Syllabus

This course is designed to explore the many variables that inform the teaching of literature at the secondary level. In this course, we will be immersing ourselves in a range of literary texts at the same time that we are thinking through the multiple ways in which those texts, teachers, and students interact with one another. Our goals will be to familiarize ourselves with the conventions of how literature is read and taught in school, along with investigating strategies to teach literature to adolescents within the contexts of various classroom settings. As we learn these conventions and strategies, we will be exploring a wide range of literature available for adolescents, with the goal of familiarizing ourselves with the numerous options we can recommend to our students to encourage their lifelong reading development. Through discussion, small group work, and individual writing prompts, we will explore our development as both students and teachers of literature.

All texts are available at the IMU Bookstore. You can also find many, if not all, at several local libraries in the area, the curriculum lab, Prairie Lights and other fine bookstores, or garage sales - don’t laugh. You may already own several of them. If you don’t own them, I’m betting you’ll want to - time to start building your classroom library!

• Anderson, Laurie Halse- Speak
• Appleman, Deborah- Critical Encounters in High School English
• Cormier, Robert- The Rag and Bone Shop
• Crutcher, Chris- Whale Talk
• Lowry, Lois- The Giver
• Myers, Walter Dean- Monster
• Na, An- A Step from Heaven
• Paulsen, Gary- Hatchet
• Sachar, Louis- Holes
• Schlosser, Eric- Fast Food Nation
• Spiegelman, Art- Maus I, Maus II
• Spinelli, Jerry- Stargirl
• Steinbeck, John- Of Mice and Men
• Taylor, Mildred- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
• Wittlinger, Ellen- Hard Love

Note that you will be reading a LOT of books. In addition to these books, you will select 12-15 other books to read independently for the course. Why 12-15? Because film and other media are so important in adolescents’ lives, and because I believe the term text needs to be expanded beyond novels and nonfiction, or even print, this number gives you a little room to explore. If you want to read 12 books independently, for example, you have room to view a film or two, or explore a blog, or an online text. My one stipulation when you move into these other textual forms is that you okay them with me in advance.