American Literature

Teacher:
Date/Time: Wednesday - 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM
Recommended Grades: 10th, 11th, 12th
Department: Language Arts
Grade Level: High School (9th-12th)

Literature deals with God, men, and things; right and wrong, good and evil. It engages the reader’s imagination and teaches the thoughtful reader about the world and life in imaginative ways.  

In this year’s study of American Literature, we will survey and study major American writers, by era and region, focusing upon plot, theme, and historical context. Join us to study colonial writers; religious thinkers and preachers of public political sermons; New England and Southern poets; writers of the War for Independence, humorists, authors of folklore, and cowboy authors; spiritual songwriters; modern American poets, and great novelists—from Anne Bradstreet and Phyllis Wheatley to Hawthorne, Melville, Emerson, Whitman, Dickinson, Twain, O’Connor, and others. We will reflect upon the definitive beliefs and issues that produced our national character and consider clashing patterns of modern thought. We will carefully analyze the themes, beliefs, and values involved in American literature from a Biblical perspective. This should prepare you to understand and evaluate works of literature in college courses as well as movies, histories, documentaries, and biographies. 

Upon completing the course, you should: 1) have a basic knowledge of American literature; 2) be capable of and inclined to analyze literature, plays, and movies from a Biblical perspective; and 3) have strengthened your writing and discussion skills. 

Tuition: The fee for the fall semester is $360; it is due on the first day of class.  The fee for the spring semester is $450; it is due 1/3/23. If you would like to pay for the whole year at once, the fee is $810. There is also a one-time materials fee of $100. These fees cover not only tuition but also a portion of materials we will use in class and monthly administrative fees paid to MAS.

Tuition for the fall semester (or the whole year) and the $100 materials fee is due the first day of class.

Our primary textbooks are the Norton Anthology of American Literature Shorter Ninth Edition, Volumes 1 and 2. I have provided the ISBNs below. 

Vol. I: ISBN: 978-0-393-26452-4

 

Vol. II: ISBN: 978-0-393-26453-1


UPDATE: We will also read three entire books. Two are novels, Huckleberry Finn and Moby Dick, one of which is available in the edition below. We will also read selections from several other novels, including The Scarlet Letter, which is also in the edition below. 



The other full length book we will be reading is Hero Tales of American History