← Reading Pathways
BetterReads · A reading pathway
American Myth
Self-reliance meets the whale and the uncrossable sea.
Step 1 · Emerson
Essays
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The individual, nature, and moral courage
Step 2 · Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick
Herman Melville
Obsession, cosmic indifference, and Ahab's will
Step 3 · Tom Sawyer
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Mark Twain
Boyhood schemes on the Mississippi
Step 4 · Huckleberry Finn
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain
Raft, Jim, and the river's moral test
Step 5 · Wieland
Wieland
Charles Brockden Brown
Gothic terror and an American mind unhinged
Step 6 · Professor’s House
The Professor’s House
Willa Cather
The Southwest as refuge from success
Step 7 · Cogewea
Cogewea, the Half-Blood
Mourning Dove
An Indigenous woman between two worlds