Welcome to The Big Read, a program from the National Endowment for the Arts. Designed to revitalize the role of literary reading in American culture, the Big Read hopes to unite communities through great literature, as well as inspire students to become lifelong readers.
This Big Read Teacher's Guide contains ten lessons to lead you through Edith Wharton's classic novel, The Age of Innocence. Each lesson has four sections: a focus topic, discussion activities, writing exercises, and homework assignments. In addition, we have provided capstone projects and suggested essay topics, as well as handouts with more background information about the novel, the historical period, and the author. All lessons dovetail with the state language arts standards required in the fiction genre.
Finally, The Big Read Reader's Guide deepens your exploration with interviews, booklists, timelines, and historical information. We hope this guide and syllabus allow you to have fun with your students while introducing them to the work of a great American author.
From the NEA, we wish you an exciting and productive school year.
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Edith Wharton, 1908 (Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library)
Wharton's property in Lenox, MA, "The Mount" (Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library)
Edith Wharton at her writing desk at the Pavillon Colombe in France, 1931 (Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library)
