9th Grade Syllabus—Honors World Literature
2015-2016
D. Simon
This course introduces students to a wide selection of literary works from around the globe. We will explore universal themes as well as identify
the uniqueness of each culture. Students will improve their writing skills, analytical skills and vocabulary.
NOTE: Since we do not have 40 years for 9th grade, we will pick and choose, aiming for the widest diversity and most interesting works. We will
focus on works that enable us to learn specific skills as well as insights into the world’s amazing insights.
Unit I: Origins and Traditions: Ancient Worlds (3000 BCE- AD 1400)
Ancient Summerian: “The Epic of Gilgamesh”
Elements of the Epic Tradition
Themes: The Quest, The Hero, Immortality
Literary Terms: Archetype, Characterization, Cultural Context
Ancient Hebrews: from Genesis- Creation and Fall and Story of the Flood
Literary Terms: Dialogue, Chronological Order, Archetypal Setting
Ancient Mayans: “The Wooden People”
Themes: the Flood- comparison and contrast of different Creation stories
Ancient Islam: “The Qur’an”
Literary Terms: Imagery, Antithesis, Purpose for Reading
Ancient Persia: Folk Tales: from “The Thousand and One Nights: The Fisherman and the Jinnee”
Rumi: “Elephant in the Dark,” “Two Kinds of Intelligence,” “The Guest House,” “Which is Worth More?”
Ancient Africa: Proverbs
Sundiata
UNIT 2: Sacred Texts and Epic Tales 1400 BCE-500 AD
Ancient Indian Literature: from Rig Veda
From the Mahabharata
From the Bhagavad-Gita
From the Ramayana
UNIT 3: Wisdom and Insight 1000 BCE-1890 AD
Ancient Chinese and Japanese Literature:
From the Tao Te Ching
From the Analects
Chinese poetry: T’ao Ch’ien, Li Po, Tu Fu
Japanese Tanka and Haiku (various)
Japanese- The Pillow Book- Sei Shonagon
Zen Parables/ Buddhism
UNIT 4: Classical Civilizations 800 BCE- 500 AD
Ancient Greece and Rome
From the Iliad (one selection)
Sappho and Pindar
From the Apology- Plato (selection)
Sophocles Oedipus the King (act out)
Ancient Rome:
Ovid: Story of Daedalus and Icarus
UNIT 5: From Decay to Rebirth 450-1300
The Middle Ages- Europe
French: From the Song of Roland
German: from the Nibelungenlied
England: Marie de France (French speaking English court)- “Lay of the Werewolf”
Italy: Dante Alighieri The Divine Comedy- Inferno
Unit 6: Rebirth and Exploration 1300-1800
The Renaissance and Rationalism
Italy: Petrarch
Giovanni Boccaccio- the Decameron “Federigo’s Falcon”
Spain: Cervantes from Don Quixote
France: Voltaire- from Candide
UNIT 7: Revolution and Reaction 1800-1890
Romanticism and Realism
Goethe- from Faust
Beaudelaire- The Albatross
France: Guy de Maupassant “Two Friends” or other
Russia: Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov
Norway: Ibsen- A Doll House (perform?) listen to Peer Gynt Suite?
UNIT 8: From Conflict to Renewal 1890-1945
The Modern World
Czech: Kafka- Metamorphosis
Novel: Remarque: All Quiet on the Western Front
Spain: Fedrico Garcia Lorca/ Juan Ramon Jimenez
Egypt/Greece: Cavafy
Chile: Gabriela Mistral
India: Tagore The Artist
UNIT 9: Voices of Change 1946- Present
The Contemporary World
Columbia: Gabriel Garcia Marquez- (One Hundred Years of Solitude- if possible!)
“The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World”
Caribbean: Jamaica Kincaid- from Annie John: A Walk to the Jetty
France: Albert Camus: “The Guest”
WWII: Primo Levi, Elie Wiesel, Nelly Sachs
Russia: Milosz, Szymborska
Solzhenitsyn, Yevtushenko (Maybe get One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich)
Egypt: Mahfouz
Israel: Ravikovitch, Amichai
South Africa: Gordimer, Achebe
Vietnam: Nguyen Thi Vinh
China: Bei Dao
Fuji: Shu Ting