William Cullen Bryant
Lesson plans and teaching strategies

|Biography and Background| |"Thanatopsis"| |Other Poems|

Biography and Background

William Cullen Bryant
An extensive biography with reference to major poems.

"Thanatopsis"

An Explication of Death
In groups of three, the students explicate "Thanatopsis" by William Cullen Bryant. They identify poetic elements as well as sound effects in the poetry. Scroll to the bottom for an assessment idea.

"Thanatopsis"
Hypertext of the poem. Click on links for support for close reading.

"Thanatopsis"
Scroll down on the page to find 3 relevant links: "Thanatopsis" lesson (post-reading questions for students), "Thanatopsis" Teacher's Notes (answers to the questions), and "Your Brain on Transcendentalism," a unit-concluding activity that could serve as an assessment piece.

William Cullen Bryant
An extensive bibliography. Scroll down to find discussion questions for "Thanatopsis."

Poetry

Bryant's "The Yellow Violet"
Analysis, link to text of the poem.

"The Poet"
Hypertext of the poem. Click on links for support for close reading.

"To a Waterfowl"
Hypertext of the poem. Click on links for support for close reading.

"To an American Painter, Departing for Europe
Hypertext of the sonnet. Click on links for support for close reading.