Description

Literature 202 is designed to teach both literature and composition. Rather than separating the two skills, we use the literature to guide our topic choices in a variety of writing styles, including narrative, poetry, comparison, exposition, and research writing.

Additionally, two unit tests introduce the idea of the literary essay test, a staple in college classes.

This class picks up where Literature 201 left off and moves through the rest of the major literary movements into the 19th and 20th centuries.

We start with a unit on literary techniques that become more popular through these movements, including epiphany and juxtaposition, and we get to try to utilize these tools in our own writing.

We move to the Victorians and read several fiction and nonfiction pieces that include their desire to affect the world with their writing. We let that guide our writing in our own social action essays.

We then take a pause to read Shakespeare's Macbeth, which is a psychological drama with many of the same motifs that we see writers exploring later in the 20th century.

We head back to the Victorians and Realists with a novel of your choice from that era.

We focus next on the modernism movement with some short stories and poems, followed by the great American novel: The Great Gatsby.

We end the year with a research project that allows students to explore one of these authors or events from this time in more detail.

This class meets honors diploma requirements in most states. Please be sure to check your state's guidelines to ensure honors credit for your student.