Hot List for American Autobiography

Table of Contents

This page contains links to web sites and pages having to do with a course I taught in American Autobiography in the fall of 1996. The information is divided into the following categories:

• Benjamin Franklin
• Henry David Thoreau
• Henry Adams
• Black Elk
• Ernest Hemingway
• Maya Angelou
• Other Writings

Benjamin Franklin

The sites below provide a look at Franklin the man as well as some of his writings in addition to The Autobiography.

• Benjamin Franklin: Glimpses of the Man. This site provides other links, a search engine, photos, and even a film. It's a great place to start looking at information about the man and his multiple talents.
• The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. This is the complete text.
• Franklin's Quotations from Bartlett's. Common sayings from Franklin.
• "The Way to Wealth." The complete original text of Benjamin Franklin's essay.
• Other writings by Franklin, including journals and issues of Poor Richard's Almanack
• "Early to Bed and Early to Rise: From Proverb to Benjamin Franklin and Back," by Wolfgang Mieder. This is an essay which traces the sources of the saying attributed to Franklin and follows it into its modern versions.
• "A Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of Paper Currency," 1729. One of Franklin's essays designed to influence public policy.

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Henry David Thoreau

Though good sites are far fewer than bad ones, the first below is an example of what can be done with some creativity, knowledge, and effort.

• Cybersaunter. This is a wonderful introduction to Thoreau which includes background on his life, his stay at Walden Pond, and other things such as family and love interests. It includes photos. Check it out.

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Henry Adams

• The Education of Henry Adams. A very good hypertext version of the text, with photos.

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Black Elk

Not much here yet, but there are links to related sites as well as ones on Black Elk himself.

• A Social Ethical Analysis of Black Elk Speaks.
• Black Elk. A photo and some brief quotations of Black Elk. This also contains a link to the story of Black Elk.

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Ernest Hemingway

There is a wealth of information on the web about Hemingway. One of the sites listed here provides links to quite a variety.

• The Papa Page. Marcel Mitran has assembled many photos and much information on Hemingway and provided a set of links to other sites. This site includes many photos of Hemingway and people and places he was associated with.
• Audio Files of Hemingway. This site is a collection of recorded Hemingway speeches and readings. It includes his Nobel Prize for Literature acceptance speech and readings of texts.
• Timeless Hemingway.  A good site with lots of information about his works and his life.  

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Maya Angelou

Being our most recent (and only living) author in this series, sites devoted to Angelou are common. Try an internet search on a couple of engines and see what I mean.

• Maya Angelou's Home Page. Not maintained by her but by a dedicated student at Wake Forest University, this page provides many links to a collection of poetry, photos, interviews, and the like. Check it out.
• Link Page to Information on Maya Angelou. This page provides a wealth of information on the author and gives a wide variety of links to things such as, even, a video clip of her.
• "A Brave and Startling Truth," Poem for the 50th Anniversary of the UN.
• Yet Another Page dedicated to Angelou, with links.

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Other Related Autobiographical Sites

I have selected a number of other sites that are not about authors on our reading list, but you might enjoy seeing what else is available.

• Letters from an American Farmer, by Hector St. Jean DeCrevecoeur, 1782. Letters intended to inform European readers of life in the newly independent American colonies. This includes photos and related materials.
• Autobiography, by Thomas Jefferson, 1821. E-text.
• Innocents Abroad, by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), 1869. This is a hypertext version of a book based on a series of letters Twain wrote for publication while travelling in Europe and the Holy Land. This fine site includes maps, photos, and a variety of materials related to the text.
• Up From Slavery, by Booker T. Washington, 1900, 1901. E-text.
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, by Frederick Douglass, 1845. E-text.

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I welcome comments and suggestions for this page. Go to my home page and write me from there.

John S. Nelson.

Copyright © 1996. All rights reserved.

Revised: September 26, 1996.