OER starting points for Literature, by course area/theme and material type

Anthologies and readings

Reading anthologies:

Public Domain Core Collection
Collaboration between Ryerson and Brock universities (Canada). "The Public Domain Core Collection consists of over 50 titles of public domain works that have been created using Pressbooks and made available in online, epub, pdf and editable formats." Includes classic fiction and non-fiction titles, in areas of American and African-American literature, British literature, women's literature, classic philosophy, mythology, political science, and more. Public Domain. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Open Readings (OER collection)
LibGuide created by Indian River State College Libraries, last updated 2021. A collaborative anthology, comprised of literary selections, with tabs for Fiction Books, Plays, Poetry, Short Stories and more, with links to open access works and Word documents of public domain works. Each tab of resources organized alphabetically by author. Also includes links to copyrighted works that are only accessible via that library system.
Reading Anthology: Three Levels (OER course)
OER course from Lumen and currently hosted by LibreTexts. Online reading anthology organized into three modules/levels with openly licensed/public domain readings. Each level includes both creative and non-fiction readings. Online and PDF formats. Course pages may have different CC (Creative Commons) open licenses. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Thematic Reading Anthology (OER ancillary materials)
OER course from Lumen and currently hosted by LibreTexts. Curated collection of openly licensed or public domain primary texts, organized thematically, including themes of Food, Culture, Nature & Conservation, Technology, Health Care, Politics, and Literature. Online and PDF formats. Course pages may have different CC (Creative Commons) open licenses. Eligible for Print on Demand.
The Open Anthology of Literature in English (OER collection)
John O’Brien, Department of English, The University of Virginia. "The goal of this site is to build an anthology of freely-available, fully-edited and annotated texts of texts in English written during the long eighteenth century." Browse fiction, essays, poetry, life writing, and drama. Online, digital PDF, and print PDF formats. Many works in the public domain. Everything else is under a CC BY NC (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.

Sites for public domain and/or open access literary texts:

The Literature Network (open access)
Browsable collection of public domain and open access literary texts. "[S]earchable online literature for the student, educator, or enthusiast ... We currently have over 3500 full books and over 4400 short stories and poems by over 260 authors." Use the Author index to find works by specific authors. Site has ads. Online format. Works in the public domain. Eligible for Print on Demand if content is prepared in a print-ready format.
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Recommended and used by TCC professor Allen Braden
Project Gutenberg
Find the full text of classics and public domain works from the first massive ebook-creating organization in existence. Nothing fancy here, just files with the full text.
Bartleby - Index to Titles
Browsable collection of full-text reference, poetry (verse), fiction, and nonfiction titles and collections. Online format. Works available in the public domain. Eligible for Print on Demand if material is prepared in a print-ready format.
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Recommended and used by TCC professor Allen Braden.
800+ free ebooks - Open Culture
Download 800 free and openly licensed/freely available eBooks to your Kindle, iPad/iPhone, computer, smart phone or ereader. Collection includes great works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
1000+ Free audio books - Open Culture
Download hundreds of free and openly licensed audio books, mostly classics, to your MP3 player or computer. Includes fiction, poetry, and non-fiction.
Standard Ebooks
"The Standard Ebooks project is a volunteer driven, not-for-profit effort to produce a collection of high quality, carefully formatted, accessible, open source, and free public domain ebooks that meet or exceed the quality of commercially produced ebooks." EPUB and ebook files compatible for multiple ebook devices.
LibriVox.org
Free public domain audio books that have been recorded by volunteers.

Introduction to literature

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

Critical Writing about Literature (OER textbook)
Edited by Dr. Erika L. Bass, University of Northern Iowa, 2023, last updated Jan. 2024. "This free custom textbook includes openly-licensed and public domain works [...] It introduces readers to the knowledge and skills necessary to critically read, interpret, and analyze literature." Organized into 5 major sections: Reading, Writing, and Critical Thinking; Reading and Analyzing Fiction; Reading and Analyzing Poetry; Literary Criticism: An Introduction; Reading and Analyzing Drama; and a glossary of literary terms. Online and downloadable Word files via Google Docs. This textbook has a combination of CC-licensed and Public Domain content. Reading that are under All Rights Reserved copyright are linked in the collection. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Surface and Subtext: Literature, Research, Writing (OER textbook)
James Francis, Jr., et al., Texas A&M University, 2024. A "detailed overview of concepts and critical terminology necessary for writing about a variety of literary genres." Organized into 10 chapters, from an introduction to literature to sections for analyzing and writing about specific genres, including poetry, novella, novel, drama, film, and creative nonfiction. The last two chapters focus on writing and formatting a literary essay. Includes a glossary. Online (Pressbooks) and PDF formats. CC BY NC (Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Introduction to Literature (OER course)
OER course from Lumen and currently hosted by LibreTexts. Course includes readings. 8 main sections: Genre Introduction, Literary Conventions, Writing About Literature, Literary Analysis, Poetry Readings and Responses, Drama Readings and Responses, Fiction Readings and Responses, Nonfiction Readings and Responses. Also includes a “Faculty Resources” section at the beginning with assignment ideas and in-class writing activities. Online and PDF formats. Course pages may have different CC (Creative Commons) open licenses. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Literature, Critical Thinking, & Writing (OER course)
OER course from Lumen developed for "Achieving the Dream" OER initiative and currently hosted by LibreTexts. Course focuses heavily on critical thinking and literary analysis, and modules include analyzing short fiction, poetry, and plays. Online and PDF formats. Course pages may have different CC (Creative Commons) open licenses. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Writing and Critical Thinking Through Literature (OER textbook)
Heather Ringo & Athena Kashyap, City College of San Francisco, via LibreTexts platform, last updated 2020. "This text offers instruction in analytical, critical, and argumentative writing, critical thinking, research strategies, information literacy, and proper documentation through the study of literary works from major genres, while developing students’ close reading skills and promoting an appreciation of the aesthetic qualities of literature." Includes chapters and readings on creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, drama, literary criticism. Online, PDF, print book files, and course cartridge formats. CC BY NC (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Creating Literary Analysis (OER textbook)
OER textbook shared via LibreTexts platform, last updated 2020. "The authors believe students of literature should learn about many literary theories so they can discover which interpretive tools work best for them when they write about literature in their classes (and beyond). This book aims to help students build up a personal toolbox of interpretive possibilities." Organized into 10 main chapters, including an Appendix with peer review sheets. Online + PDF formats. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Literature, the Humanities, and Humanity
Peer-reviewed text by SUNY instructor, 2014. This text "attempts to make the study of literature more than simply another school subject that students have to take. At a time when all subjects seem to be valued only for their testability, this book tries to show the value of reading and studying literature, even earlier literature.” 10 chapters (9 of which focus on major authors and specific works). PDF and ePub formats available. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - Non-Commercial - Share Alike) license.
"Writing about Literature: The Basics" chapter (CK-12)
“This chapter introduces students to the basics of reading literature. It introduces students to subjective and objective reading, and goes over the basic ideas behind reading for plot, character, setting, and theme.” Chapter includes vocabulary list. Written for high school level, but adaptable to community college level. Online format but can be integrated into Canvas via a CK-12 app. Last updated in 2015. CC BY NC (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial) license. Eligible for Print on Demand, if materials are converted into a print-ready format.
"Writing about Literature: Analyzing Prose" chapter (CK-12)
“This chapter covers the basics of close reading, with a focus on connotation vs. denotation, simile, metaphor, repetition, and imagery. The chapter also introduces students to different narrative modes.” Chapter includes vocabulary list. Written for high school level, but adaptable to community college level. Online format but can be integrated into Canvas via a CK-12 app. Last updated in 2020. CC BY NC (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial) license.

