HONORS AMERICAN LIT 10 American Literature 10 

Jason Stidham /  Whitmore Lake High School  /   English Department

Email: jason.stidham@wlps.net        Phone- 734-449-4461 x 3354

Students are invited to sign up for the WLHS honors course path at the end of their freshman year based upon their aptitude and attitude.  Honors Lit is the first class in a series of advanced literature classes- ideally leading to AP English in 12th grade. The course content is the same as  American Lit 10; we read the same novels and plays. The way we approach the content is different.  Honors students will apply higher-level thinking skills as they connect summer reading homework (Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea, Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter) to the content we study in class.

Students will examine our society through literature, become self-aware of their connection to a variety of issues,  and respond in a way that better allows them to discover  where they stand on those issues.

HOW WILL WE DO THIS?

Tenth graders will connect with and respond to texts through critical response and stance. They will learn to evaluate for validity and quality, to balance and expand their perspectives promoting empathy, social action and appropriate use of power. Students will assess and modify their beliefs, views of the world, and how they have the power to impact them.

OUR ROUTINE-

We will focus on reading 19th and 20th century American literature that allows students:                  

*to feel empathy for certain characters and situations                                                                                      

*to decide whether characters in powerful positions abuse their authority                             

*to recognize when an author is commenting on society                                                                                          

*to analyze for the quality and validity of the text

The novels we will read together as a class will include: The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. We will study one play called "A Raisin in the Sun", by Lorraine Hansberry

TEST + PACKETS DUE!!

Warm Up Answer-

Notes:

During Reading-

I’m confused because: 

1.

2.

I wonder if:

I predict that:

This reminds me of:

I think Twain was making a comment about society when he:

30-40 word summary- ____________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________