Further Content Exploration

The Progressive Era was a particularly fruitful time in American literature. Several compelling novels and non-fiction works were written during -- and about -- this period. Reading these primary sources allows students to be entertained and moved by Progressive Era writers, and gives them a glimpse of what life was like at that time.

Select a work of fiction or non-fiction written during the Progressive Era that you could use in your classroom and reflect on what kind of information it offers a modern-day reader. As a way of organizing and thinking about the information, create some focus questions for your students to guide their reading. The following are some sample turn-of-the-century works worth exploring. You can select one of these or another work of your choosing.

• Sister Carrie and An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser: Classic American novels that address the conflict between human needs, morality, and the drive for material success.
• The Jungle by Upton Sinclair: A fictional exposé of the meatpacking industry.
• How the Other Half Lives (with photographs) by Jacob Riis: A gripping portrait of turn-of-the-century urban poverty, child labor, and general working and living conditions.
• 1897 Sears Catalog: A catalog featuring hundreds of pages of the types of possessions people had and wanted, relative prices, technological inventions, and more at the turn-of-the-century.
• The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. DuBois: An impassioned insight into the life of African Americans at the turn of the 20^th century.
• The Age of Innocence or The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton: Classic novels about the rigid rules and manners of upper class New York at the turn of the century.
• The Portrait of a Lady or The Ambassadors by Henry James: Novels that dramatize collisions between the values of American and European high society.