Other Resources
For Enrique's Journey:
1) THIS official page from author Sonia Nazario deals with Enrique's Journey. Here you'll find all you need to know, including videos, photo and narrative updates, reader resources (including art inspired by the book), Nazario's biography, and so much more. I don't recommend exploring the "About the Family" page until you've finished the book, though.
2) HERE is an interview with Sonia Nazario about the situation in Honduras as it stands today. (The video is a couple of years old, but it was filmed 12-13 years after Nazario wrote the book.) While she opens the conversation in reference to Enrique's Journey, Nazario concentrates on what she feels our country needs to do in order to help out.
3) UNICEF has posted THIS page about (in their words) "The Quiet Crisis of Central America's Unaccompanied Migrant Children," which profiles several kids from Honduras and El Salvador. I highly recommend the article linked here as well as the short video.
4) Sonia Nazario's Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism is profiled HERE, complete with some excerpts from Enrique's Journey.
5) Author Junot Diaz (another Pulitzer Prize winner!) recently contributed to THIS PBS film in which he discusses his experience growing up as an immigrant from the Dominican Republic. His remarks about public libraries (and his elementary school librarian in particular) are inspiring!
6) Do you need some help envisioning Enrique's journey by train? THIS page will show (and tell) you about the types of cars that Sonia Nazario describes in her book.
7) If you need an audiobook version of the novel, THIS YouTube link appears to work (as students have reported to me). While this particular link only takes you to Chapter 1, the rest of the novel has been uploaded by the same user. The beginning of this recording claims to be a book from the reading service Audible.com, so it looks and sounds legit. However, I haven't sat down to see if this is indeed the full text. If, in the middle of the book, a Kenny Rogers album suddenly appears, you didn't hear about this from me.
8) Born in Cuba, documentarian and author Paul Ramos y Sanchez is committed to increasing awareness of the many plights faced by US immigrants. To this end, he maintains a website containing the stories of US immigrants from several different countries. It's called MY IMMIGRATION STORY, and you may find it helpful for your research project. While the stories are not organized by country, if you scan as you read you should be able to find something you can use.
9) If you'd like to better visualize the journey Enrique takes, you may check out this map of MEXICAN TRADE/TRAIN ROUTES or THIS map of Mexico (and part of Central America).
For Archetypes, The Odyssey, and Even a Bit of Greek Tragedy:
As we progress through The Odyssey, you may notice that its themes, characters, symbols, and situations remind you of many story components you've encountered before. Archetypal literature study might make you think that everything new is old again!
1) Need a good map to view the travels of Odysseus and his men? Try the one from WIKIPEDIA (Hey! It's really good!) or this one from SHMOOP. For the sake of reference, the distance from Troy to Ithaca is 338 miles... nothing to sneeze at when you're talking about sailing technology from almost 3,000 years ago. Still, nothing that should require ten years of travel!
2) It's no secret that I love Star Wars, and THIS article explains how the construction of the prequels (Episodes I-III) parallels that of Greek tragedy. You'll recognize a few similarities with the Shakespearean tragedy format, as well.
3) I'd say it's a fair bet that few people are as crazy about The Lord of the Rings as I am, but if you enjoy archetypes, Tolkien's book is your jam. Check this ARTICLE by Dr. Jody G. Bower or this PREZI
(which has a few typos but presents Tolkien's archetypes VERY clearly) for more information.
4) This November 2017 PROFILE from The New York Times offers a wonderful interview with Emily Wilson, the first woman to translate The Odyssey into English. Interestingly, her deep study of ancient Greek language challenges some previously held views of Odysseus, and calls into question his archetypal heroism.
5) Johanna Sorensen hypothesizes in this THESIS that Harry Potter both does and doesn't fit the profile of an archetypal hero. If you're a fan of Rowling's series, as I am, you can easily pinpoint the salient features of this thesis. The paper is lengthy but very clear and well-organized, and if you skim it, you'll quickly find a topic that's meaningful for you (whether you're a witch, a wizard, or a Muggle).
6) Ever wondered what it might be like to find an intact ship from ancient Greece? Say, for example, a boat that's 75 feet long and approximately 2,400 years old? Scientists just did! Check out THIS fascinating article with photos. Be sure to examine the image of the ship from the Greek vase, and compare it with the photo of the wreck in the Black Sea.
For Romeo and Juliet:
1) Romeo and Juliet Full Online Text: the official online texts I've browsed are without footnotes, but THIS one's nice since it's divided by Acts and scenes. It also boasts an easy-to-read-and-navigate layout, and you can search the play for lines from individual characters. If you've left your book at home, you can't go wrong with this link.
