U.S. Literature

Ms. Katie Auman
Fort Collins High School

Throughout this course you will develop your critical thinking skills through a variety of readings and activities. Critical thinking is the key to pushing your learning to the next level and we will strive to improve upon these skills through reading, writing, viewing, and speaking (and even some drawing/doodling). The backdrop for this learning will be our study of American literature.

The American literary tradition, beginning more than 400 years ago, contributed significantly to the unique culture that we have today. This course will trace various authors, literary genres and topics thematically rather than chronologically, paying particular attention to how the past has influenced our present culture, and more specifically, influenced you personally. We will study the effect of changing philosophies, politics, ideologies, religion, and more, on the literary and cultural landscape of America. In many instances we will challenge long-held beliefs and attitudes in order to more fully understand what it means to be “American.” In addition to reading texts, we will also view texts– i.e. movies and visual images– and discuss them as literary creations.

American Library Association's "Most Frequently Challenged Books" list
Frequently Challenged List

The most comprehensive American literature resource on the web
Perspectives in American Literature

Writing about literature: the how-to for writing literature papers
Purdue University OWL

Dictionary and Thesaurus
www.dictionary.com

Bartleby.com: Excellent source of literature e-texts. We may use this source for older works
Bartleby.com

The best university sources for information about writing, editing, grammar, etc.
Purdue University OWL
Colorado State Writing Center

Links to American and English literature resource sites (from Southern Connecticut State University)
Literary Internet resources