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

Teacher’s Guide to Using Literature to Promote Inclusion of People with Disabilities (OER guide)
Bruce Menchetti, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, [2023]. " designed to assist teachers who wish to use literature to promote inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of life. The Guide consists of two parts. Part 1 is a rubric for evaluating how short stories, books, poems, TV programs, movies, digital media, and other forms of literature portray characters with disabilities. Part 2 of the Teacher’s Guide to Using Literature to Promote Inclusion of People with Disabilities is a curriculum guide with learning objectives, lesson activities, and strategies for outcome evaluation. The curriculum guide is a resource for teachers who wish to design lessons using literature to teach about disabilities." Online (Pressbooks), PDF, EPUB, and Common Cartridge formats. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Literature 1 - Crash Course video playlist
Crash Course video series of 9 videos (7-12 min. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes videos on: How and Why We Read, Romeo and Juliet, The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, and the Poetry of Emily Dickinson. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.
Literature 2 - Crash Course video playlist
Crash Course video series of 16 videos (9-13 min. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes videos on: The Odyssey, Oedipus, Hamlet, Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, Things Fall Apart, To Kill a Mockingbird, Slaughterhouse-Five, Beloved, Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance, and the Poetry of Sylvia Plath. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.
Literature 3 - Crash Course video playlist
Crash Course video series of 9 videos (10-12 min. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes videos on: Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Shakespeare's Sonnets, Lord of the Flies, 100 Years of Solitude, Invisible Man, and Sula. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.
Literature 4 - Crash Course video playlist
Crash Course video series of 12 videos (11-15 min. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes videos on: 1984, The Handmaid's Tale, Candide, The Parable of the Sower, The Yellow Wallpaper, To the Lighthouse, Macbeth, and Pride and Prejudice. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.
Writability Podcast
Developed by English faculty and librarians at the College of the Sequoias, 2020-21. This is an openly licensed series of conversations about writing tips and topics. Length varies for each episode. Topics include: Using Instructor Feedback, Literature And Creative Writing Classes, Why You Should Take African American Lit, and more. Audio files + transcripts. CC BY-NC (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial) license.
Great Writers Inspire
University of Oxford site. "[A] variety of illuminating resources such as academic lectures and talks, ebooks and contextual material produced for this project. These materials are arranged into collections about individual authors whose writing is important to literary studies.” CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - Non-Commercial - Share Alike) license.
What is Literature, and Why Does It Matter?
From Great Writers Inspire site, University of Oxford. “This section brings together some resources… to illustrate how these can be used as a starting point for exploration of or classroom discussion about the questions ‘What is Literature?’ and ‘Why Does it Matter?’” Includes tabs of resources for audio (podcasts), video, and other (articles). Great Writers Inspire has a CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - Non-Commercial - Share Alike - license), but some of the resources in this collection may have different licenses/permissions.

American literature

Canvas course shells:

ENGL& 244 American Literature I (WACTC OER course)
To view: First, log into your TCC Canvas faculty account, then click on the Canvas Commons link/icon in the global navigation menu, and then finally click this link to view this Canvas course content. OER Canvas course shared by SBCTC, 2020. Includes modules with readings, assignments, quizzes, and discussions. CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license.

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

American Literatures After 1865 (OER textbook)
Scott D. Peterson, et al., University of Missouri-Saint Louis, [2022]. "This book is an anthology of American Literatures After 1865, a reimagining of the open educational resource: Writing the Nation: A Concise Introduction to American Literature 1865 to Present." Organized into 13 chapters, including selections for Metamodernism, Late Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism, Modernism, Harlem Renaissance, Southern Renaissance, and Postmodernism. Includes a glossary. Faculty peer reviews of this text available on this site. Online (Pressbooks), PDF, ePUB, Common Cartridge, and editable OpenDocument formats. CC BY-SA (Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Becoming America: An Exploration of American Literature from Precolonial to Post-Revolution
Wendy Kurant, Univ. of North Georgia Press and and Affordable Learning Georgia, 2018. "Featuring sixty-nine authors and full texts of their works, the selections in this open anthology represent the diverse voices in early American literature. This completely-open anthology will connect students to the conversation of literature that is embedded in American history and has helped shaped its culture." Organized into 4 parts. Online, accessible PDF, and accessible and editable Word formats. CC BY SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - ShareAlike) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.
The Open Anthology of Earlier American Literature (Robin DeRosa)
Developed by Robin DeRosa, 2015. Organized into 13 sections, starting with Native American and Ethnographic Texts and ending with Mark Twain. Online format. CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license.
The Open Anthology of Earlier American Literature (Abby Goode)
Abby Goode, Plymouth State University, originally originally published 2015, updated 2018. "This is an anthology of public domain texts from earlier American literature, collected by students, faculty, and alumnae of Plymouth State University as an OER alternative to expensive commercial anthologies. In addition to content from earlier editions, the 2018 edition adds four new sections: Where is American Literature Now?: Contemporary Connections, Earlier American Literature in Music, Female American (1767) Supplementary Readings, and Letters from an American Farmer (1767) Supplementary Readings." PDF format. CC BY (Creative Commons Attribution) license.
American Literature I: An Anthology of Texts From Early America Through the Civil War (OER textbook)
Jenifer Kurtz, Virtual Library of Virginia, 2019. "The authors and texts here are representative of the many writers who were writing throughout the colonization and development of what we now consider the United States of America. The text begins with a selection of Native American stories [...] This text represents a variety of genre, from letters, personal narratives, and speeches to poetry, sketches, and fiction." Over 200 works included and grouped chronologically. Online, print PDF, and EPUB formats. CC BY SA (Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Writing the Nation: A Concise Introduction to American Literature, 1865 to Present (OER textbook)
Amy Berke, et al, Univ. of North Georgia, 2015. 6 chapters, organized chronologically. Surveys key literature movements and a diversity of American authors associated with each movement. Online, accessible PDF, and editable Word formats. CC BY SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - ShareAlike) license.
Great Works of African American Literature (OER collection)
Compiled by Margaret Alma Cox and Patricia Ann West, University System of Georgia, 2022. Extensive collection of African American literary works organized by time period and then by author, from "Captivity, Enslavement, Resistance" to "Late Twentieth Century to the Present." Includes a "key topics podcast" for each section. Online, PDF, and editable Word formats. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike) license. Eligible for Print on Demand, although most readings are linked within the collection.
African American Literature (OER course)
Anne Rice, Lehman College, CUNY. Syllabus, weekly assignments and links to open access readings for "a survey course that will take us from the early days of enslavement to the present. We will read, analyze, and discuss literary texts written by African Americans, paying particular attention to the political, historical and social context that informs these texts." Course organized into 14 weekly assignments and readings. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike) license.
American Literature I (OER course)
Lumen Learning course developed by Columbia Basin College instructor, currently hosted by LibreTexts. Faculty resources available, including a PDF version and assignments. Organized into 5 modules: Reading and Interpreting Literary Texts, Early American and Puritan Literature, Enlightenment Literature, Romantic Literature, and Writing About Literature. Online and PDF formats. Course pages may have different CC (Creative Commons) open licenses. Eligible for Print on Demand.
American Literature II (OER course)
OER course from Lumen and currently hosted by LibreTexts. Student Resources module includes how to annotate a text and write about literature. Remaining modules and texts organized thematically (e.g. Immigration, American Protest, Humor, etc.), not chronologically. Online and PDF formats. Course pages may have different CC (Creative Commons) open licenses. Eligible for Print on Demand.
DALA: Digital American Literature Anthology (OER collection)
Edited by Michael O'Conner, Millikin University, 2019 ed., site last updated 2021. Collection of introductory essays and readings of American literature through Mark Twain. Organized into 2 parts, with 12 units. Online and PDF formats. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

