Tutor – Ginger McCreery
This will be a chronological survey of American Literature, broken down into major literary periods. We will sample literature set in the major periods and of many different genres. An attempt will be made to help the student understand the time period and the cultural setting of each book, so that one may understand the author’s perspective, values, etc, and what is going on in the world at the time each book is set. Students will be required to write 4 essays, one per quarter.
Reading great literature accomplishes at least two things: academic excellence and excellence of character. If you want your student to write well, your student needs to be reading lots and lots of excellent, well-written classics that have stood the test of time. If you want your student to have a great vocabulary, your student needs to be reading lots and lots of excellent, well-written classics that have stood the test of time!
Literature is: “a pleasure which arises not only from the things said, but from the way in which they are said; and that pleasure is only given when the words are carefully and beautifully put together into sentences.” -Stopford Brooke
While you will need a lot of books for this class, most of these titles can be found at used bookstores or through online sources quite cheaply. Instead of buying an expensive textbook that you will never use again, you will be investing in real books for your student and home. ISBN’s and publisher names have been provided below, but these specific editions are not required. Bargain books are fine as long as they are unabridged and the student has a physical copy to bring to class.
Required summer reading:
THE SCARLET LETTER
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Prentice Hall
ISBN: 0-553210092
THE CRUCIBLE (play)
by Arthur Miller
Penguin USA
ISBN: 0-140481389
A LIGHT IN THE FOREST
by Conrad Richter
Juniper Press
ISBN: 0-449704378
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
by Benjamin Franklin
Dover Publications
ISBN: 0-486290735
UNCLE TOM’S CABIN
by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Bantam Classics
ISBN: 0-553212184
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MISS JANE PITTMAN
by Ernest J. Gaines
Bantam Books
ISBN: 0-553263579
THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER
by Mark Twain
New American Library
ISBN: 0-451526538
CARRY A BIG STICK
by George Grant
Cumberland House Publisher
ISBN: 1-888952202
A LANTERN IN HER HAND
by Bess Streeter Aldrich
Puffin
ISBN: 0-140384286
THE EDUCATION OF LITTLE TREE
by Forrest Carter
University of New Mexico Press
ISBN: 0-826328091
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
by Harper Lee
Little Brown & Company
ISBN: 0-446310786
THE GREAT GATSBY
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Scribner Paperback Fiction
ISBN: 0-684801523
THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA
by Ernest Hemingway
Scribner Paperback Fiction
ISBN: 0-684801221
CANNERY ROW
by John Steinbeck
Penguin USA
ISBN: 0-140177388
OUR TOWN (play)
by Thornton Wilder
Perennial
ISBN: 0-060929847
THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW
by Washington Irving
Tor Books
ISBN: 0-812504755
Required summer reading: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
This class is appropriate for students in 9th-12th grades. The work expectation is at an “average” to “above average” difficulty level. Average study time for this class will be approximately 5-10 hours per week, depending on the speed and skill of the reader.
3 Ring Notebook
Notebook Paper