While his older brother is away fighting in Europe, Homer Macauley remains in a small town looking after his widowed mother and younger brother. The Human Comedy blends the serious and lighthearted in a nostalgic portrait of small-town America during World War II. While attending to his family, Homer struggles between dreams and reality and arrives at maturity.

William Saroyan was awarded an Academy Award for best writing of an original motion picture story in 1943 for the 1942 film version of The Human Comedy.

In this unit, students research; develop writing skills; respond to literary criticism; analyze realism and romanticism; think creatively; make a comparative analysis; write an evaluation of the novel; and examine the literary elements of foreshadowing, symbolism, setting, and point of view.

Supplementary materials feature assessment options and an evaluation.