Public Domain Core Collection
Collaboration between Ryerson and Brock universities (Canada). "The Public Domain Core Collection consists of over 50 titles of public domain works that have been created using Pressbooks and made available in online, epub, pdf and editable formats." Includes classic fiction and non-fiction titles, in areas of American and African-American literature, British literature, women's literature, classic philosophy, mythology, political science, and more. Public Domain. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Literature 1 - Crash Course video playlist
Crash Course video series of 9 videos (7-12 min. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes videos on: How and Why We Read, The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, and the Poetry of Emily Dickinson. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.
Literature 2 - Crash Course video playlist
Crash Course video series of 16 videos (9-13 min. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes videos on: To Kill a Mockingbird, Slaughterhouse-Five, Beloved, Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance, and the Poetry of Sylvia Plath. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.
Literature 3 - Crash Course video playlist
Crash Course video series of 9 videos (10-12 min. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes videos on: Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Invisible Man, and Sula. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.
Literature 4 - Crash Course video playlist
Crash Course video series of 12 videos (11-15 min. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes videos on: The Parable of the Sower, and The Yellow Wallpaper. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.
Digital Public Library of America - Primary Source Sets
“Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop critical thinking skills by exploring topics in history, literature, and culture through primary sources. Drawing online materials from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States, the sets use letters, photographs, posters, oral histories, video clips, sheet music, and more. Each set includes a topic overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide.” CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license.

Literatures of diversity: African American literature

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

Great Works of African American Literature (OER collection)
Compiled by Margaret Alma Cox and Patricia Ann West, University System of Georgia, 2022. Extensive collection of African American literary works organized by time period and then by author, from "Captivity, Enslavement, Resistance" to "Late Twentieth Century to the Present." Includes a "key topics podcast" for each section. Online, PDF, and editable Word formats. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike) license. Eligible for Print on Demand, although most readings are linked within the collection.
The Black Arts Enterprise and the Production of African American Poetry (OER book)
Howard Rambsy, University of Michigan Press, 2011. "A close examination of the literary culture in which the Black Arts Movement's poets (including Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, Larry Neal, Haki Madhubuti, Carolyn Rodgers, and others) operated and of the small presses and literary anthologies that first published the movement's authors. The book also describes the role of the Black Arts Movement in reintroducing readers to poets such as Langston Hughes, Robert Hayden, Margaret Walker, and Phillis Wheatley. Focusing on the material production of Black Arts poetry, the book combines genetic criticism with cultural history to shed new light on the period, its publishing culture, and the writing and editing practices of its participants." Organized into 6 main chapters. Online and PDF formats of each chapter. CC BY NC ND (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Freedom's Story: Teaching African American Literature and History (Open access collection)
National Humanities Center, 2011. Collection of essays by leading scholars of African American literature, history, and cultural movements and influences. Includes content overviews, discussion guidance, bibliographies, online resources, and primary resources. Essays organized by time period. Online format. Open access; All rights reserved copyright, but freely available to link to and access online. Not eligible for Print on Demand.

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

African American Literature: Course Readings for African American Literature (OER ancillary materials)
Anne Rice, Lehman College, CUNY, 2019. Syllabus and weekly course readings and assignments for an African American Literature survey course. Course readings are organized into 16 weeks, using open access and openly licensed readings available online. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike) license. Not eligible for Print on Demand.
Publishing Blackness: Textual Constructions of Race Since 1850 (OER e-book)
George Hutchinson and John K. Young, University of Michigan Press, 2013. "The ebook is a collection of essays on publication histories of various African American authors." Online and PDF formats of each chapter. CC BY NC ND (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.

British literature

TCC-created resources:

British Literature I - From Beowulf through Shakespeare (TCC OER course)
To view: First, log into your TCC Canvas faculty account, then click on the Canvas Commons link/icon in the global navigation menu, and then finally click this link to view this Canvas course content. OER Canvas course shared by TCC instructor Kristina Young, 2019. Includes modules, assignments, quizzes, and discussions. CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license.

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

British Literature I Anthology: From the Middle Ages to Neoclassicism and the Eighteenth Century
Peer-reviewed textbook, 2018, Univ. of North Georgia Press. "Featuring over 50 authors and full texts of their works, this anthology follows the shift of monarchic to parliamentarian rule in Britain, and the heroic epic to the more egalitarian novel as genre." Organized into 4 main parts chronologically; each part includes learning outcomes and key terms. PDF format. CC BY SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - ShareAlike) license.
British Literature II: Romantic Era to the Twentieth Century and Beyond
Peer-reviewed textbook, 2018, Univ. of North Georgia Press. "Featuring 37 authors and full texts of their works, the selections in this open anthology represent the literature developed within and developing through their respective eras." Organized chronologically into 3 main parts (Romantic Era, Victorian Age, and 20th Century and Beyond). CC BY SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - ShareAlike) license.
An Anglo-Norman Reader
Jane Bliss, 2018. Online, PDF, and HTML formats. "It presents a distinctive variety of Anglo-Norman works, beginning in the twelfth century and ending in the nineteenth, covering a broad range of genres and writers, introduced in a lively and thought-provoking way. Facing-page translations, into accessible and engaging modern English, are provided throughout, bringing these texts to life for a contemporary audience. The collection offers a selection of fascinating passages, and whole texts, many of which are not anthologised or translated anywhere else." CC BY NC (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial) license.
Beowulf by All: Community Translation and Workbook (OER textbook)
Jean Abbott, et al., Arc Humanities Press, 2021. "This is a community translation of the earliest English epic poem." Also includes a glossary of Characters and Terms. PDFs of entire text + individual chapters. CC BY NC ND ( Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.
English Literature I (OER course)
OER course from Lumen and currently hosted by LibreTexts. Examines major British tests from the Anglo-Saxon period to the 18th century. Includes several complete texts that are in the public domain. Online and PDF formats. Course pages may have different CC (Creative Commons) open licenses. Eligible for Print on Demand
An Introduction to African and Afro-Diasporic Peoples and Influences in British Literature and Culture before the Industrial Revolution (OER textbook)
Jonathan Elmore and Jenni Halpin, University System of Georgia’s “Affordable Learning Georgia” initiative, 2021. "Corrects, expands, and celebrates the presence of the African Diaspora in the study of British Literature, undoing some of the anti-Black history of British studies." Organized into 9 main chapters, including interviews with current instructors of British literature and history. PDF and editable Word formats. CC BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons - Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Race and Affect in Early Modern English Literature (OER textbook)
Edited by Carol Mejia LaPerle, Arizona State Univ., 2022. "In its investigation of plays, poetry, letters, travel accounts, medical treatises, social documents, and performances, this collection connects modern Black scholars’ insights to a much longer history." Organized into 3 themes/sections, with 11 essays. Online (Pressbooks) format. CC BY NC (Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Literature, the Humanities, and Humanity
Peer-reviewed text by SUNY instructor, 2014. This text "attempts to make the study of literature more than simply another school subject that students have to take. At a time when all subjects seem to be valued only for their testability, this book tries to show the value of reading and studying literature, even earlier literature.” 10 chapters (9 of which focus on major authors and specific works - heavy emphasis on British authors, including Shakespeare, Pope, Austen, and Dickens). PDF and ePub formats available. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - Non-Commercial - Share Alike) license.
English Literature: Victorians and Moderns (OER textbook)
James Sexton, Camosun College via BCcampus, 2014. "In addition to providing annotated teaching editions of many of the most frequently-taught classics of Victorian and Modern poetry, fiction and drama, it also provides a series of guided research casebooks which make available numerous published essays from open access books and journals, as well as several reprinted critical essays from established learned journals such as English Studies in Canada and the Aldous Huxley Annual with the permission of the authors and editors. Designed to supplement the annotated complete texts of three famous short novels: Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World." Online, PDF, EPUB, and course cartridge formats. CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

