American Literature

In American Literature, students will wrestle with fundamental questions of life in the United States: What is the American Dream and how does it relate to American reality? Who is an insider and who is an outsider? How do race, gender, culture, history, language, class and religion influence identity and experience? In dialogue with classic and contemporary works of American literature — and with each other — students will learn to understand and honor a range of perspectives on these questions. They will also be encouraged to develop and sharpen their own viewpoints. Authors may include Tommy Orange, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Joy Harjo, James Baldwin, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Lorraine Hansberry, Valeria Luiselli and Daisy Hernández, among others. American Literature is designed to complement subjects and themes encountered in United States History.

Completion of this course requires regular access to a laptop or desktop computer with working microphone and webcam, as well as a reliable internet connection.

This Fixed-Paced course incorporates a blend of synchronous and asynchronous elements. Students and teacher meet live via zoom on a regular weekly schedule. In addition, students complete coursework including guided readings, interactive videos, text and video-based discussion threads, problem sets, individual and collaborative projects, and so on. While these activities are time-flexible, teachers sequence them with weekly deadlines to help students keep on track and encourage and support the development of productive time management skills.