Course Syllabus: American Literature and Composition
Brandon Hall School, 1701 Brandon Hall Drive, Atlanta, GA 30350-3706, 770-394-8177
Department:
Instructor:
English
Kevin Huitt
E-Mail: khuitt@brandonhall.org
Course Description
American Literature and Composition is designed to provide an integrated study of the
historical context of the literature of the America. The course focuses on developing the
student’s ability to perform competent literary analysis through recognizing and understanding
appropriate literary terms and devices from a variety of genres including the short story, drama,
biography, poetry, historical fiction, and the novel.
In addition, American Literature and Composition focuses on developing the writing
skills of the student through exercises designed to improve the students understanding of the
various writing styles, including persuasive, narrative, expository, creative, compare and
contrast, descriptive, and research papers. Grammar concepts will be reviewed throughout the
year to test the student’s ability to understand the usage of the concepts in their own writing.
Vocabulary for each literary selection in the text is to be incorporated into a variety of usage and
application forms.
Textbooks
American Literature; McDougal Littell; 2008
Supplies
Pens/Pencils
Loose-leaf notebook paper
Flash Drive
Laptop
Course Expectations
 All Brandon Hall School policies, as outlined in The Handbook, including policies
regarding uniforms, tardiness, absence, behavior, use of assignment notebook, etc, will be
strictly enforced.
 Homework: Homework will be assigned on a regular basis.
o Homework is due at the beginning of the class. Failure to turn in homework at
the beginning of class will result in an “F” for that particular assignment, and the
assignment of a Saturday study hall.
o All homework must be typed in MLA format.
o All short answer questions must be written in complete sentences and in
paragraph format. Paragraphs are usually between 5-8 sentences. Failure to
answer question in this manner may result in a failing grade and/or Saturday
school.
Departmental Policies
 Students must bring ALL materials to class EACH day. Failure to abide by this policy
will result in the following penalties: first offense, warning; second offense, grade for
participation will be dropped by one letter grade; third offense, a participation grade of
“F” will be given.
 In accordance with the Brandon Hall School policy, all students are expected to be in
attendance every day and one time. Daily quizzes (part of the participation grade) are
given at the beginning of class. A tardy student will not be allowed to take the daily quiz,
and will receive an “F” for participation for the day. Any student with an unexcused
absence for the day will receive an “F” on homework, an “F” for participation, and the
assignment of a Saturday study hall for each unexcused absence.
 You must take notes in class. These notes will be invaluable in helping with homework,
in reviewing for the daily quiz, and in studying for the weekly test.
Grade Configuration
 Grades will be calculated in the following manner:
o Homework- 25%
o Tests- 25%
o Quizzes- 15%
o Participation- 10%
o Semester Exam- 25%
AMERICAN LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION
SCOPE/SEQUENCE
GRADE 11
First Semester
I. Literature
A. An Emerging Nation: Early American Writing (1600 to 1800)
1. The Native American Experience
a. “The World on the Turtle’s Back”
b. “Coyote and the Buffalo”
2. Exploration and the Early Settlers
a. from The General History of Virginia
b. from Of Plymouth Plantation
3. The Puritan Tradition
a. “To My Dear and Loving Husband”
b. “Upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666”
c. “Huswifery”
d. from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
4. Writers of the Revolution
a. “Speech in the Virginia Convention”
b. “The Declaration of Independence”
c. “The Crisis”
d. from “The Autobiography”
e. from “Poor Richard’s Almanac”
5. Literary Concepts/Terms: almanac, aphorism, proverb, allusion, parallelism,
thesis, literary letter, symbol, personification, metaphor, irony, paraphrase,
persuasion, exposition, description, narration, characterization, imagery, couplet,
allusion, iambic couplet, conceit, tone, thesis, simile, style, rhythm
B. Celebrating the Individual: American Romanticism (1800-1855)
1. The Early Romantics
a. Introduction
b. “The Devil and Tom Walker”
c. “Thanatopsis”
2. The Fireside Poets
a. “The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls”
b. “Old Ironsides”
c. “Snowbound”/ “The First Snowfall
3. The Transcendentalists
a. from Self-Reliance
b. from Nature
c. from Walden
d. from Civil Disobedience
4. American Gothic
a. “The Fall of the House of Usher
b. “The Masque of the Red Death”
c. “The Raven”
d. from Danse Macabre
e. from Moby Dick
f. from The Scarlet Letter
g. “The Minister’s Black Veil”
5. Literary Concepts/Terms: classicism, romanticism, setting, plot, alliteration,
stock character, foreshadowing, symbol, theme, blank verse, foot, iambicpentameter, free verse, diction, mood, internal rhyme, assonance, refrain, motif,
onomatopoeia
C. An Age of Transition: From Romanticism to Realism
1. Introduction
2. Brilliant Mavericks: Whitman and Dickinson
a. “I Hear American Singing”
b. from “Song of Myself”
c. “Beat! Beat! Drums!
