Curriculum Guide
Course: World Literature Honors
Teacher: Mr. Isabelli
READING SELECTIONS
Subject to change without notice
The Ancient Middle East
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Selections from the Old Testament from the King James Bible
Genesis
Creation
Flood
Book of Ruth
Psalms
Selections from the New Testament
The Prodigal Son
Abraham and Isaac
Parables
Ancient Greek and Roman Literature
Greek mythology
Epic
The Iliad
The Odyssey
Plays
Antigone
Oedipus Rex or other Greek tragedy
Poetry
Lyric poems of Sappho
Concept of carpe diem from Horace
Literature of India, China, and Japan
Poetry
Various poems
Taoist writings
Zen parables
Short Stories
“Clothes”—Divakurani
Selections from the textbook
Novels
Siddhartha—Hesse
Year of Impossible Goodbyes—Sook Nyul Choi
Nonfiction
From the Analects—Confucius
Literature of Africa and the Middle East
Novels
Heart of Darkness—Conrad
Persepolis—Satrapi
Various poems and short stories from textbook
European Literatures from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment
Poetry
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Lanval, Marie de France
Paradise Lost (selections), John Milton
Sonnets #73, 18, 29, 65, 116, 130, Shakespeare
“The Passionate Shepherd to His Love,” Christopher Marlowe
“To the Virgins to Make Much of Time,” Robert Herrick
“To His Coy Mistress,” Andrew Marvell
“A Valediction forbidding Mourning,” John Donne
“Death, Be not Proud,” John Donne
Rape of the Lock, Alexander Pope
The Divine Comedy—Dante Alghieri
Plays:
Everyman, anonymous
Macbeth, William Shakespeare
Amadeus, Peter Schaffer
Julius Caesar William Shakespeare
Short Fiction
The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer
Morte Darthur, Thomas Malory
The Once and Future King (selection only), T.H. White
A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift
Gulliver’s Travels—Swift
Candide—Voltaire
Novel
Don Quixote—Cervantes
Nonfiction
“On Studies,” Sir Francis Bacon
“On Beauty,” Sir Francis Bacon
European Literature in the 19th Century
Short Fiction
“In Exile”—Chekhov
“The Problem”—Chekhov
“The Piece of String—Guy de Maupassant
Novels
The Death of Ivan Ilych--Tolstoy
Plays
Five Comic One Act Plays—Chekhov
Hedda Gabler—Ibsen
Poetry
“The Lamb,” William Blake
“The Tyger,” William Blake
“The Chimney Sweeper,” William Blake
“The Poison Tree,” William Blake
“Tintern Abbey,” William Wordsworth
“Strange Fits of Passion Have I Known,” William Wordsworth
“She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways,” William Wordsworth
“A Slumber Did my Spirit Seal,” William Wordsworth
“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” William Wordsworth
“Ode: Intimations of Immortality,” William Wordsworth
“Composed upon Westminster Bridge,” William Wordsworth
“It is a Beauteous Evening,” William Wordsworth
“London, 1802, William Wordsworth
“Kubla Khan,” Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
“She Walks in Beauty,” Lord Byron
“Don Juan,” (selections), Lord Byron
“On This Day I Complete My 36th Year,” Lord Byron
“Ozymandias,” Percy Bysshe Shelley
“Ode to the West Wind,” Percy Bysshe Shelley
“To a Skylark,” Percy Bysshe Shelley
“Ode on a Grecian Urn,” John Keats
“Ode to a Nightingale,” John Keats
“Ode on Melancholy,” John Keats
“When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be,” John Keats
Modern and Contemporary World Literature
Short Fiction
“War”—Pirandello
“The Ring”—Dinesen
“The Destructors”—Greene
“Araby”—Joyce
“The Rocking Horse Winner,”—Lawrence
“No Witchcraft for Sale,” Doris Lessing
“Once Upon a Time,” Nadine Gordimer
“The Most Dangerous Game”—Connell
“The Guest”—Camus
“The Metamorphosis”--Kafka
Novels
The Bone People—Keri Hulme
House of the Spirits—Isabel Allende
Fahrenheit 451—Ray Bradbury
Something Wicked This Way Comes—Ray Bradbury
Nectar in a Sieve--Markandaya
Nonfiction
Magazine and newspaper articles on relevant issues
Additional Reading Requirements:
Independent Reading
WRITING COMPONENTS
Formal, revised papers (analytical, persuasive, etc.):
 Literary analysis/criticism essays
 In-class timed essays
 Argumentative papers/projects
 Research papers/projects
 Creative writing papers/projects
Informal journals / writing-to-learn:
Students have pre-and post-reading journal prompts. In addition, as ideas arise in
discussions, students respond in their journals. In addition, students respond in their
journals to movie clips.
Pre-writing Process
Outlining
Drafting
Editing
Revision
SPEAKING COMPONENTS
Formal speeches / debates:
One speech each semester
Group presentations:
Participation in class discussions:
This is a discussion-based course, and participation is assessed quarterly.
GRAMMAR COMPONENTS
Concepts / terms / skills emphasized:
Students are tested three times a year. Common areas of weaknesses are
reviewed, re-taught and retested. Differentiated instruction is provided for students who
need it.
OTHER
Vocabulary acquisition will be ongoing throughout the year.