Adams, William, Peter Conn and Barry Slepian.
Afro-American Literature: Fiction.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1970. A good collection of Afro-American short stories expressing a variety of themes.
Angelou, Maya.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
New York: Bantam Books, 1974. An interesting autobiography of a young black girl, Maya Angelou who overcomes many obstacles to achieve the American Dream.
Bennett, Robert A., Sen. ed.
American Literature.
Lexington, Mass.: Ginn and Company, 1981. A wonderful collection of all genres of literature, appropriate for the 10th or 11th grades focusing on “Major Themes in American Literature.”
Blake, Peter.
God’s Own Junkyard: The Planned Deteriorat
ion
of Americas Landscape.
New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1964. This book emphasizes the degradation of American cities as a result of technology, over-population and poor planning.
Cahill, Susan and Michele F. Cooper.
The Urban Reader.
New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1971. An excellent source book.
Doezema, Marianne.
American Realism and the Industrial Age.
Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1980. Includes works of art from many different parts of the country related to the industrial and technological themes. A good resource book.
Dunning, Stephen.
Teaching Literature to Adolescents: Poetry, Short Stories.
Illinois: Scott Foresman and Co., 1966. Two very stimulating guide books to help teachers teach short stories and poetry more effectively.
Guth, Hans P. ed.
Our World Today
. Lexington, Mass.: D.C. Heath and Co., 1981. An excellent source book for “These City Streets” and “Future City”.
Griffith Francis and Joseph Mersand.
Eight American Ethnic Plays.
New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1974. A good textbook for two of the ethnic plays used in this unit:
Dino and Hogan’s Goat.
Haupt, Hannah Beate ed.
Man Threatened.
Illinois: McDougal, Littell Company, 1972. This book contains an excellent selection of contemporary poem related to the urban theme.
Howes, Alan B.
Teaching Literature to Adolescents: Plays.
Illinois: Scott, Foresman and Co., 1968. A very good guide book to help teachers increase student’s understanding and appreciation of drama.
Hughes, Langston.
The Langston Hughes Reader.
New York: George Braziller, Inc., 1958. This anthology contains the play,
Simple Heavenly
and the poem “Lenox Avenue Mural” used in this unit.
Moss, Howard ed.
New York Poems.
New York: Avon Books, 1980. A good source book for many contemporary poems about city life.
Sheffey T. Ruth and Eugenia Collier.
Impressions in Asphalt: Immages of Urban American in Literature.
New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1969. An excellent collection of short stories, essays and poems about urban life to be used with a 10th or 11th grade class.
Rodrigues, Raymond J. and Dennis Badazewski.
A Guidebook for Teaching Literature.
Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1978. This guidebook gives much inspiration for teaching literary genres.
Spring, Michael ed.
Where We Live.
New York: Scholastic Book Services, 1977. This anthology focuses on literature which reflects the different regions of the U.S.
Spring, Michael ed.
How We Live.
New York: Scholastic Book Services, 1977. This volume examines contemporary literature showing Americans “At Work”, “At Home” and “At War”. There are some very stimulating writing ideas and projects at the end of the book.
Stallman Robert Wooster ed.
Stephen Crane: Stories and Tales.
New York: Vintage Books, 1955. This collection contains many well-written stories about city life. I used this anthology for
Maggie, A Girl of the Streets
and “The Man of the Crowd.”
Summerfield, Geoffrey ed.
Voices
: An Anthology of Poems and Pictures. Chicago: Rand McNally and Co., 1969. A wonderful anthology of poetry containing many city poems.
Swenson, May.
New and Selected Things Taking Place.
New York: Little, Brown and Co., 1958.
Half Sun, Half Sleep.
New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1966. Two delightfully creative books of May Swenson’s poetry.
Switzer, Ellen.
Our Urban Planet.
New York: Atheneum, 1980. This comprehensive book examines: why cities exist, why people live in them, why they have flourished, what future they have and what today’s most urgent problems of cities are. I would suggest that
Our Urban Planet
be required reading for all students.
