1. Read the novel. (free version for Kindle here and free pdf ebook here)
2. Author - read about James Fennimore Cooper using one of the resources below or library book or encyclopedia
http://www.americanwriters.org/writers/cooper.asp
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/LIT/cooper.htm
http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/naal7/contents/B/authors/cooper.asp
3. Historical background - Do some research on the French-Indian War - encyclopedia/book or following website The French and Indian War
4. Read all about the American Romanticism literary movement:
http://www.english-e-corner.com/americanliterature/contents/Romanticism1/default.htm
6. Go through the list of discussion questions and prepare answers for group meeting.
7. For Abby and those using Excellence in American Literature:
- do the weekly written assignments: author profile, historical approach paper, and 2 weeks for the formal essay .
8. Extra reading - The Pioneers by James Fenimore Cooper
9. Watch one of the movies - the Daniel Day Lewis 1992 version (check the USCCB review) which has a lot of violence (I have yet to preview it) or the BBC miniseries (I need to preview this too)
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Recommended Resources
In order to study literature at a advanced level, I consider that the following are pre-requisites:.
1. Literary Analysis - I really recommend IEW's Teaching the Classics and Windows to The World. Also Janice Campbell's Introduction to Literature. Seton's English 9 is also excellent.
2. Strong Composition Skills - I recommend IEW writing and The Elegant Essay, Seton's Grade 9 Grammar and Composition/English 9. Jensen's Format Writing is also a solid program.
I like the following resources for high school writing"
1. Writer's Inc: A Student Handbook for Writing and Learning: Sebranek, Kemper and Meyer
2. Purdue OWL
3. A Guide for Writing Research Papers
4. Study Guides and Strategies
1. Literary Analysis - I really recommend IEW's Teaching the Classics and Windows to The World. Also Janice Campbell's Introduction to Literature. Seton's English 9 is also excellent.
2. Strong Composition Skills - I recommend IEW writing and The Elegant Essay, Seton's Grade 9 Grammar and Composition/English 9. Jensen's Format Writing is also a solid program.
I like the following resources for high school writing"
1. Writer's Inc: A Student Handbook for Writing and Learning: Sebranek, Kemper and Meyer
2. Purdue OWL
3. A Guide for Writing Research Papers
4. Study Guides and Strategies
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Format of American Literature Discussion Group
The students will have read the book before the discussion group. Each student will have considered the following:
1. Context and authorship – research and understand the historical period and the personal history of the author.
2. The Literary Structure – conflict, plot, setting, characters and theme
3. Literary Style – what is the author’s signature style, literary devices used
Socratic discussion within the group will focus on the following (from Adam Andrew’s list):
1. Where does this story happen?
2. When does this story happen?
3. Who is the story about?
4. What does the protagonist want?
5. Why can’t he have it?
6. What other problems are there in the story?
7. What happens in the story?
8. How is the main problem solved?
9. How does the story end?
10. What does the protagonist learn?
11. What do the other characters learn?
12. What is the main idea or theme of the story?
13. What literary devices does the author use to create interest and effect?
14. Who is the author, where did he live, when did he live and what were his beliefs?
1. Context and authorship – research and understand the historical period and the personal history of the author.
2. The Literary Structure – conflict, plot, setting, characters and theme
3. Literary Style – what is the author’s signature style, literary devices used
Socratic discussion within the group will focus on the following (from Adam Andrew’s list):
1. Where does this story happen?
2. When does this story happen?
3. Who is the story about?
4. What does the protagonist want?
5. Why can’t he have it?
6. What other problems are there in the story?
7. What happens in the story?
8. How is the main problem solved?
9. How does the story end?
10. What does the protagonist learn?
11. What do the other characters learn?
12. What is the main idea or theme of the story?
13. What literary devices does the author use to create interest and effect?
14. Who is the author, where did he live, when did he live and what were his beliefs?
Proposed Schedule of American Literature Readings
August - Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
September – The Last of the Mohicans – James Fennimore Cooper
(Extra reading: The Pioneers by James Fennimore Cooper)
October – The House of Seven Gables – Nathaniel Hawthorne
(Extra reading - The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne and Walden by Henry David Thoreau)
November – Moby Dick – Herman Melville
(Extra reading - Billy Budd: Herman Melville. Selected Poems of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson)
December - The House of Mirth – Edith Wharton
(Extra reading - The Age of Innocence: Edith Wharton)
January – The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
(Extra reading - Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass)
February – The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
March – My Antonia – Willa Cather
(Extra reading - The Old Man and the Sea/A Moveable Feast: Ernest Hemingway)
April – Rip Van Winkle and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Washington Irving
(Extra Reading - Selected poetry of Longfellow
May - The Pearl- John Steinbeck
September – The Last of the Mohicans – James Fennimore Cooper
(Extra reading: The Pioneers by James Fennimore Cooper)
October – The House of Seven Gables – Nathaniel Hawthorne
(Extra reading - The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne and Walden by Henry David Thoreau)
November – Moby Dick – Herman Melville
(Extra reading - Billy Budd: Herman Melville. Selected Poems of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson)
December - The House of Mirth – Edith Wharton
(Extra reading - The Age of Innocence: Edith Wharton)
January – The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
(Extra reading - Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass)
February – The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
March – My Antonia – Willa Cather
(Extra reading - The Old Man and the Sea/A Moveable Feast: Ernest Hemingway)
April – Rip Van Winkle and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Washington Irving
(Extra Reading - Selected poetry of Longfellow
May - The Pearl- John Steinbeck