English III
This class will focus on American Literature. Literature is at its core a reflection of human belief, ideas, and societies. When we read literature we discover common ways of understanding human life, as well as significant differences. This allows us to explore another's perspective on life, even those separated from us by time and social barriers. Literature is full of human reactions, and when we analyze these, we gain a grater knowledge of the human psyche, while at the same time gaining a greater knowledge of ourselves because we will naturally compare our lives to the lives of the characters within the pages of literature. We don't always agree with what we read, but we read literature to test the truth of an idea against our own worldview. Literature cannot in itself make us a better person but it can assist us in that quest as we can cultivate wisdom, learn lessons of good and evil, or experience a call to justice. Although American Literature can entertain us, its main purpose is to offer us cultural literacy. As Americans we are blessed with a rich heritage and this class aims to explore that heritage through American literary figures, plots, motifs, and genres.
Texts (with links) You will Read this Year
The Crucible: is a 1953 play by the American Playwright Arthur Miller. This play focus on the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692-93.
In Cold Blood: is a non-fiction novel by American author Truman Capote, first published in 1966; it details the 1959 murders of four members of the Herbert Clutter family in the small farming community of Holcomb, Kansas.
Moby Dick: is a novel by American writer Herman Melville, published in 1851 during the period of the American Renaissance. Sailor Ishmael tells the story of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the Pequod, for revenge on Moby Dick, the white whale which destroyed his ship and severed his leg at the knee.
The Things They Carried: is a novel by Tim O'Brien, about a platoon of American soldiers in the Vietnam War. His third book about the war, it is based on his experiences as a soldier in the 23rd Infantry Division.
The Great Gatsby: is a 1925 novel written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald that follows a cast of characters living in the fictional town of West Egg on prosperous Long Island in the summer of 1922. The story primarily concerns the young and mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his passion and obsession for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan. Considered to be Fitzgerald's greatest work, The Great Gatsby explores ideas of decadence, idealism, resistance to change, social upheaval and excess, creating a portrait of the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties that has been described as a cautionary tale regarding the American Dream.