Author Stephen Crane was born in 1871.

Stephen Crane, author and poet, was born in Newark, NJ, on this day in 1871. Best known for his novel The Red Badge of Courage, Crane began his literary career at the young age of 20 when he wrote his first published novel, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. While Crane's writing style was most noted for his trademark use of similes and imagery, he also developed a journalistic style during his career covering such events as the Greco-Turkish War and the Spanish-American War. Crane died in 1900 from tuberculosis at the age of 28. Despite his short life, Crane is recognized by many as having helped determine the path of American poetry and fiction.

EDSITEment
The Red Badge of Courage: A New Kind of Realism (9-12) provides an opportunity for students to examine first-hand accounts of Civil War battles as they also examine Crane's style of writing and the realism it conveys about the war.

In a companion lesson, The Red Badge of Courage: A New Kind of Courage (9-12), students examine the values of courage and patriotism expressed in the novel. Students read a chapter closely and then compare it with a more traditional tale of combat and a systematic look at an early reviewer's vehement criticism of the novel.

In Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat" (9-12), students examine the relationship of man and nature as portrayed in Stephen Crane's short story, "The Open Boat." As they study the story, students critically examine the relationship of man and nature in the story, learn about the third-person omniscient point of view, conduct in-depth character analysis and explore the depth of emotion evoked by Crane.

In Crane, London, and Literary Naturalism (9-12), students learn the key characteristics that comprise American literary naturalism as they explore the work of Stephen Crane and Jack London.

ReadWriteThink
Courage is ripe with description and imagery. Younger students can begin to learn to use descriptive writing and complete sentences in Sentence Quest: Using Parts of Speech to Write Descriptive Sentences (K-2). In the lesson, students learn the criteria for a sentence by manipulating word cards; then they collaborate to write and illustrate complete, descriptive sentences. Finally, students work in groups using descriptive words and phrases to try to create the longest sentence they can.