Public Domain Core Collection
Collaboration between Ryerson and Brock universities (Canada). "The Public Domain Core Collection consists of over 50 titles of public domain works that have been created using Pressbooks and made available in online, epub, pdf and editable formats." Includes classic fiction and non-fiction titles, in areas of American and African-American literature, British literature, women's literature, classic philosophy, mythology, political science, and more. Public Domain. Eligible for Print on Demand.
The Open Anthology of Literature in English (OER collection)
John O’Brien, Department of English, The University of Virginia. "The goal of this site is to build an anthology of freely-available, fully-edited and annotated texts of texts in English written during the long eighteenth century." Browse fiction, essays, poetry, life writing, and drama. Online, digital PDF, and print PDF formats. Many works in the public domain. Everything else is under a CC BY NC (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Literature 1 - Crash Course video playlist
Crash Course video series of 9 videos (7-12 min. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes videos on Romeo and Juliet. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.
Literature 2 - Crash Course video playlist
Crash Course video series of 16 videos (9-13 min. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes videos on: Hamlet, Frankenstein, and Jane Eyre. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.
Literature 3 - Crash Course video playlist
Crash Course video series of 9 videos (10-12 min. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes videos on: Shakespeare's Sonnets and Lord of the Flies. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.
Literature 4 - Crash Course video playlist
Crash Course video series of 12 videos (11-15 min. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes videos on: 1984, To the Lighthouse, Macbeth, and Pride and Prejudice. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.
Great Writers Inspire
University of Oxford site. "[A] variety of illuminating resources such as academic lectures and talks, ebooks and contextual material produced for this project. These materials are arranged into collections about individual authors whose writing is important to literary studies.” CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - Non-Commercial - Share Alike) license.
What is Literature, and Why Does It Matter?
From Great Writers Inspire site, University of Oxford. “This section brings together some resources… to illustrate how these can be used as a starting point for exploration of or classroom discussion about the questions ‘What is Literature?’ and ‘Why Does it Matter?’” Includes tabs of resources for audio (podcasts), video, and other (articles). Great Writers Inspire has a CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - Non-Commercial - Share Alike - license), but some of the resources in this collection may have different licenses/permissions.

Shakespeare

Canvas course shells:

Shakespeare Station (OER Canvas course)
To view: First, log into your TCC Canvas faculty account, then click on the Canvas Commons link/icon in the global navigation menu, and then finally click this link to view this Canvas course content. Created and shared by James Shifflett, Virginia's Community Colleges, 2019. “This ... is designed to acclimate students to reading and understanding Shakespeare's often difficult language. It can be used as an introduction to Shakespearean English or a refresher course. Each module focuses on one linguistic technique and features creative writing labs and quizzes.” CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike) license.

TCC-created resources:

British Literature I - From Beowulf through Shakespeare (TCC OER course)
Tip: Log into your TCC Canvas faculty account *before* clicking on this link! OER Canvas course shared by TCC instructor Kristina Young, 2019. There is an extensive “Shakespearean English/Early Modern English” module, with readings, assignments, quizzes, and discussions. CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license.

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

Shakespeare's Major Plays Volume 1 (OER collection)
Compiled by Cheryl Taylor, James Cook University, 2024. "This book is designed to assist upper secondary school and first and second-year university students in their reading and understanding of Shakespeare's plays. The plays selected for discussion are those that students are most likely to encounter in their early adventures with Shakespeare. Each discussion provides guidance on issues raised by each play and suggests approaches from which students can build original ideas and insights. The book contains interactive exercises that are designed to assist students to understand and remember the characters, plots and structures of Shakespeare's plays. The book contains free full text copies of the plays. Volume 1 includes As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet." Online (Pressbooks) and EPUB format. CC BY NC (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.

Library e-books with unlimited user access:

The Routledge guide to William Shakespeare
Call Number: Online
Publication Date: 2011
Tip: You may need to log in with your portal credentials to view this e-book. “In this friendly, structured guide, Robert Shaughnessy introduces Shakespeare's life and works in context, providing crucial historical background looks at each of Shakespeare's plays in turn, considering issues of historical context, contemporary criticism and performance history.”
The Cambridge introduction to Shakespeare
Call Number: Online
Publication Date: 2007
Tip: You may need to log in with your portal credentials to view this e-book. “This lively and innovative introduction to Shakespeare promotes active engagement with the plays, rather than recycling factual information. Covering a range of texts, it is divided into seven subject-based chapters: Character; Performance; Texts; Language; Structure; Sources and History, and it does not assume any prior knowledge.”
The Cambridge introduction to Shakespeare's poetry
Call Number: Online
Publication Date: 2010
Tip: You may need to log in with your portal credentials to view this e-book. “This Introduction celebrates the achievement of Shakespeare as a poet, providing students with ways of understanding and enjoying his remarkable poems.”
Critical survey of Shakespeare's sonnets by Salem Press
Call Number: Online
Publication Date: 2014
Tip: You may need to log in with your portal credentials to view this e-book. This text includes a “Close Readings of 25 Sonnets” section, with an abstract, keywords, and context for each selected sonnet.
Shakespeare: The basics by Sean McEvoy
Call Number: Online
Publication Date: 2012
Tip: You may need to log in with your portal credentials to view this e-book. “Exploring all aspects of Shakespeare's plays including the language, cultural contexts, and modern interpretations, this text looks at how a range of plays from across the genres have been understood.”

