Course Outline

(Length of class is one semester)

Using the available English Literature textbook, the students become familiar with Old English (Beowulf), Middle English (Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales) and the beginning of modern English during the Elizabethan period (Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew). 

Students break into small groups to interpret and translate lines of The Taming of the Shrew into our modern language.  These new scripts are rehearsed and acted out for the rest of the class to see and hear. 

Many poems, short stories and studies of the history of the English language development are interspersed throughout these literary studies.  This semester winds down with the reading of modern classic short stories over which students will be expected to write literary analyses.

During the semester, students choose their own books to read and keep a journal to record the reader's thoughts.  At the end of the semester, each student decides on one book that they have read to present to the class as a promotional book poster.