American Literature: Exploring Identity and Dreams in 11th Grade Honors Course

1. Welcome to 11th Grade Honors Description Reading Writing Outcome

2. Myth and Reality • This course has a reputation as rigorous, demanding, and fast-paced. • At the same time, most students will agree that that they actually enjoy the course and that they learn much. So while: • It is difficult • It is demanding • It is guided by a soul-less harpy It is also • Oddly enjoyable (Really? Paradox already Gerber)

3. Description • At its most basic level 11 Honors is a Language Arts course devoted to an in-depth study of American Literature from the 16th century to the Post-Modern period. • Selected works provide insight into the course essential question: What is an American? • Additionally you will ponder supplementary questions. Such as:

4. Supplementary Questions: • What is the American Dream? • Is the Dream valid or realistic? Is it relevant today? • Is the Dream available to all Americans? • What is the “price” for embracing the Dream? •  What makes a work American? • How do writers represent what it means to be American? • What forces shape American identity? • In what ways has American identity evolved? • In what ways has it remained the same? • How does historical context inform the narrative?

5. Class Description Basics, cont… • We will read AND DISCUSS a variety of works, in a variety of literary genres and categories, and by a variety of American voices. • These works include: • The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger • The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain • The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald • The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck • The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

6. These American voices include: Benjamin Franklin Sherman Alexie Terry Bison Thomas Jefferson John and Abigail Adams Washington Irving Edgar Allan Poe Jon Krakauer William Faulkner Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David Thoreau T.S. Eliot J.D Salinger F. Scott Fitzgerald Tennessee Williams Frederick Douglass Abraham Lincoln Walt Whitman Emily Dickenson Kate Chopin Nathaniel Hawthorne Stephen Crane W. E. B. Du Bois Richard Wright Ernest Hemingway Robert Frost Langston Hughes Mark Twain John Steinbeck Class Description Basics, cont…

7. Class Description Basics, cont… • This course engages students in the careful reading and critical analysis of LITERATURE OF MERIT • Denotation - Literature of Merit – This is a subjective term that shifts according to the reader and the time period. I define literary merit as a work of depth and complexity that “gives back” to the reader upon each reading. These additional readings provide further recognition of rhetoric, illuminate the meaning of the novel, and provide a global and empathic view of the human experience. Through the close reading of selected texts (both fiction and nonfiction), students deepen their understanding of the ways writers use language to provide both meaning and pleasure for their readers. • Students will consider a work’s structure, style, and themes, as well as elements like figurative language, imagery, symbolism and tone (rhetoric).

8. The Work • This course includes an intensive study of representative works from various American genres and periods, concentrating on works of “literary merit.” • We, in fact, move through the course chronologically as we chart the establishment and evolution of the unique American voice. • The works in this course invite and reward rereading and do not, like ephemeral works, yield all or nearly all of their pleasures of thought and feeling the first time through (in essence, works that keep giving, that provide new thoughts, new experiences, and new realizations upon every read – earlier defined as Literature of Merit.) • As Henry David Thoreau noted, it is wisest to read the best books first. I agree. So we will accompany our reading with thoughtful discussion and writing about the novels in the company of your fellow students.

9. Reading • If you are not a reader, run, with all due haste, to your counselor and beg for the merciful transfer. • If you are still in your seat, note that YOU MUST BE COMMITTED TO THE WORK – the focused, reflective and considerate reading of the work. • A diet of Spark Notes, Cliff Notes, Shmoop and various other “props” will not replace the reading and will dramatically cripple your grade in the course (Note: I read them as well). • Not only do we experience great stories, we learn how to consume and digest them with the respect, joy, and curiosity due them.

10. That out of the way… • Students MUST read actively. Works require careful, deliberative reading and abundant ANNOTATION • Analyzing and interpreting the material involves • Students in learning how to make careful observations of textual detail • Students establishing connections among their observation • Students will draw from these connections a series of inferences leading to an interpretive conclusion and “the meaning”

11. Students will read deliberately and thoroughly, Taking time to understand a work’s complexity To absorb its richness of meaning To analyze how that meaning is embodied in literary form And in addition to considering a work’s artistry, students reflect on the social and historical values the work reflects and embodies Recall the old refrain “History informs the narrative” Careful consideration of both textual detail and historical context provides a foundation for interpretation. Reading, cont…

12. Reading: A Generic Method • When we read in this course, and hopefully for all future academic purposes, our reading involves three elements: • The experience of literature • The subjective or personal dimension we feel when we read • The interpretation of literature • The analysis of a work through close reading to arrive at an understanding of multiple meanings (rhetoric – the tool of analysis) • The evaluation of literature • An assessment and evaluation of the work in terms of its artistic and social achievements.