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

Open Source Shakespeare
Access full-text copies of the playwright's sonnets, poems, plays, and more.
Romeo and Juliet – Open Textbook
Edited by Rebecca Olson, Oregon State University, 2021. "This edition of Romeo and Juliet was edited by students for students." Includes Educational Resources for Teachers connected to themes of Racism, Ableism, Classism, and Contextualization, as well as Supplementary Lesson Plans for each act of the play. Online, EPUB, digital and print PDF, and Common Cartridge LMS formats. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike) license. Eligible for Print on DEmand.
Literature 1 - Crash Course video playlist
Crash Course video series of 9 videos (7-12 min. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes videos on Romeo and Juliet. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.
Literature 2 - Crash Course video playlist
Crash Course video series of 16 videos (9-13 min. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes videos on Hamlet. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.
Literature 3 - Crash Course video playlist
CrashCourse video series of 9 videos (10-12 min. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes a video on Shakespeare's Sonnets. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.
Literature 4 - Crash Course video playlist
Crash Course video series of 12 videos (11-15 min. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes videos on Macbeth. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.
Literature, the Humanities, and Humanity
Peer-reviewed text by SUNY instructor, 2014. This text "attempts to make the study of literature more than simply another school subject that students have to take. At a time when all subjects seem to be valued only for their testability, this book tries to show the value of reading and studying literature, even earlier literature.” Chapter 5 is Shakespeare, with an introductory essay, plus in-depth essays on As You Like It and Antony and Cleopatra. PDF and ePub formats available. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - Non-Commercial - Share Alike) license.
Shakespeare’s complete works (public domain)
All of Shakespeare’s works available via Project Gutenberg site. All works on the Project Gutenberg site are available in multiple formats, including HTML, EPUB, and Kindle. Public domain.

World literature

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

World Literature I: Beginnings to 1650
Peer-reviewed text, 2015. Sections of the text are divided by time period in three parts: the Ancient World, Middle Ages, and Renaissance, and then divided into chapters by location. Includes introductory text and images before each series of readings. Public domain readings, and textbook is licensed under a CC BY SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - ShareAlike) license.
Compact Anthology of World Literature
Peer-reviewed text, 2016, slightly updated version by same authors of "World Literature I" text. 4 main chapters/sections. PDF format available. CC BY SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - Share Alike) license.
Compact Anthology of World Literature II: Volumes 4, 5, and 6 (OER textbook)
University of North Georgia, 2018, updated 2024. Continues the "Compact Anthology of World Literature" into the 17th and 18th centuries (Part 4); 19th century (Part 5); and 20th century and Contemporary Literature (Part 6). "Texts from a variety of genres and cultures are included in each unit. Additionally, each selection or collection includes a brief introduction about the author and text(s), and each includes 3 – 5 discussion questions. Texts in the public domain--those published or translated before 1923--are replicated here. Texts published or translated after 1923 are not yet available in the public domain. In those cases, we have provided a link to a stable site that includes the text." PDF and ePUB formats, for both the entire text and specific parts. CC BY SA (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Open Anthology of Early World Literature in English Translation (OER collection)
Columbus State University, 2015. "A collection of free and open primary texts in digital formats for the study of early world literature in English translation. Multiple English translations are provided for comparison and study, as well as open secondary and supplemental resources." Includes Ancient, Medieval, and Early Modern literature for Near Eastern, Persia/Middle East, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Indian, French, Greco-Roman, Greek, Roman, Spanish, Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse, English, and Native Americans. Online LibGuide and accessible PDF formats. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike) license.
Antología Abierta De Literatura Hispana (Open Anthology of Hispanic Literature)
Peer-reviewed textbook, 2017. "A critical anthology of literary texts from the Spanish-speaking world. A focus on canonical authors and an attempt to include voices that have been marginalized. Each text includes an introduction and annotations created by students." Please note that readings are in Spanish. Multiple formats available, including PDF, ePub, and online. CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license.
Oral Literature in Africa (OER collection)
Ruth Finnegan, originally published in 1970, revised edition 2012. "This revised edition makes Finnegan’s ground-breaking research available to the next generation of scholars. It includes a new introduction, additional images and an updated bibliography, as well as its original chapters on poetry, prose, "drum language" and drama, and an overview of the social, linguistic and historical background of oral literature in Africa." Click the Resources link/tab for Finnegan's original recordings of stories and songs from the Limba country (Sierra Leone). Online, PDF, and EPUB formats; sound recordings available in online or MP3 formats. CC BY (Creative Commons Attribution) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.
World Oral Literature Series (OER collection)
OER collection published by Open Book Publishers, UK. "[T]his long-running series was designed to preserve and promote the oral literatures of Indigenous people by publishing materials on endangered traditions in innovative, responsive, ethical and culturally-appropriate ways." Collection includes: Storytelling in Northern Zambia (with integrated audio and video), Stories from Quechan Oral Literature; Long Narrative Songs from the Mongghul of Northeast Tibet: Texts in Mongghul, Chinese, and English; and more. Each collection has a different CC license. Texts available in online (HTML) and PDF formats. Eligible for Print on Demand.

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

Global Literature in Libraries Initiative resource list
"The Global Literature in Libraries Initiative strives to raise the visibility of world literature for adults and children at the local, national and international levels. We intend to do so by facilitating close and direct collaboration between translators, librarians, publishers, editors, and educators." Although most of this list has publishers in order to purchase titles, toward the bottom of the list are links for International Literature Journals (electronic & print), International Literature Blogs, International Literature TED Talks, and International Literature Podcasts that could be useful for supplementary material.
Literature 2 - Crash Course video playlist
Crash Course video series of 16 videos (9-13 min. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes videos on: The Odyssey, Oedipus, and Things Fall Apart. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.
Literature 3 - Crash Course video playlist
Crash Course video series of 9 videos (10-12 min. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes 2 videos on 100 Years of Solitude. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.
Literature 4 - Crash Course video playlist
Crash Course video series of 12 videos (11-15 min. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes videos on: The Handmaid's Tale and Candide. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.

Women's literature

TCC-created resources:

Women's Literature (TCC OER course)
To view: First, log into your TCC Canvas faculty account, then click on the Canvas Commons link/icon in the global navigation menu, and then finally click this link to view this Canvas course content. OER Canvas course shared by TCC instructor Kristina Young, 2019. Includes modules, assignments, quizzes, and discussions. CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license.

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

Public Domain Core Collection
Collaboration between Ryerson and Brock universities (Canada). "The Public Domain Core Collection consists of over 50 titles of public domain works that have been created using Pressbooks and made available in online, epub, pdf and editable formats." Includes classic fiction and non-fiction titles, in areas of American and African-American literature, British literature, women's literature, classic philosophy, mythology, political science, and more. Public Domain. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Literature 1 - Crash Course video playlist
Crash Course video series of 9 videos (7-12 min. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes videos on: How and Why We Read and the Poetry of Emily Dickinson. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.
Literature 2 - Crash Course video playlist
Crash Course video series of 16 videos (9-13 min. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes videos on: Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, To Kill a Mockingbird, Beloved, and the Poetry of Sylvia Plath. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.
Literature 3 - Crash Course video playlist
Crash Course video series of 9 videos (10-12 min. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes videos on: Their Eyes Were Watching God and Sula. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.
Literature 4 - Crash Course video playlist
Crash Course video series of 12 videos (11-15 min. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes videos on: The Handmaid's Tale, The Parable of the Sower, The Yellow Wallpaper, To the Lighthouse, and Pride and Prejudice. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.

