Hearth and Home:
American Literature of the Modern Era
Ages: 13-18 Class Minimum: 6
thursdays, 12:05-1:35
Sept. 10-Dec. 10th (13 Weeks)
Jan. 9th-April 29th (16 Weeks)
Showcase Performance- Friday, March 7th
Teacher: Katya Voss
Cost: $425, $390 Early Bird Price until Sept. 1
Materials Fee included
Who is this class for?
This class is appropriate for high school students and advanced 8th graders. Strong reading skills are recommended (although audiobooks are always an option). Students who take the High School Performance class are encouraged to take this class as well, as there will be a great deal of crossover between the two.
Class Description:
What do Jo March, Kit Tyler, Laura Ingalls, Freckles, and Huck Finn all have in common? They are all American literary characters searching for a lasting place to call home. What will it take to find such a place? What are they willing to sacrifice?
This high school level class will explore the concepts of home, country, belonging, and permanence through an exploration of American history and literature from the founding of America through the early 1900s. We will study classic American books such as Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Gene Stratton Porter’s Freckles. We will also be reading Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women to tie-in with the musical being performed by the Sightline Performance class, so students enrolled in the drama class will benefit from taking this literature class as we dive deeper into the plot, characters, and themes of the story. There will be a poetry unit exploring famous poets and themes from the period, as well as several short stories by authors such as Washington Irving and Edgar Allen Poe.
Homework:
Students will be assigned weekly reading and should come prepared to participate in reading scenes aloud and class discussion. Several essays on the works we study will be assigned throughout the year, as well as short writing assignments and vocabulary lists. Each semester will finish with a creative semester project that ties into the works we have studied. Students will learn the proper MLA citation format in anticipation of college work.
Grading:
All students will receive a traditional letter grade unless otherwise requested by the parent.