This course will concentrate on three areas of study: literature, language, and writing.
Our study of literature will concentrate on American Literature from the Colonial to the Contemporary periods and will include short stories, poetry, nonfiction, the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, and one self-selected novel.
Students will develop their language skills through grammar and vocabulary practice and SAT practice problems. Students will develop their writing skills, first in the narrative genre, then by writing a personal statement, and finally in a formal literary essay.
The course is united by several Essential Questions, chief among them: How does American writing and literature show American values and themes? and How does literature reflect the historical, social, and cultural period of its creation? Students will return to these questions throughout the course, analyzing literature from each literary period to discover American values and to connect the literature to its historical time period.
About the Self-Paced Course Model
Self-Paced courses are comprehensive and designed for students who need or desire more flexibility in their academic schedule. VHS Learning teachers will regularly interact with students in asynchronous discussions, will host weekly office hours, and will invite students to monthly 1-on-1 progress meetings. Teachers will support students, answer questions, and provide feedback on work. Students will work independently on course activities; the course does not include class discussion assignments or other collaborative work.
Students may start this course on any Wednesday from September through the first Monday in February. Students must maintain enrollment for a minimum of 20 weeks and have until mid-June to complete all assignments in the course. It is expected that students will work for approximately 200 hours to complete this course, though the amount of time may vary depending on a student’s work habits and comfort with the material.
Course Essential Questions:
- How does American writing and literature show American values and themes?
- How does literature reflect the historical, social, and cultural period of its creation?
Course Learning Objectives:
- Find and use sources to understand time periods in American history and analyze how texts from that period connect to the time period in which they were created.
- Determine themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development and meaning.
- Evaluate writer's craft.
- Select, cite, and use strong and thorough textual evidence to support claims.
- Use the writing process, in a variety of genres, to develop and refine their ideas.
- Use standard English conventions in their written output.
Students will need to obtain copies of the following texts which are available at many schools or local libraries or for purchase online for a small fee.
- John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men
- Arthur Miller's The Crucible
- An additional novel of their choosing by an American author