English · High School
American Novels
Guides to American novels, read in the order they were published.
These guides follow the American novel from Puritan Boston to the Depression-era South. Read them in order of publication and you can watch writers return, a century apart, to the same hard question: what happens when a town decides who is guilty?
Each guide sets the book in its history and walks through every chapter, with notes on the characters and on the main themes and symbols. Each one ends with a twelve-question quiz and discussion questions for class or a book club.
Pick a Novel
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Nathaniel Hawthorne · 1850
The Scarlet Letter
In 1640s Boston, Hester Prynne is sentenced to wear a scarlet A and refuses to name her child’s father. Follow all 24 chapters and “The Custom-House,” trace how the letter’s meaning changes, and take the quiz.
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Harper Lee · 1960
To Kill a Mockingbird
Scout Finch grows up in 1930s Alabama while her father, Atticus, defends Tom Robinson, a Black man falsely accused. Follow all 31 chapters, learn the history behind the trial, and take the quiz.
More novels
More high school reading guides are on the way.