U.S. Literature Syllabus

Website: http://sites.google.com/site/mrspikespage/

Overview: 

This course will allow the students to explore the writings of American authors from the earliest beginnings to contemporary times.  We will be sampling a wide variety of writing, including fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.   

Students will have the opportunity to practice writing skills and expand on last year's writing accomplishments through a variety of pieces.  We will continue to stress the process of writing as students progress from rough draft stages to polished pieces. Emphasis will also be placed on correct grammar usage, mechanics, spelling and vocabulary.

We will read a broad sampling of American literature in order to help us answer the following questions:

-What is the American Dream?
-How does each piece of literature help us interpret that question?
-What influences cause the dream to undergo metamorphosis?
-How can we as individuals define the American Dream?
-What directly influences our version of that dream?
-How does this thinking influence the relationship we have to the rest of the world both collectively and individually?      
-How does the author's use of literary techniques help or hinder us as we attempt to answer these questions?

We will express our answers (and be evaluated through those answers) in a variety of ways, including: 

-Critical essays
-A research paper
-Speeches (both solo and group presentations)
-Quizzes and tests
-Projects
-Daily work

We will create an atmosphere in which all of this can be accomplished by fulfilling the following expectations: 

-Being in the correct seat when the bell rings (not near it - in it!).
-Being prepared.  Always bring a pen or pencil and a notebook dedicated to U.S. Literature.  Bring the correct book to class.  If unsure of which book to   bring, check the website.
-Being respectful of others in the class.
-Doing the work.  Students can't get by with book notes - do the reading.  Finish homework (which is mostly reading).  Do the writing when it's due, not the week before the quarter ends.  Take and retake tests in a timely manner.
-If  absent, check the website first for what was missed and ask any clarifying questions. 

Finally, the texts we will be using to accomplish these goals are:

 The American Experience
 Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
 Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
 Wouldn't Take Nothin' for My Journey Now by Maya Angelou 

Anticipated calendar:

First Semester:

Discussion and test on summer reading (Week 1)
Pre-Columbian and early colonial literature. (Weeks 2-4)
Research and the internet (Week 5-8)
     -poetry
     -poetry project
     -10 poems
     -short research essay on an American poet
The New England Renaissance (Irving, Poe, Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne and Longfellow to name just a few). (Weeks 9-12)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (Weeks 13-16)
Final Exam
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton (Weeks 16-17)
Prepare for the research paper (Week 18)

Second Semester:

Research paper (Weeks 1-9)
Regionalism, Realism, and Naturalism (Weeks 1-2)
Research (Week 3-4)
Modernism (Weeks 4-8)
Research paper rough draft due week 8
Harlem Renaissance (Weeks 9-11)
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Good Night and Good Luck (film) (Weeks 12-15)
      -paper on heroism
Assign American Dream Project
Contemporary literature, including Maya Angelou's Wouldn't Take Nothin' for My Journey Now. (Weeks 15-18)
Final Exam