Literature

Honors Literature and Writing 3

Eleventh grade

1.00 high school credit

Core curriculum

to see where this is scheduled in your curriculum.

Description

This course has two major components: writing skills and literature.

Writing skills are taught using guide books that focus on three topics: 1) clear and concise writing style, 2) how to write academic research papers and 3) persuasive writing for academic and professional settings.

The remainder of the course consists of reading unabridged Great Books in their entirety. Instead of dividing books into American, British and world literature courses, we progress through the great books chronologically over the four years of high school. We feel this approach better facilitates appreciation of the progression of literature over time, and eliminating nationality restrictions allows for inclusion of more relevant books.

This course continues where last year left off, in the late nineteenth century. We start with Les Miserables, the longest core book in the high school curriculum and well worth the effort. This is read over the course of two months. We then transition to the twentieth century with The Hound of the Baskervilles and Rudyard Kipling's Kim. Two masterpieces of Russian literature, War and Peace and The Brothers Karamazov, are included as optional readings for students who want more challenge.

The early to mid-twentieth century literature includes works by Zora Neale Hurston, John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway as well as the major dystopian novels that marked the post-World War II period. We end the course with Things Fall Apart, an iconic work of African literature.

Most months contain both core and optional readings. All students should try to complete the core readings, and those looking for additional challenge may take on the optional readings as time allows.

It is not necessary to read the literary essays included in many editions of these works. Instead, we suggest that you prepare to read each book by reading one or two online reviews from publications like The New Yorker, and browsing discussions of the work on Quora.

You do not have to produce book reports, answer discussion questions or write essays on the books. Instead, we ask you to set aside plenty of time to experience and enjoy the works for their own sake, as we hope you will continue to do with great literature throughout your life.

If you are not used to unabridged classic literature, many of these readings will be challenging. We ask that you give each core book an honest trial, but you do not need to force yourself to finish something you have no taste for. If you decide not to finish a core reading, you may substitute one of the optional readings or another classic book of your choice.