Mythology and folk stories

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

ENGL 234 - Intro to Mythology -- Potential OER (Google doc)
Google document of potential OER, open access, and TCC Library resources compiled by OER librarian Jennifer Snoek-Brown, 2019. Document organized into sections for videos, anthologies, stand-alone texts, and supplemental/ancillary resources; resources are linked throughout.
Mythology Unbound: An Online Textbook for Classical Mythology (OER textbook)
Jessica Mellenthin and Susan O. Shapiro, Open Educational Resources for Utah, [2023]. Focuses on Greek mythology. Organized into chapters by theme/myth/entity. Online (Pressbooks), PDF, and EPUB formats. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Introduction to Literature: Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, and How They Shape Us (OER textbook)
Judy Young, University of West Florida, 2023. "Introduces college freshmen to the study of literature through a focus on texts that, generally, they already know, or think they know, and how those texts aim to shape audiences to be compliant cultural objects. The book is organized around several prominent story groups, including various genres and forms, meant to promote discussion and discovery leading to students’ understanding that these texts function as cultural sculptors of readers’ principles and behaviors. Students develop the skill of analyzing texts and creating sound arguments about them through class discussions and a series of writing assignments." Organized into 4 major sections, with 25 chapters. The final section focuses on Folk Tales. Faculty peer reviews of this OER textbook available on this site. Online (Pressbooks), PDF, and EPUB formats. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

World Mythology - Crash Course video playlist
Crash Course video series of 41 videos (9-14 mins. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes videos on: What is Myth, Creation Myths, Indian Myths, Greek and Roman Myths, Norse Myths, African Myths, Chinese Myths, Central and South American Myths, Archetypal Gods, Tricksters, The Hero's Journey, and more. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.
Literary Studies For A Sustainable Future (OER textbook)
Lisette Helena Assia Espinoza, Remixing Open Textbooks through an Equity Lens (ROTEL) project, June 2024. "Offers a sampling of the vast array of storytelling and literary traditions from around the world [...] Through songs and folklore, film clips, poetry, myth, storytelling, and satirical theater, its chapters feature key literary texts and terms to present literature as vital community-sustaining cultural expressions. Learners witness the roles literature have on climate, ecology, and social justice challenges." Organized into 3 major sections, each with readings, activities, and assignments. Online (Pressbooks), PDF, and EPUB formats. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Public Domain Core Collection
Collaboration between Ryerson and Brock universities (Canada). "The Public Domain Core Collection consists of over 50 titles of public domain works that have been created using Pressbooks and made available in online, epub, pdf and editable formats." Includes classic fiction and non-fiction titles, in areas of American and African-American literature, British literature, women's literature, classic philosophy, mythology, political science, and more. Public Domain. Eligible for Print on Demand.

Bible as literature

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

Reading the Bible as Literature: A Journey (OER textbook)
Jody Ondich, 2022. "The Bible is one of the most published books in human history [...] this text is an attempt to give historic, literary, geographical and cultural context to a complex and often poorly understood set of materials." Organized into 8 main sections, with 21 total chapters. Faculty peer reviews of this text available on this site. Online (Pressbooks), PDF, EPUB, Common Cartridge, and editable OpenDocument formats. CC BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons - Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Reading the Bible: Intention, Text, Interpretation (OER textbook)
Robert D. Lane, UP of America via BCcampus, 2018. “This book argues that the best way to understand the stories of the Old and New Testaments is to consider them as human stories with sophisticated narrative techniques at play. God is a character in these stories from the beginning, and considering god as a character in a narrative proves fruitful in responding to the human voices of these stories.” Organized into 11 main chapters. Uses several Bible stories as case studies for analysis. Online, EPUB, and digital PDF formats. CC BY NC (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Studying the Bible: The Tanakh and Early Christian Writings (OER textbook)
Gregory Eiselein, Anna Goins, and Naomi J. Wood, Kansas State University, 2019. “[A] university-level, textbook introduction to the study of the Bible, its literary forms, and historical and cultural contexts. [...] This textbook examines the Hebrew Bible (also known as the Tanakh) and the early Christian writings of the New Testament. It is an introduction to the analysis of biblical texts, their histories, and their interpretations. The emphasis throughout this textbook is on the literary qualities of these biblical texts as well as their cultural and historical contexts.” Organized into 12 chapters. There are faculty peer reviews of the text on this site. PDF for full text + each chapter. CC BY-NC (Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.

Library e-books with unlimited user access:

Library e-books are not eligible for Print on Demand services.

The new Oxford annotated Bible with Apocrypha
Call Number: Online
Publication Date: 2010
4th ed. "The premier study Bible used by scholars, pastors, undergraduate and graduate students." Online + PDF formats.
A history of the English Bible as literature by David Norton
Call Number: Online
Publication Date: 2000
"[T]ells the story of English literary attitudes to the Bible." Sample chapter: 11, The Critical Rise of the King James Bible. Online + PDF formats.
The English Bible As literature by Charles Allen Dinsmore
Call Number: Online
Publication Date: 2015
"The religious associations surrounding the Bible make it difficult for the general reader to appreciate, in its full purity, the value which the Scriptures bear as literature, and as an epic in no way inferior, in cultural worth, to the greatest works of Greece and Rome." This book, first published in 1931, will be of interest to students of literature and religious studies.
Literary approaches to the Bible
Call Number: Online
Publication Date: 2018
"The methods described in Literary Approaches to the Bible are focused on different ways of analyzing the text within its literary context." Each chapter has an "application" section. Sample chapter: 1, Introduction: The Literary Approach to the Bible. Online + PDF formats.
The New Testament As literature: A very short introduction by Kyle Keefer
Call Number: Online
Publication Date: 2008
“A fascinating investigation of the New Testament as a classic literary work, this Very Short Introduction uses a literary framework--plot, character, narrative arc, genre--to illuminate the language, structure, and the crafting of this venerable text.” Sample chapter: 2 The New Testament and the literary canon. Online + PDF formats.

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

The Bible | Literature (OER ancillary materials)
Ina Lipkowitz, MIT OpenCourseWare, 2007. “This course is an introduction to major books from both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. Particular attention has been given to literary techniques, issues resulting from translation from the original Hebrew and Greek, and the different historical periods that produced and are reflected in the Bible. Investigation of the Bible as influence in later narrative, philosophic, and artistic traditions.” The main text for the course is The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha: An Ecumenical Study Bible (1991 ed.); although the main textbook is not openly licensed, the course materials are openly licensed. Sample course outline in Readings section, Lecture Notes, and Assignment details. Lecture notes are in PDF format; other content is online as text. CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike) license. Eligible for Print on Demand if materials are compiled into a print-ready format.
BibleProject playlists
Animated educational videos on different aspects of the Bible, most recently updated in 2020. Playlists include: How to Read the Bible, Biblical Themes. Not openly licensed but can link to/embed within Canvas course.

Environmental literature/writing

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

Literary Studies For A Sustainable Future (OER textbook)
Lisette Helena Assia Espinoza, Remixing Open Textbooks through an Equity Lens (ROTEL) project, June 2024. "Offers a sampling of the vast array of storytelling and literary traditions from around the world [...] Through songs and folklore, film clips, poetry, myth, storytelling, and satirical theater, its chapters feature key literary texts and terms to present literature as vital community-sustaining cultural expressions. Learners witness the roles literature have on climate, ecology, and social justice challenges." Organized into 3 major sections, each with readings, activities, and assignments. Online (Pressbooks), PDF, and EPUB formats. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.

