SURVEY OF LITERATURE
COURSE OUTLINE
The intent of this course is to offer a wide variety of literary genres and texts to allow you to explore author purpose, narrative voice, and contextual
influences (history, human behavior, etc.). Be prepared to read widely, read daily, and discuss texts with one another in face-to-face and online
formats. Written work will focus on comprehension, analysis, and interpretation of these works.
Approximate
Dates
January
7 classes
Essential Questions
Reading/Viewing
Objectives
Outcome
What is a Text?
The Story of Icarus
Poetry: The Fall of Icarus (two
versions)
Art: Landscape with the Fall of
Icarus
To determine the breadth and
capability of text, whether
visual, auditory, or words-onpaper
To explore the three levels of
reading (on the line, between
the lines, and beyond the
lines)
To identify how theme and
point of view influence
character in and interpretation
of a text.
To identify how physical
characteristics of film shape
the messages of the medium.
-Define dramatic literature
terms
-Understand and Analyze
contrasting themes and
purposes of comedy and
tragedy
-Study historical influences in
Shakespeare’s work
-Write to compare and
contrast characters in a select
piece of either work
After analyzing the poem,
find a visual match
(painting) and a
performance match (music
or video) for “Ozymandias”
by Percy Bysshe Shelley.
Share your products in
class, identifying the
thematic & character
connections.
What can we learn from
various texts?
What defines and
refines our
individuality?
What does it mean to
be human?
Jan/Feb
10 classes
Can we defy our
images?
What defines drama?
How are comedy and
tragedy distinct
dramatic arts?
How do text, stage, and
movies shape
performances and
messages?
How has drama
changed over time?
Note: students will
watch both
performances but
choose to study one
Tone in Paintings and in Language
(activity)
Dead Poet’s Society
O Captain, My Captain, Whitman
Sigh No More by Wm Shakespeare
(song)
Love Song by Dorothy Parker
(poem)
Litany, Billy Collins
somewhere i have never travelled,
e.e. cummings
Much Ado About Nothing, by
William Shakespeare OR
Macbeth, by William
Shakespeare
EXAM: What is a Text?
Group project involving
summaries, key scene
selection, scene
production, and
performance of 1-minute
review
EXAM: What is drama?
Lit Circle Cycle
Lit Circle Set #1
Journey of Crazy
Horse
Jane Eyre
The Lakota Way
A Separate
Peace
Things Fall Apart
Dialectical
Journal required,
chapter by
chapter.
Final essay over
the book content
required.
February
7 classes
March
8 classes
April/May
7 classes
What is justice?
What do we owe one
another?
What can history teach
us?
What have I learned
about literature?
Final
2 classes*

To whom & what do we
owe allegiance?
What are the
consequences of
personal choice?
What is the nature of
Greek “tragedy”?
How has Greek drama
informed contemporary
drama?
How does a memoir
differ from nonfiction
and fiction?
How do literature and
history merge?
Everyday Use by Alice Walker
(short story) (1)
Choices by Nikki Giovanni (poem)
Quilts by Nikki Giovanni (poem)
Fire Victim by Ned Balbo (poem)
You, Reading This by Wm Stafford
(poem)
Antigone, by Sophocles** (5)
Night, by Elie Wiesel
Text read silently in class. The
last 15-20 minutes of class
designed for discussion
including inquiry questions and
reflective writing.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper
Lee**
“Montgomery Boycott” by Coretta
Scott King
Student designed culminating
project, incorporating a novel or
book-length work of non-fiction, a
short story or feature article, & a
poem on a specific theme or topic.
Complete calendar subject to change.
-Compare and contrast
genres.
-Understand archetypes.
-Analyze language for
innuendo, figurative language
and theme
-Create contemporary models
of dramatic literature
Rewrite a scene to
establish a conflict
between modern versions
of the characters in
Antigone
-Develop a series of inquiry
questions to spark
investigation into some
aspect of this text, whether
historical, social, or
biographical
-Search for appropriate
sources of information to
complement a text.
-Characterization
-Inferences & Allusions
-Key vocabulary
-Motif & theme threads
-Symbolism
RESEARCH PROJECT
developed from
questions for inquiry
EXAM: What are the
consequences of choice?
Comprehension quizzes
and Final Exam
Book Study Project
(options provided)