13. Writing is an integral part of any English class; this course refines the skill in terms of: Fluency Structure Organization Depth of the argument (thesis) Writing assignments focus on the critical analysis of literature and include essays that are: Expository Analytical Argumentative Dialectal Journals And although critical analysis makes up the bulk of the course, well-constructed creative writing assignments help students see how literature is written. Such experiences sharpen your understanding of what writers have accomplished and deepen your appreciation of literary artistry. Now About that Writing…

14. Analytical and Creative Writing • The goal of both types of writing assignments is to increase your ability to explain clearly, cogently, even elegantly what you understand about literary works and why you interpret them as you do. • To that end, writing instruction includes attention to developing and organizing ideas in clear, coherent, and persuasive language. • It includes study of the elements of style. • And it attends to matters of precision and correctness as necessary (grammar, spelling, punctuation, taboo, etc.) • COMMANDMENT 1: Know thy Taboo List

15. Long Range Objectives • Throughout the course, emphasis is placed on helping students develop stylistic maturity, which I characterize as: • A wide-ranging vocabulary used with denotative accuracy and connotative resourcefulness (10 lists of 30 words Semester 1: 9 lists Semester 2) • A variety of sentence structures • A logical organization, enhanced by specific techniques of coherence, such as repetition, transitions, and emphasis. • A balance of generality with specific, illustrative detail, examples and EVIDENCE • Effective use of rhetoric, including controlling tone, maintaining a consistent voice, and achieving emphasis through parallelism and antithesis

16. Literature is a Holistic Study • The writing you will produce in this course reinforces your reading (ah….yes, it all goes together) • Thus reading and writing are taught together to underscore both their common and distinctive elements

17. Types of Writing • Dialectical Journals - allows personal response to the literature or the conditions of the narrative • Research – negotiate critical perspectives • Extended discourses – develop an argument or present an analysis at length • Creative Writing – synthesize understandings of the work under study. • Assessment – the bulk of our unit assessment demands you write effectively under time constraints specifically, a four-paragraph essay that responds to a specific prompt (and you don’t know what that prompt is or what it will focus on)

18. Ah… The Infamous In-Class Essay • Units of study are finalized by the in-class essay. These essays follow a specific form in that they: • Are 40 minutes long (the writing portion) • Are four paragraphs total • Ask for an analysis of a work in which you are asked to discuss how a particular literary elements or feature contribute to meaning • Or compare two authors, two points of views, or two movements • Or ask you to comment on the historical dynamics at work in the piece. • Are worth 60 points.

19. But More to the Point… • I think of this course as AP Literature Light, meaning that we will concentrate on the skills, tools, procedures, practices, and general doings that will prepare you for the next step in your academic evolution: AP Literature • This class is a workshop – think originally, challenge yourself to move beyond traditional understandings. • By the time you get to Mrs. Stucken, you will be highly prepared for the wonders she will unfold for you; you will speak her language. And she in turn, will honor your hard-won knowledge by treating you as a scholar – AP Lit. will be the gift for your diligent effort in 11 Honors. • It will all make sense.

20. Structure of the Course • The course follows a chronological timeline. • So even though we start at the post-Modern period with J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, we will return to the scene of the crime so to speak, and ponder how the American identity came to this point. • We will move from literary units, which entail: • The reading of an iconic American novel, to a historical unit or a literary movement, which will include many voices: • The review of literary movements and the historical, social, cultural elements that informed those movements. How did each reflect the zeitgeist of the period and the developing American voice.

21. Each Unit… • Will include • Class reading • Class discussion • Group activity • Thesis development • Some Reader’s Response – these focus a particular feature of the work (say use of mood, the portrayal of women, the motif of individualism) • Random quizzes to check for reading • Reading Packets – includes supplemental materials and background • Homework Packets – to support you in your comprehension and analysis as you read. These are due the day of the unit test and must be submitted on that date regardless of whether you are in attendance or not • Assessment – On the day of the exam, you will have a full period to • answer a 40-50 question multiple choice quiz (10 minutes) • an in-class essay in which you will choose one of two questions

22. Who Should Take 11 Honors? • As a general rule, you are appropriate for the course if you: • READ • have been on the honors track from at least 10th grade. • received a minimum of 86% in 10 Honors • READ • consider this class a priority • READ • Are willing to work hard and do your best to improve.

23. Not just as a general rule but a general truth, you are misplaced in this class if you: Complain Make excuses Place the grade above all else Believe rules do not apply to you Ask for and expect grade boosts Are prone to plagiarism Are here solely because your friends are Are here solely because you believe it looks good on your transcripts Are passive and do not participate Are pathologically late or absent Are not willing to: Respect the work Challenge your beliefs Embrace ambiguity Persevere Read and follow instructions Follow habits of mind Ask questions Formulate your own perspective Take academic risks Embrace failure Who Should NOT take the Course

24. You are Appropriate for this Course If: • Respect the work • Challenge your beliefs • Embrace ambiguity • Persevere • Read and follow instructions • Follow habits of mind • Ask questions • Formulate your own perspective • Take academic risks • Embrace failure

25. So the question to you…. • Are you ready to: • Dedicate yourself to the work? • Be challenged much and often? • Think in new ways? • Stay curious? • Engage in the wonders of language? • Make fun of your instructor? • If you answered yes to all these questions, Welcome to the glory that is 11 Honors.

26. So…….. Questions for me???????