American Literture

Students will receive an overview of American literature from the founding of the nation to contemporary pieces. Literary study will be infused with historical applications for a better understanding of the social and historical context of the readings. Literary terms and elements of poetry will be discussed throughout this course. Vocabulary will include literary terminology as well as general terminology important for high school students to learn. Grammar instruction will be given through various writing assignments. Writing assignments will include Responses to Literature journal entries, a Reflective Essay, a Poetry Explication Essay, a Rhetorical Analysis, a Persuasive Research paper, and a final writing project with a Literary Analysis. Students will have a few novels assigned for outside class reading. Chapters will be selected and assignments given with a deadline of the end of the week. This will help students practice meeting deadlines and it will help us move through more of the literature available to us.

The writing in Responses to Literature should:
• show that they understand the main character(s) and the plot of the text
• show that they understand the overall meaning or message of the piece
• share their feelings, judgment, opinions, or evaluation based on careful reading of the text
• support their points about the characters and theme with evidence and examples from the story
• demonstrate an understanding of the historical and literary elements common to that particular time period as we’ve learned about them in class
• serve as a means of “open book” study during unit tests (at parent’s discretion)
• lend itself to a possible expansion into an essay due at a later date
• use proper grammar, word choice, transitions and clear writing.

Each Response to Literature should be at least 250 words in length.