American Literature I
Welcome, parents and students! Over the next eight weeks, our class will read selections from
American Literature from the late 1700s to 1960, focusing on themes of slavery and racism. The
texts I have selected represent a wide range of genres, subjects, and author backgrounds, but they
all address – whether subtly or blatantly – issues that African Americans have dealt with in
America’s history.
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Goals
- familiarity with these classic texts, their authors, and the history surrounding them
- increased vocabulary
- sharpened writing skills, the ability to employ the writing techniques seen in texts, and
knowledge of terminology used in English classes
- college preparation
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Homework and Classroom Work
- Weekly reading response. Each week, I will hand out a sheet with a couple reading
response questions for the upcoming week. You must choose one of the questions and
write an approximately 500 word response. We will discuss your responses in class, then
you will turn them in to me for grading.
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Weekly reader’s question. On the same page(s) as your reading response, you need to
include one question you came up with while doing the reading for that week. It is
important to be active readers, always analyzing the texts and thinking critically.
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Two creative writing assignments: one for Twain and one for Lee. (No reading response
due those two weeks) While writing these, you will focus on concepts and writing
strategies discussed in previous classes and exhibited in the texts.
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Background on each author. I will introduce each new author we read, because the
authors’ lives will often give insight into their writing.
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Weekly “icebreakers” and/or vocabulary competitions. These will be character sketches,
video clips, role playing scenes, games, etc. Because I want to show you how FUN
literature can be! To prepare for the vocabulary competitions, look up every word you do
not know and write it and its definition in your binder.
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Fill-in-the-blank final exam: plot and character questions, terms, vocabulary. This will
help prepare you for college by testing your note-taking skills and retention of what we
have learned each week.
Grading, Rubrics, and Late Work
In any writing assignment you submit, the writing should reflect the basic rules of
punctuation, grammar, and spelling. The format of each assignment should be uniform: 12
point Times New Roman font, double spaced, and always with the student’s name, date, and
the title of the assignment at the top. Because this class is comprised of a range of grade
levels, I will not be grading each student the same. However, I will hand out a basic rubric
that will apply to the two creative writing assignments (this will outline what I expect for
each letter grade), as well as a study guide for the final exam. In order to make this similar to
a college-level course, I will be deducting half a letter grade for each day that an assignment
is late. All written assignments will be returned with comments and letter grades from me a
week after they were turned in. Parents: Your students will be given a final grade in my
class, however, you are free to keep or alter that grade as you see fit for your own records.
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What do I need to bring to class? I would suggest that each student get a three ring binder
with dividers for different categories – vocabulary words, reading responses, handouts,
English terms, etc. Students will also need to bring to class a copy of whatever text we are
reading for that week, as well as a pen/pencil and notebook paper for note-taking that can go
into their binders.
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Schedule
- Week 1: Phillis Wheatley’s "On Being Brought from Africa to America," "To the King's
Most Excellent Majesty 1768," and "To the University of Cambridge." You can find her
poetry here http://www.poemhunter.com/phillis-wheatley/poems/.
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Week 2: Edgar Allan Poe’s "William Wilson," "The Black Cat," and "The Tell-Tale
Heart.” You can find his short stories here: http://poestories.com/stories.php. Poe
reading response and one reader question due.
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Week 3: Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn chapters 1-18. Twain
reading response and one reader question due.
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Week 4: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn chapters 19-31. One reader question and
creative writing assignment #1 due.
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Week 5: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn chapters 32-43. Twain reading response
and one reader question due.
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Week 6: Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird chapters 1-11. Lee reading response and
one reader question due.
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Week 7: To Kill a Mockingbird chapters 12-21. One reader question and creative writing
assignment #2 due.
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Week 8: To Kill a Mockingbird chapters 22-31. Lee reading response and one reader
question due. Final exam.
Contact Information
If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Elaine Walker
elaine.walker@uky.edu or laniemw20@yahoo.com
(859) 368-1147