

On African-American status in the 19th century:

Gonzaga University's A Brief Timeline of American Literature, Music and Movies, 1890–1929, a link also from the History Matters site, provides another look at late Victorian popular culture.Duke University's Ad*Access site, a link from the EDSITEment-reviewed History Matters site, provides an excellent look at popular culture through advertising.While it is difficult to find sites that look at the Victorian era in an unromanticized way, these sites provide some unique perspectives: In addition to print sources on these topics, the following websites may be useful: Review key aspects of cultural contexts that have had an impact on critics of Huckleberry Finn, particularly Victorian morality and more recent debates about race and high school literary selections.Particularly useful in defining culture for this lesson is Eric Miraglia's What Is Culture?, accessible through the EDSITEment-reviewed Internet Public Library and its link to the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association site. Consider before starting the lesson how you will define and use this term with your students. "Cultural context" is a term that is used often and defined rarely.
