1. A Look at the American Literary Movements
https://online.eou.edu/resources/article/a-look-at-the-american-literary-movements/
This webpage is a brief overview of American literary movements, from the pre-Colombian era to Postmodern literature. It discusses notable trends, themes, authors, and works in a chronological format. This is a great introduction to American literature for students just beginning to learn about American literature. While it is far from comprehensive, it is concise, easy to read, accurate, and touches on many of the most important things to know about movements in American literature.
2. Voices From the Gaps
https://conservancy.umn.edu/communities/312bd8ad-b421-445d-a2cb-67404c86d5eb
Voices From the Gaps was created by two University of Minnesota professors to highlight work by American women of color in 1996. It is no longer an active website and is now an archive hosted by the University Digital Conservancy. However, it includes a comprehensive list of authors, artist pages, interviews with the authors, and essays about their work. This is an extensive collection that gives a voice to marginalized American authors. Students can learn about lesser-known, female authors who are typically not covered in English courses. It is a slower, more difficult-to-use site, but this doesn't negate its value.
3. American Verse Project
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/a/amverse/
This site contains 170 digitized works of American poetry published before 1920. It offers advanced search features to help users find materials effectively, as well as browsing options. While this is not a large collection, it contains interesting, historical works. It includes full volumes of poems rather than just individual poems, so it could be a helpful source for finding sources to analyze for an assignment on American poetry. Poetry collections can be expensive, especially as a college student, but this site offers a free alternative.
4. The Walt Whitman Archive - Published Writings
https://whitmanarchive.org/published-writings
This webpage includes links to many of Whitman's published works, including several editions of Leaves of Grass (his most famous poetry collection), other books of prose and poetry, works of his that appeared in periodicals, translations of his work, and an index. The Walt Whitman Archive site is published by University of Nebraska-Lincoln, but many additional institutions and organizations provide funding and support. In addition to this page, the site also offers access to Whitman's letters and manuscripts, along with commentary on his work and multimedia content. Walt Whitman was one of the most important American writers, and this site offers a way to read his work for free. The site is also up-to-date, visually appealing, and easy to use.