The Real Meaning of the Wizard of Oz

By far the most popular post I have done in recent years (the blog celebrates five years in April) is on the background of the Wizard of Oz.  My students love to know the background to the story and it really helps them remember the gold (Yellow Brick Road) and silver standard (the real color of Dorothy's slippers as well as Oz (as in way we measure gold) and the Emerald City (color of dollar bills).  Here and here are synopses of the meaning behind the Oz and here is a NPR interview about it.

If you want to incorporate it into an assignment, here is one I did with The Americans which can easily be tailored if you have a different e-text.