Class: American Literature & Composition – 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 in sentences.” - Stopford Brooke
Teacher: Ginger McCreery
Primary Text: Real Books!!
Publisher: ISBN#
Cost: Where Available: Amazon, new & used bookstores
Other books/materials, etc. required for class: See Attached List
***Parents are responsible for getting all texts and materials unless teacher specifies otherwise.
Yearly Tuition: $288.00 Copy/Lab Fees: $15.00
With this tuition rate, I must have a minimum of 8 and maximum of 12 students.
Overview of class: 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.
Prerequisites for this class: Required summer reading: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Recommended Grade Level(s) for this class: 9-12
Estimated Difficulty Level of course for average student:
Easy average XXX above average XXX highly challenging
Average study time for this class will be approximately 5-10 hours per week.
Depending on the speed and skill of the reader
Additional comments: While we will be using lots of books, most of these can be found at the library, used curriculum sales, home school catalogs, etc. Instead of buying an expensive textbook you will be investing in real books!
American Literature:
Book List
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
* These books may be harder to find than the others. Please order them
ahead and don't expect to find them at the library!
(Note: I have provided the ISBN's and publisher names but I don't require
that students get these exact editions. As long as the book is unabridged I
don't care how old the book is or who the publisher is, etc. Find bargains
at used book stores, it doesn't matter to me.)