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literature & writing class online for 9th grade homeschool

Honors English 1

The Fine Print

Course Goals

  • To read works from a variety of genres, including novels, plays, short stories, autobiographies, and poetry

  • To read and discuss literature written primarily between the sixteenth and twenty-first centuries by authors of all nationalities

  • To be introduced to the art of poetry, with an emphasis on figurative language, meter and rhyme, sound devices, and a few forms

  • To learn how to annotate works of varying lengths--and through that process, be able to identify allusions, plot, suspense, conflict, theme, setting, imagery, point of view, tone, irony, symbolism, elements of characterization, and figurative language

  • To write in a variety of essay modes—including a research paper—and through this practice, to develop an increasingly proficient and individual writer's voice

  • To expand vocabulary through class readings and apply it in class writing

  • To enhance grammatical skills through daily practice and apply fundamental and nuanced grammar in class writing

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Course Resources

Core Texts:

  • Easy Grammar Ultimate Series: 180 Daily Teaching Lessons – Grade 10 Student Workbook, Phillips

  • Prose & Poetry, Walch Toolbook Series, Helen Ruth Bass and Diane Morrill 

  • The Synonym Finder, Rodale

  • MLA Resource (choose 1)

    • MLA Made Easy: Your Concise Guide to the 9th Edition, Hatala

    • MLA Handbook, 9th edition, Modern Language Assn.

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Core Reading:

  • The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho

  • Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,  Robert Louis Stevenson

  • The Hiding Place, Corrie Ten Boom

  • Our Town, Thornton Wilder

  • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Marie Boroff translation

  • Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbitt

  • Class Choice

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Short Stories:

(This is a sample of some of the stories that will be provided online by the instructor.)​

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  • "A Jury of Her Peers," Susan Glaspel

  • "The Most Dangerous Game," Richard Connell

  • "The Open Window," Saki

  • "The Ransom of Red Chief," O. Henry

  • "The Scarlet Ibis," James Hurst

  • "Rip Van Winkle," Washington Irving

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Summer Assignment:

  • A reading and writing assignment will be sent out in June and will use The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster, as a core resource for this creative endeavor

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