of Assigned Books
RECONSTRUCTION
Thomas Dixon The Clansman
Howard Fast Freedom Road
Alex Haley Roots: The Saga of an American Family
Margaret Mitchell Gone With the Wind
Tony Morrison Beloved
Gore Vidal 1876
Margaret Walker Jubilee
WESTWARD MOVEMENT
Dee Brown Creek Mary’s Blood
Willa Cather My Ántonia
O Pioneers
Walter van Tilburg Clark The Ox-Bow Incident
Edna Ferber Cimarron
Giant
Helen Hunt Jackson Ramona
Douglas C. Jones Arrest Sitting Bull
The Court-Martial of George Armstrong Custer
Season of Yellow Leaf
Oliver LaFarge Laughing Boy
Kathryn Lasky Beyond the Divide
James Michener Centennial
Texas
Jack Schaefer Shane
Mark Twain The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
INDUSTRIALIZATION, URBANIZATION, IMMIGRATION, IMPERIALISM
Frank L. Baum Wizard of Oz
Abraham Cahan The Rise of David Levinsky
Stephen Crane Maggie, A Girl of the Streets
Theodore Dreiser Sister Carrie
The Financier
The Titan
Paul Laurence Dunbar The Sport of the Gods
William Dean Howells A Hazard of New Fortunes
The Rise of Silas Lapham
James Michener Alaska
Hawaii
Frank Norris The Pit
The Octopus
John Dos Passos The 42nd Parallel
Upton Sinclair The Jungle
Mark Twain Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
Mark Twain & Charles D Warner The Gilded Age
Gore Vidal Empire
Edith Wharton Age of Innocence
The House of Mirth
FIRST WORLD WAR AND THE 1920s
E.L. Doctorow Ragtime
Theodore Dreiser An American Tragedy
William Faulkner The Sound and the Fury
F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby
Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey A Woman of Independent Means
Ernest Hemingway A Farewell to Arms
Zora Neale Hurston Their Eyes Were Watching God
James Weldon Johnson The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
Sinclair Lewis Babbitt
Main Street
John Dos Passos Nineteen Nineteen
The Big Money
Philip Roth Portnoy’s Complaint
John Steinbeck East of Eden
GREAT DEPRESSION AND WORLD WAR II
Margaret Craven Walk Gently This Good Earth
Joseph Heller Catch-22
Ernest Hemingway For Whom the Bell Tolls
Jack Higgins Flight of Eagles
Harper Lee To Kill a Mockingbird
Ella Leffland Rumors of Peace
James A. Michener Tales of the South Pacific
Tony Morrison The Bluest Eye
John Steinbeck The Grapes of Wrath
Gore Vidal Washington, D.C.
Robert Penn Warren All the King’s Men
David Westheimer Von Ryan’s Express
Richard Wright Native Son
COLD WAR TO THE PRESENT
Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451
Eugene Burdick & H. Wheeler Failsafe
Robert Olen Butler On Distant Ground
Margaret Craven I Heard the Owl Call My Name
Ralph Ellison Invisible Man
Ernest J. Gaines The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
W. J. Lederer & Eugene Burdick The Ugly American
Bobbie Ann Mason In Country: A Novel
Ayn Rand Atlas Shrugged
Philip Roth American Pastoral
J. D. Salinger Catcher in the Rye
John Steinbeck Cannery Row
Kurt Vonnegut Slaughterhouse Five
Other books will be considered for addition to this list. You may not decide to use a book that is not on this list or has not been approved for addition to the list.
BOOK REPORT REQUIREMENTS (50 points)
The following information is to be included in the book report under four separate sections. Please type this report; finished reports should be 2-3 pages, double-spaced.
♦ Author, title, copyright date (5 pts)
♦ Write a brief abstract or summary of the book, giving the key characters, plot, etc. (10 pts)
♦ Check the period or events of the novel in your textbook or another “history book.” How does the novel relate to your textbook or to other readings you have done on the subject? What historical trends, events, or people does the book illustrate? Do not simply state that an event or a trend is mentioned in the book; discuss how accurately it is dealt with. (25 pts)
♦ Share historical terms, vocabulary words, phrases or short passages that are worth quoting. (10 pts)
PRESENTATION REQUIREMENTS (25 points)
♦ COHERENT, INFORMATIVE presentation (5 pts)
♦ Very brief abstract or summary of the book (5 pts)
♦ How does the novel relate to your textbook or to other readings you have done on the subject? What historical trends, events, or people does the book illustrate? Do not simply state that an event or a trend is mentioned in the book; discuss how accurately it is dealt with. (15 pts)
Last updated May 17, 2006
© Marcella Ruland 1998-2009, All rights reserved
