American Literature
10th or 11th grade

This rigorous course requires that students complete daily reading and homework assignments, and turn them in for evaluation every week. Students will take unit exams, complete a long-term research project,  give oral and multi-media presentations, and participate in lively class discussions. Parents, students, and the instructor will collaborate through the year to ensure understanding and completion. Grades will be assigned according to the student’s homework, tests and quizzes, writing assignments, presentations, and class participation.  

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**In order to maximize their learning of World Literature, it is required that students take the companion World History course that is offered on the same day. These classes build upon one another and follow an identical time line. Students will read literature written from the time period being studied in history, thus, students take both courses and gain a more comprehensive understanding of the material.

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Unit 1- Pre-Colonialism

• Read and analyze various selections of Native American poetry

• Instruction on thesis writing and five paragraph essay format

• Research totem poles and design a personal totem

• Write an essay explaining personal totem

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Unit 2 - Colonialism – 1600-1800 
Colonial America ,Salem Witch Trials

• Read, analyze, and discuss The Crucible by Arthur Miller

• Discuss the aspects of Colonial thought and writing

• Write an analytical essay on the themes of The Crucible

• Read Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Johnathan Edwards

• Interactive creative exploring Edwards’ use of imagery in this work

• Read & analyze poetry by Anne Bradstreet 

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Unit 3 - Rationalism – 1750-1800 
American Revolution

• Discuss the aspects of Rationalist thought and writing

• Read excerpts of The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

• Analyze and discuss several of Benjamin Franklin’s aphorisms

• Read and discuss Benjamin Franklin’s 13 virtues

• Write 13 Personal Virtues essay 

• Read and analyze poetry by Phyllis Wheatly

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Unit 4 –Romanticism and Trancendentalism – 1800-1860 
Louisiana Purchase,  Gold Rush,  Women’s Suffrage

• Discuss the aspects of Romantic and Transcendentalist thought and writing

• Read and discuss excerpts from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

• Creative activity on themes of The Scarlet Letter          

• Read, write analysis, and discuss  “Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving

• Read, write analysis,  and discuss “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe

• Read, write analysis, and discuss “The Cask of Amontadillo” by Edgar Allan Poe

• Read, write analysis, and discuss “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe

• Read, write analysis, and discuss poetry by Emily Dickinson, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson and others

• In-class written poetry analysis

• Read and discuss excerpts from “Nature” by Henry David Thoreau

• Semester exam

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Unit 5 - Realism – 1850-1900 
Civil War, Reconstruction

• Read and discuss Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

• write an argumentative essay on themes pertaining to Uncle Tom's Cabin 

• Read and discuss Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

• Write an analysis essay on the themes in Huckleberry Finn

• Read, write analysis, and discuss “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin

• Read, write analysis, and discuss “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” by Mark Twain

• Read, write analysis, and discuss “Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry

• Write a short story using narrative elements discussed in class

• Oral and multi-media presentation of short story

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Unit 6 - Modernism – 1900-1950 / The Harlem Renaissance -1920-1940 
HISTORY: Prohibition,  World War I, The Great Depression, World War II

• Read, write analysis, and discuss  Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

• Read, write analysis, and discuss poetry by Robert Frost and Langston Hughes

• Read, write analysis, and discuss The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

• Read, write analysis, and discuss “Good Country People” by Flannery O’Connor

• Write a five paragraph essay about The American Dream, based on The Great Gatsby

• Read and discuss Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

• Memorize a famous American poem and recite it at the annual poetry recital

• Read select works by Ernest Hemingway

• Write a short personal narrative essay in the style of Hemingway

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Unit 7 - Contemporary/Post-Modernism 1950 to present 
Civil Rights Movement, The Space Race, Vietnam War, Terrorism

• Read and discuss Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

• Write in-class short answer essays about themes of Farenheit 451

• Research project using modern articles and blogs regarding current events

• Oral and multi-media presentation of research project

• Discuss and analyze modern-day poetry in the forms of rap music and spoken-word videos

• Final Exam