AMERICAN LITERATURE CURRICULUM FOR PIUS X HIGH SCHOOL
RATIONALE
This course is designed for students to examine American literature within the context of American history. Students learn to analyze challenging literature through reading, discussing, and writing about the works of American authors from the Puritans to the 20th century. The class is required for students planning to take AP British literature and AP World literature.
GOALS
1. Further develop an understanding and appreciation of literature
2. Apply the values found in literature to basic Christian values
3. Improve writing styles through the use of journals, reaction papers, analytical pieces, and creative writings
4. Understand how the stages of literature developed historically and chronologically
OBJECTIVES
1. Become familiar with the elements of American literature
2. Become familiar with the authors of American literature
3. Use critical thinking and reading strategies to gain a fuller understanding of American literature
4. Use American literature as a springboard for writing creatively
5. Use American literature as a springboard for writing critically
SEMESTER ONE
Students will read the following works:
PURITANS
from Of Plymouth Plantation William Bradford
To My Dear and Loving Husband Anne Bradstreet
Upon What Base? Edward Taylor
from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God Jonathan Edwards
from The Wonders of the Invisible World Cotton Mather
The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne
FOUNDERS OF A NATION
from The Autobiography Ben Franklin
from Poor Richard's Almanack Ben Franklin
Speech in the Virginia Convention Patrick Henry
from The Crisis, Number 1 Thomas Paine
from Common Sense Thomas Paine
The Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson
Letter to Her Daughter from the New White House Abigail Adams
ROMANTICISM
Annabel Lee Edgar Allan Poe
The Oval Portrait Edgar Allan Poe
The Raven Edgar Allan Poe
The Devil and Tom Walker Washington Irving
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (audio cassette) Washington Irving
Rip Van Winkle ( audio cassette) Washington Irving
TRANSCENDENTALISM
from Self-Reliance Ralph Waldo Emerson
from Walden Henry David Thoreau
from Civil Disobedience Henry David Thoreau
NEW ENGLAND RENAISSANCE
from Moby-Dick Herman Melville
WAR AND RECONCILIATION
When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd and various poems Walt Whitman
from My bondage and My Freedom Frederick Douglass
from Mary Chesnut's Civil War Mary Chesnut
The Gettysburg Address Abraham Lincoln
Letter to Mrs. Bixby Abraham Lincoln
Letter to His Son Robert E. Lee
I Will Fight No More Forever Chief Joseph
REALISM AND THE FRONTIER
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Ambrose Bierce
A Wagner Matinee Willa Cather
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain
20TH CENTURY
Bernice Bobs Her Hair (video cassette) F. Scott Fitzgerald
Death of a Salesman (video cassette) Arthur Miller
The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway
SEMESTER TWO
Students will read the following works:
NATIVE AMERICAN VOICES
from The Walam Olum Delaware
from The Navaho Origin Legend Navaho
REVOLUTIONARY WAR PERIOD
April Morning Howard Fast
A GROWING NATION
To A Waterfowl William Cullen Bryant
Thanatopsis William Cullen Bryant
from The Prairie James Fenimore Cooper
The Fall of the House of Usher Edgar Allan Poe
NEW ENGLAND RENAISSANCE
The Skeleton in Armor Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The Minister's Black Veil Nathaniel Hawthorne
Dr. Heidegger's Experiment Nathaniel Hawthorne
Old Ironsides Oliver Wendell Holmes
The First Snowfall James Russell Lowell
Hampton Beach John Greenleaf Whittier
There is a certain Slant of light Emily Dickinson
A narrow Fellow in the Grass Emily Dickinson
I heard a Fly buzz---when I died--- Emily Dickinson
There is a solitude of space Emily Dickinson
REALISM AND THE FRONTIER
The Outcasts of Poker Flat Bret Harte
The Story of an Hour Kate Chopin
To Build a Fire Jack London
Ransom of Red Chief (video cassette) O. Henry
20TH CENTURY
The Good Earth Pearl Buck
The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck
Hills Like White Elephants Ernest Hemingway
A Worn Path Eudora Welty
ASSESSMENT
1. READING QUIZZES--Quizzes will be used to determine students' understanding and completion of reading assignments.
2. TESTS--Tests with objective questions and an essay question will be given at the completion of each unit.
3. READING JOURNALS--Students will respond to the literature through journals they will keep all semester. Credit is given for complete journals.
4. REACTION PAPERS--Students will evaluate the literature based on class discussion, outside events they are able to connect to the works, and their own personal opinions. One reaction paper will be included in the four year portfolio.
5. CREATIVE WRITING--There are various times within a semester when students will respond to the literature by using their own original ideas, emotions, and imaginations.
6. GROUP WORK--Groups work on projects and presentations that are presented to the entire class.
7. COMPREHENSIVE FINAL EXAM--This exam is administered at the end of each semester. Total points are determined by the teacher.
This page last updated on April 18, 2000