American Literature Online

American Literature is a five-unit elective that engages high school students in a literary conversation with some of the most colorful and influential minds in American history. Their words will give students a greater understanding of themselves, their culture, and the ideas of others. The course teaches students the various movements in American literature, starting with the roots of American literature in writings from the Puritans. The course concludes with works by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other black writers who were part of the struggle for racial freedom during the civil rights era.

Through this course, students will: recognize the religious beliefs of selected founding fathers, as evidenced in their writings; identify the birth of a distinctively American literature; recognize the impact of slavery on individuals and society; understand and identify the influence of modernism upon religion and the arts; recognize the dominant themes and techniques used in literature at the end of the twentieth century. Students explore the history, culture, and the passion of America through this interactive literature course that features the writings of key colonial figures, romantic poets, the naturalists, and writers from the modern and post-modern age. A number of literary forms are interspersed throughout the course including essays, novels, poetry, and even spirituals passed down by the slaves.