2) The Folger Library: If you want to know anything at all about Shakespeare, THIS is the place to go online! This particular section of the Folger website is dedicated to Romeo and Juliet, but there are enough Shakespeare resources here to keep you busy for a long, long time. 2) Historical Context for Romeo and Juliet: THIS SITE contains a wealth of information on many of the primary issues in the play, and there's also plenty of historical background to soothe your Shakespeare needs.
4) Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet: I have eclectic musical taste, so fair warning: this one may be too much for you. It's rocker Elvis Costello with a string quartet, perfoming a song called "Taking My Life in Your Hands." The tune is from an album entitled The Juliet Letters--a weird project with lyrics based around Shakespeare's play. "Taking" is written to Juliet from Romeo's perspective. Also fun is "I Almost Had a Weakness" (you can look it up on YouTube, as well), though I'll be darned if I can figure out how that one relates to Romeo and Juliet.
5) Have you seen West Side Story? If so, Romeo and Juliet is going to sound familiar. If not, and if you like musicals or Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim material in general, you should check out THIS article about the original Broadway run of West Side Story.
6) Whether you're a visual learner or just a fan of art, you'll find many useful images in this page of ROMEO AND JULIET ART. Yes, it's from Wikimedia Commons, but there's no other online source for this many classic works involving Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers. Hey, is that a vampire Romeo in the Ford Maddox Brown painting? Hmmmm...
7) If you're interested in the setup of the Elizabethan theater (from social/political aspects to the venues themselves, the actors, the costumes, and the pacing/writing of the plays), I can't recommend THIS article enough. It'll give you a profound insight not only on how and why Shakespeare wrote, but also how his visions were carried out by his theater company (and how his works were received by the public).
8) Wondering what marriage was like in the time of Shakespeare? While Romeo and Juliet takes place in the medieval time period, but 17th century marriage laws certainly informed Shakespeare's narrative. HERE is a document with more information about what marriages looked like in Shakespeare's time.
For The Hound of the Baskervilles:
1) If you like
The Hound of the Baskervilles,
READ this article about a recently-discovered manuscript (which was originally thought to be a lost story penned by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle). Most experts have since agreed that it's not, but once you read the brief article, have fun exploring the rest of the site, which belongs to
THE SHERLOCK HOLMES SOCIETY OF LONDON. You can fall down a rabbit hole very quickly at this site.
2)
Was the death of Richard Lancelyn Green, the world’s foremost Sherlock Holmes expert, an elaborate suicide or a murder? Read THIS article and decide!
3)
THIS website has a solid biography on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He was a brilliant man who became obsessed with the occult in his later years, and as a result, his literary reputation initially suffered. This biography chooses to focus on his strengths, but...
4) If you want to see just how kooky Sir Arthur got, check out
THIS CRAZY CLIP clip of him speaking about ghosts. There's also some nice material about Sherlock Holmes here. As this is the only film interview of Doyle, it's pretty interesting stuff. And dat mustache!
5) Planning a trip to London? If so, please send me a postcard... and be sure to "pop" your itinerary by visiting a few Sherlock Holmes/Sir Arthur Conan Doyle sites. A pretty good list of Holmesian attactions can be found HERE.
6) Did you know there's a museum at 221B Baker Street (Sherlock's fictional address)? If you're like me and can't afford a trip to London,
THIS website is an excellent source of information. The Sherlock Holmes Musem looks even cooler than
The World's Largest Bigfoot Museum in Elijay, GA.
7) Is a picture really worth a thousand words? Perhaps not, but THESE photographs of Victorian London are both fascinating and haunting. Take a peek into Sherlock's world.
8) HERE are some breathtaking photos of the Dartmoor area, where The Hound of the Baskervilles takes place. Glance at these as you imagine what it might be like to live in this area... especially in the fog.
For To Kill a Mockingbird:
1) Harper Lee was one of the most reclusive writers on the planet, and that didn't sit well with
Smithsonian magazine.
HERE is an informative, somewhat irreverent look at the author.
2) Lee only gave one recorded interview in her lifetime (and few interviews, period), but thanks to the miracle of the modern Interwebs, you may access it at
THIS page.
3) So why was Lee so burdened by her success? For some possible answers to that question, consult THIS article (from the UK's Telegraph). You'll also see references to Lee's second novel, Go Set a Watchman, which was recently published amidst deep controversy.