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

The literature in this course begins in the late nineteenth century, where last year left off. 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.

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. If you have not completed the previous Literature and Writing 1 and 2 courses, we suggest adjusting the book list to include some of the works covered in those courses.

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.

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.

You do not have to produce book reports, answer discussion questions or write essays on the books in the literature component of the course. 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.