E-books for environmental/nature writing and analysis:

NOTE: All the library e-books below have unlimited user access

Environment: Why read the classics
Call Number: Online
Publication Date: 2012
Analyzes 6 major classics in environmental/nature writing. Use permalinks to integrate the entire text or specific chapters, readings, or pages into a Canvas course.
Nature writing
Call Number: Online
Publication Date: 2002
Includes an overview chapter and a conclusion, with 6 chapters analyzing specific works/authors. Use permalinks to integrate the entire text or specific chapters, readings, or pages into a Canvas course.

Anthologies of environmental/nature writing:

Thematic Reading Anthology (OER ancillary materials)
This online anthology is a curated collection of openly licensed or public domain primary texts, organized thematically. Includes a module on "Nature & Conservation."
The Environment in the Age of the Internet: Activists, Communication, and the Digital Landscape (OER collection)
Edited by Heike Graf, 2016. "[A]n interdisciplinary collection that draws together research and answers from media and communication studies, social sciences, modern history, and folklore studies [...] its focus is on the communicative approaches taken by different groups to ecological issues, shedding light on how these groups tell their distinctive stories of "the environment". This book draws on case studies from around the world." Online, PDF, and HTML formats. CC BY (Creative Commons Attribution) license.

Language of the earth: A literary anthology
Call Number: Online
Publication Date: 2008
Part 3 of this work has excerpts and full text of prose, poetry, and art, along with brief introductions of each work included. Use permalinks to specific chapters, works, even pages, in order to directly connect students to works within Canvas
A republic of rivers: Three centuries of nature writing from Alaska and the Yukon
Call Number: Online
Publication Date: 1992
Organized into 3 main parts, by time period (Part I: 1741–1866; Part II: 1867-1989; Part III: 1959-1989). Could use for examples of West Coast nature writing, both historical and modern. Use permalinks to specific chapters, works, even pages, to directly connect students to works within Canvas.

Individual authors/works of environmental writing (full text or excerpts):

Terry Tempest Williams's "The Clan of the One-Breasted Women" (excerpt)
From Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place, 1992. Freely available excerpt to link to in Canvas course.
Henry David Thoreau's Walden, or Life in the Woods
Originally published in 1854. Different versions available for students to compare-and-contrast via the Digital Thoreau site.
Wallace Stegner's "Wilderness Letter"
From Marking the Sparrow's Fall, 1992. Full text included on Wilderness Society site. Scroll down the page to view full text.
W.E.B. DuBois's Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil
Originally published in 1920, combines existential, racial, and environmental themes. Full text available in multiple formats via Project Gutenberg site.
John Fox's The Heart of the Hills
Originally published in 1912. Available in multiple formats via Project Gutenberg site.

Aldo Leopold's the river of the mother of God and other essays
Call Number: Online
Publication Date: 1992
“This book brings together the best of Leopold's essays.” Note: Does not include A Sand County Almanac. Use permalinks to integrate the entire text or specific chapters, readings, or pages into a Canvas course.
Susan Fenimore Cooper's essays on nature and landscape
Call Number: Online
Publication Date: 2002
"A collection of ten pieces by Cooper that represent her most accomplished nature writing and the fullest articulation of her environmental principles.” Use permalinks to integrate the entire text or specific chapters, readings, or pages into a Canvas course.

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

Environmental Humanities and Environmental Studies Teaching Resources Database
Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE) website and collection of teaching resources for environmental humanities. Includes lesson plans, syllabi, assignments, modules, and more. PDF downloads. Not explicitly openly licensed, but educational use is encouraged.
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Recommended by TCC instructor Allen Braden
Nature-themed audio-recordings - LibriVox
Free public domain audiobooks with downloadable options of audio recordings. This link takes you a "nature" keyword search.

Greening the college curriculum: A guide to environmental teaching in the liberal arts
Call Number: Online
Publication Date: 1995
Chapter 7 focuses on Literature and includes assignment ideas and activities.

Children's literature

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

The Inside, Outside, and Upside Downs of Children's Literature: From Poets and Pop-ups to Princesses and Porridge (OER textbook)
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider, University of South Florida, 2016. "Children’s literature is written for children and youth, but the analysis of children’s literature requires careful attention to text as well insightful interpretation of the ways in which authors and illustrators present the human condition, the physical world, imaginative experiences, and global forces." Organized into 12 chapters, with video readings for each chapters. PDFs of the entire text and individual chapters, as well as video files to download. CC BY SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - ShareAlike) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.
The ABC of It: Why Children's Books Matter (Open access book)
Leonard S. Marcus, Univ. of Minnesota, 2019. "For fourteen months beginning in June 2013, the New York Public Library hosted an exhibition about the role of children’s books in world culture and in our lives. Now with this book, a collaboration between the University of Minnesota’s Kerlan Collection of Children’s Literature and children’s literature historian Leonard Marcus, the nostalgia and vision of that exhibit can be experienced anywhere." PDF download. Open access book.
Telling Tales: The Impact of Germany on English Children’s Books 1780-1918
David Blamires, 2009. "[T]he first comprehensive study of the impact of Germany on English children’s books, covering the period from 1780 to the First World War. Beginning with The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, moving through the classics and including many other collections of fairytales and legends, it covers a wealth of translated and adapted material." Online, PDF, and HTML formats. CC BY NC ND (Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative) license.

Sci-fi and fantasy literature

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

Sci-fi & Fantasy Anthology (OER reader)
Amanda Hoppe, Whatcom Community College, 2015. "This course introduces students to the genres of science-fiction and fantasy, focusing on major themes and how speculative fiction addresses contemporary human concerns." Online, PDF, and web links formats. CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license.

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

Literature 2 - Crash Course video playlist
Crash Course video series of 16 videos (9-13 min. each) with innovative graphics, last updated 2020. Includes videos on Frankenstein. Crash Course videos are high-quality, with a mix of live-action and animated graphics. Not openly licensed but freely available to view, link, and embed into courses.
Public Domain Core Collection
Collaboration between Ryerson and Brock universities (Canada). "The Public Domain Core Collection consists of over 50 titles of public domain works that have been created using Pressbooks and made available in online, epub, pdf and editable formats." Includes classic fiction and non-fiction titles, in areas of American and African-American literature, British literature, women's literature, classic philosophy, mythology, political science, and more. Public Domain. Eligible for Print on Demand.

Writing about literature

TCC-created resources:

ENGL 103 Composition III Writing about Literature (TCC OER course)
To view: First, log into your TCC Canvas faculty account, then click on the Canvas Commons link/icon in the global navigation menu, and then finally click this link to view this Canvas course content. OER Canvas course shared by TCC instructor Kristina Young, 2019. Master course with several different themed modules. Includes assignments, quizzes, and discussions. CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license.
ENGL 103 Composition III Writing about Literature - Honors (TCC OER course)
To view: First, log into your TCC Canvas faculty account, then click on the Canvas Commons link/icon in the global navigation menu, and then finally click this link to view this Canvas course content. Online course developed by TCC instructor, Kristina Young, 2018. "This is the initial English 103 Honors section." Includes modules, assignments, quizzes, and discussion forums. CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license.

