High School American Literature (Live and Self-Paced options)

Conventional Track

This concise survey of American literature begins with folk-tales from the indigenous people of North America. We read poetry from the colonial period as well as some writings by the founding fathers. We’ll cover some of the earliest American writers -- Irving, Poe, and Hawthorne -- works by Dickinson, Whitman, Melville, and Twain, a sampling of 20th century writers like Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and Hemingway, ending with a book by a black American writer, a science fiction novel, and an early 21st century novel. See course book list below.  

This class meets on Wednesdays at 2 pm, Eastern Standard Time.

Note: Space is limited. Be sure to enroll early to secure your spot.

Student Expectations for Live Classes:

• Attend a one-hour, weekly, live course session
• Complete each week’s assigned reading
• Take a short, online, comprehension quiz
• Answer a weekly, online, discussion question
• Submit two literary analysis papers and one creative project

About Self-Paced Classes:

• Students have access to recorded lectures on each reading assignment.
• Students have access to weekly reading pacing guides and auto-graded quizzes.
• Although we recommend following the syllabus in order, students are free to choose what to read and when.
• Self-Paced classes do not include live class sessions or teacher support. 
• All recordings will be available from September 2 through the end of the following August.   

Book List

There are many options for acquiring these books. You can purchase them from a local or online retailer. You can check them out of the library. For most, you can download electronic versions or access them online and read them on your computer screen.

If a particular edition or translation is listed, it is important to acquire that version. If no specifics are included, any version will work.

The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Moby Dick, by Herman Melville

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Go Down, Moses, by William Faulkner

The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway

The Fire Next Time, by James Baldwin

Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger