Santiago Christian School

American Literature

Welcome to American Literature! I look forward to exploring several exciting pieces of literature with you this semester, looking especially at the American dream and its changing definition of prosperity. Some of the key questions we will consider this semester are:

Dreams

What does the “American dream” mean to the people of each period?
How is a goal accomplished or derailed?
Personal Question: What is your “American/ Dominican dream?”

Prosperity

How is prosperity defined? In terms of material prosperity or spiritual prosperity?
How does one’s view of prosperity affect his lifestyle and choices?
How does God define prosperity? (Is there a difference between God’s economy and man’s economy?)

Worldview

Who is God?
Who is man?
What is the nature of the universe?
What happens at death?
What is the meaning of human history?
What is knowledge?
What is morality?

Story

Why read and write stories?
How does the structure of a story impact its message?
What does the author want the reader to understand (theme)?
What can a Christian take away from a non-Christian piece of literature?

Literature

Assorted poetry, short stories, and non-fiction
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

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Class work week of Sept 12

September 19, 2011

By Miss Brooker

Monday 12/ Tuesday 13:

Grammar Sentence #5.. Please have a friend EXPLAIN what you have missed.

Finish reading Act 2 of The Crucible. Then read the appendix in the back of the book. This section includes KEY information on Abigail, revealing to us her motivation.

Wednesday 14/Thursday 15:

Grammar Quiz... please come see me to make this up!

Movie to finish Act 2.

Writing activity in class: Write a paragraph explaining your prediction of what will happen in the rest of the drama based on the information you have been given (check for good organization and well-used quotations). You should include TWO quotations, and each quotation should have TWO sentences explaining how it ties to your topic sentence (which is your prediciton).

Friday 16/ Monday 19:

Court Day! Welcome to the Salem Witch Trials! Today will begin to show us the outcome of the drama...one word can turn the trial on its head. We finished the reading of Act 3, and started to watch the movie. Please make sure you are caught up on the reading!