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

Critical Writing about Literature (OER textbook)
Edited by Dr. Erika L. Bass, University of Northern Iowa, 2023, last updated Jan. 2024. "This free custom textbook includes openly-licensed and public domain works [...] It introduces readers to the knowledge and skills necessary to critically read, interpret, and analyze literature." Organized into 5 major sections: Reading, Writing, and Critical Thinking; Reading and Analyzing Fiction; Reading and Analyzing Poetry; Literary Criticism: An Introduction; Reading and Analyzing Drama; and a glossary of literary terms. Online and downloadable Word files via Google Docs. This textbook has a combination of CC-licensed and Public Domain content. Reading that are under All Rights Reserved copyright are linked in the collection. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Surface and Subtext: Literature, Research, Writing (OER textbook)
James Francis, Jr., et al., Texas A&M University, 2024. A "detailed overview of concepts and critical terminology necessary for writing about a variety of literary genres." Organized into 10 chapters, from an introduction to literature to sections for analyzing and writing about specific genres, including poetry, novella, novel, drama, film, and creative nonfiction. The last two chapters focus on writing and formatting a literary essay. Includes a glossary. Online (Pressbooks) and PDF formats. CC BY NC (Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Writing and Literature: Composition as Inquiry, Learning, Thinking, and Communication
Peer-reviewed textbook, 2017. "Students learn the various writing styles appropriate for analyzing, addressing, and critiquing these genres including poetry, novels, dramas, and research writing. The text and its pairing of helpful visual aids throughout emphasizes the importance of critical reading and analysis in producing a successful composition. Writing and Literature is a refreshing textbook that links learning, literature, and life." PDF format. CC BY SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - ShareAlike) license.
Writing and Critical Thinking Through Literature (OER textbook)
Heather Ringo & Athena Kashyap, City College of San Francisco, via LibreTexts platform, last updated 2020. "This text offers instruction in analytical, critical, and argumentative writing, critical thinking, research strategies, information literacy, and proper documentation through the study of literary works from major genres, while developing students’ close reading skills and promoting an appreciation of the aesthetic qualities of literature." Includes chapters and readings on creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, drama, literary criticism. Online, PDF, print book files, and course cartridge formats. CC BY NC (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Creating Literary Analysis (OER textbook)
OER textbook shared via LibreTexts platform, last updated 2020. "The authors believe students of literature should learn about many literary theories so they can discover which interpretive tools work best for them when they write about literature in their classes (and beyond). This book aims to help students build up a personal toolbox of interpretive possibilities." Organized into 10 main chapters, including an Appendix with peer review sheets. Online + PDF formats. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Literature, Critical Thinking, & Writing (OER course)
OER course from Lumen developed for "Achieving the Dream" OER initiative and currently hosted by LibreTexts. Course focuses heavily on critical thinking and literary analysis, and modules include analyzing short fiction, poetry, and plays. Online and PDF formats. Course pages may have different CC (Creative Commons) open licenses. Eligible for Print on Demand.
Literature for the Humanities (OER course)
Developed by Florida State College at Jacksonville for Lumen Learning and currently hosted by LibreTexts. Organized into 6 modules, focusing on foundations of reading and analyzing fiction, poetry, and drama. Online and PDF formats. Course pages may have different CC (Creative Commons) open licenses. Eligible for Print on Demand.
"Writing about Literature: The Basics" chapter (CK-12)
“This chapter introduces students to the basics of reading literature. It introduces students to subjective and objective reading, and goes over the basic ideas behind reading for plot, character, setting, and theme.” Chapter includes vocabulary list. Written for high school level, but adaptable to community college level. Online format but can be integrated into Canvas via a CK-12 app. Last updated in 2015. CC BY NC (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial) license. Eligible for Print on Demand, if materials are converted into a print-ready format.
"Writing about Literature: Analyzing Prose" chapter (CK-12)
“This chapter covers the basics of close reading, with a focus on connotation vs. denotation, simile, metaphor, repetition, and imagery. The chapter also introduces students to different narrative modes.” Chapter includes vocabulary list. Written for high school level, but adaptable to community college level. Online format but can be integrated into Canvas via a CK-12 app. Last updated in 2020. CC BY NC (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial) license.

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

The Open Anthology of Literature in English (OER collection)
John O’Brien, Department of English, The University of Virginia. "The goal of this site is to build an anthology of freely-available, fully-edited and annotated texts of texts in English written during the long eighteenth century." Browse fiction, essays, poetry, life writing, and drama. Online, digital PDF, and print PDF formats. Many works in the public domain. Everything else is under a CC BY NC (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.
The Writing Center @ UNC-Chapel Hill
Excellent handouts and videos around key writing concepts. Entire section on Writing for Specific Fields, including Drama, Literature (Fiction), and more. Licensed under CC BY NC ND (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial - No Derivatives).
Writability Podcast
Developed by English faculty and librarians at the College of the Sequoias, 2020-21. This is an openly licensed series of conversations about writing tips and topics. Length varies for each episode. Topics include: Using Instructor Feedback, Beyond the 5 Paragraph Essay, Writing Across Disciplines-English and Psychology, and more. Audio files + transcripts. CC BY-NC (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial) license.

Culturally responsive and inclusive pedagogy

The Culturally Responsive and Inclusive Pedagogy OER Subject Guide, linked below, provides a starting point for OER professional development and curricular materials relating to issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion; trauma-informed practices; and culturally responsive, inclusive, and anti-racist pedagogy and practices. This guide includes concepts and keywords; TCC OEDI resources; introductory and more in-depth professional development resources (toolkits, guides, etc.); curriculum resources (activities, assignments, etc.); OER and EDI rubrics; instructional design; accessibility; as well as EDI-focused OER in different disciplines across the curriculum, including Writing and Literature.

Culturally Responsive and Inclusive Pedagogy - TCC OER Subject Guide
by Jennifer Snoek-Brown Last Updated Sep 23, 2024 155 views this year

Your OER librarian

Jennifer Snoek-Brown

she/her

Email Me

Contact:

Email: jsnoek-brown@tacomacc.edu (the fastest way to contact me)
Office: Bldg 7, Library (please wear a face mask)
Phone: 253.460.3936 (forwards to my email)
Book an appointment Click the "book now" button above to book a personal appointment with me via Zoom.

Subjects: Communication, English, OER, OER Subject Guides, Psychology, WRITE

Your liaison librarian

Olli Toppeta

they/them/their

Email Me

Subjects: Computer Science, Corrections education, Film Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Government, Humanities, Information Systems, Literature, Pathways, Political science, Zines

Literature - TCC OER Subject Guide: OER starting points

OER starting points for Literature, by course area/theme and material type

Anthologies and readings

Reading anthologies:

Sites for public domain and/or open access literary texts:

Introduction to literature

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

American literature

Canvas course shells:

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

Literatures of diversity: African American literature

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

British literature

TCC-created resources:

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

Shakespeare

Canvas course shells:

TCC-created resources:

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

Library e-books with unlimited user access:

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

World literature

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

Women's literature

TCC-created resources:

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

Mythology and folk stories

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

Bible as literature

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

Library e-books with unlimited user access:

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

Environmental literature/writing

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

E-books for environmental/nature writing and analysis:

Anthologies of environmental/nature writing:

Individual authors/works of environmental writing (full text or excerpts):

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

Children's literature

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

Sci-fi and fantasy literature

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

Writing about literature

TCC-created resources:

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

Culturally responsive and inclusive pedagogy

Your OER librarian

Your liaison librarian

Attributions