PEACE Academy

American Literature  

The purpose of this class is to introduce students to a variety of American authors and works.  Rather than a traditional chronological survey, I’ve chosen books, short stories, and poetry that  embody key ideas in American life or share themes that we can compare across books. Students  will practice reading attentively and analyzing literature with the ultimate goal of delight and  enjoyment in reading.  

Writing is an essential part of thinking well about literature and so students will be expected to write weekly written narrations about the assigned reading, 2 longer essays, and keep a  commonplace book of quotations from their reading. Homework will average 3-4 hours a week.  

Film is one of the great American art forms, so we’ll also plan to watch film adaptations of at  least two of the works we’re reading. These may happen outside of class at my home, depending  on the schedule.  

The course is intended for students in 9th-12th grades. Students should be mature enough to  handle the content of the selected books.  

The course fee is $375. An early bird discount of $25 will be applied if registration is completed  by May 31. A non-refundable $100 deposit is required in order to complete your registration.  Instructions for submitting that payment will be emailed to you after you submit your registration. The balance of the course fee is due by August 13, unless a payment plan  has been arranged with the teacher.  

Required supplies: The proposed (but not final) book list is below, I've included the ISBN for the  copy I intend to use, which is helpful for being on the same page (literally), but to save costs, if  you own a book already, use that one. Students should have a notebook for commonplacing quotations and a folder or binder for class handouts. 

• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain ISBN-13: 978-1953649805
• Shane by Jack Schaefer ISBN-13: 978-0544239470 
• Mama’s Bank Account by Kathryn Forbes ISBN-13: 978-0156563772 
• To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee ISBN-13: 978-0060935467 
• The Chosen by Chaim Potok ISBN-13: 978-1501142468 
• Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri ISBN-13: 978-1646142729 
• Additional short stories and poetry will be supplied in class.