d. “Because I could not stop for Death”
e. “Success is counted sweetest”
f. “I Heard a Fly buzz- when I died”
3. Literature of the Civil War
a. from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
b. “Go Down, Moses”
c. “The Gettysburg Address”
d. “The Emancipation Proclamation”
e. “Letter to His Son”
f. “Letter to Sarah Ballou”
g. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”
4. Literary Concepts/Terms: transcendentalism, anti-transcendentalism, allegory, symbol, atmosphere, diction, foreshadowing, irony, parable, satire,
mood, allusion, tone, characterization, paradox, personification, metaphor
II. Grammar
A. Subjects & Verbs
B. Completers
C. Verb forms
D. Pronoun forms
III. Composition
A. Writing a narrative
B. Writing a persuasive essay
C. Writing a literary analysis
IV. Research paper
A. Introduction to MLA format
B. Topic selection
C. Note cards
D. Outlines
E. Rough draft
F. Peer review
G. Final Draft
IV. Vocabulary- Wordly Wise Book 8 – Lessons 1-10
V. PSAT/SAT preparation
Second Semester
I. Literature
A. Capturing the American Landscape: Regionalism and Naturalism
1. Introduction
2. Regionalism and Local Color Writing
a. from The Autobiography of Mark Twain
b. “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”
c. “The Outcasts of Poker Flat”
d. “A Wagner Matinee”
3. The Rise of Naturalism
a. “The Open Boat
b. “The Law of Life”
4. A New Role for Women
a. “The Story of an Hour”
b. “The Yellow Wallpaper”
c. “April Showers”
B. A Changing Awareness: The Harlem Renaissance and Modernism (1910-1940)
1. Introduction
2. The Harlem Renaissance
a. “Harlem”
b. “A Negro Speaks of Rivers”
c. “My City”
d. “If We Must Die”
e. “Any Human to Another”
f. “Storm Ending”
g. “A Black Man Talks of Reaping”
h. “How It Feels to be Colored Me”
3. The New Poetry
a. “Richard Cory”
b. “Miniver Cheevy”
c. “Lucinda Matlock”
d. “Chicago”
e. “Grass”
f. “Acquainted with the Night”
g. “Nothing Gold Can Stay”
h. “The Death of the Hired Man”
i. “In a Station of the Metro”
j. “Spring and All
k. “anyone lived in a pretty how town”
l. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
4. The Modern Short Story
a. from The Great Gatsby
b. “In Another Country”
c. “The Jilting Of Granny Weatherall
d. “A Worn Path”
e. “A Rose for Emily”
f. “The Life You Save May Be Your Own”
5. Journalism as Literature
a.”A New Kind of War
b. “The Duty of Writers
6. Literary Concepts/Terms: point of view, setting, simile, conflict,
imagery, irony, characterization, mood, theme, apostrophe, foreshadowing, metaphor, free verse, alliteration, rhythm, oratory,
ode, refrain, internal rhyme, vernacular, point of view, flashback
C. New Perspectives: Modern Literature (1940-Present)
1. Introduction
2. Modern American Drama
a. “Death of a Salesman”
b. “A Raisin in the Sun”
3. Responses to War
a. “Why Soldiers Won’t Talk”
b. “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner”
c. “Adam”
d. “Ambush”
4. Civil Rights and Protest Literature
a. from Letter from Birmingham Jail
b. “Necessary to Protect Ourselves”
c. from Coming of Age in Mississippi
d. “Revolutionary Dreams”
5. A Mosaic of American Voices\
a. “Mother Tongue”
b. from In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens
c. “Straw Into Gold: The Metamorphosis of the Everyday
d. “Life for My Child is Simple”
e. “Testimonial”
f. “The Man in the Moon”
II. Grammar
A. Phrases
B. Clauses
III.
Composition
A. Writing a comparison/contrast essay
B. Writing a cause and effect essay
C. Close reading of a poem
D. Creative Writing
1. Anthology of student poems
2. Short story Composition
IV.
Vocabulary- Wordly Wise Book 8 – Lessons 11-20