Literature advice for American~ Part 1, Part 2

[Murrayshire]

Dd is rising 9th. She wants to take 2 years for American History. Anyone have a great book list(s) for each year they'd like to share!

😊

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

You could look at WTM and then divide their literature list (great books list) at the point where you divide the two years of history.  Everything there is listed chronologically.

[Murrayshire]

You could look at WTM and then divide their literature list (great books list) at the point where you divide the two years of history. Everything there is listed chronologically.

Yes, I could have made it that easy on me...... Thanks for the reminder! I'll take a look at that list!

[RootAnn]

I did that already (the WTM great books list) except it wasn't as easy as it sounds since I didn't want world literature - just Am Lit. So, it took a little knowledge or looking up as I'm not the greatest at figuring out which authors are British (post-Revolution) and which were U.S. I skipped one that I was sure was British, until a short story by her showed up in the Am. Lit text I was also using for a list.  :lol:   So, I'm certainly still  :bigear:

[Murrayshire]

Yes, RootAnn..... I am noticing this too!

 

I'm looking at the American lists from EIL, LL, etc.

Hoping for a literature list to smack me in the face though! 😳

[RootAnn]

I'm hoping to get you some more ideas/posts by bumping this with my list.

 

Obviously, I haven't used it yet, but here's my list to pick from for books/speeches/etc., Part 1 US History. Some of these will be used just as excerpts. Some will be from an American Literature textbook I have. Not in chronological order:

Edmund Burke "On American Taxation" (speech given in English Parliament)

The War for Independence - Albert Marrin

The Autobiography - Ben Franklin

"Declaration of Independence"

Hamilton, Alexander The Federalist

"The Constitution of the United States"

Thomas Paine "The Rights of Man" (abridged version on Kindle?)

Cooper, James Fenimore The Last of the Mohicans or The Deerslayer (haven't been able to get through either of these myself yet)

Tocqueville, Alexis de "Democracy in America" (selections)

Stowe, Harriet Beecher Uncle Tom's Cabin

Thoreau, Henry David Walden

Whitman, Walt "Leaves of Grass"

Unconditional Surrender:  US Grant & the Civil War by Albert Marrin

Virginia's General:  Robert E Lee by Albert Marrin

Lincoln, Abraham "Gettysburg Address"

Hardy, Thomas The Return of  the Native (what was this doing here?)

Twain, Mark Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Modern Art of Taming Wild Horses by JJ.S. Rarey

Columbus & Cortez by John Eidsmoe

or Odyssey of Courage by Maia Wojciechowska

Shadows on the Rock by Willa Cather (Quebec?)

Mourt's Relation by Mourt

Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather

Jefferson Davis's "Speech Upon the Decision to Secede"

Good Citizenship by Grover Cleveland

or Mont St. Michel & Chartres by Henry Adams

[Junie]

I am also planning to do American History over two years with the literature to match.  Great minds think alike! :)

 

DS 14 did the 2nd half of American History this year and will do the first half next year.  (Don't ask...)  Because he only has two more years after this, we did American Lit this year; next year will be Brit Lit (yeah, w/ American History) and his last year will be World Lit.

 

However, I have 5 more dc coming up, and I plan to match it up a little better for them.

 

This is my current American Lit list.  * indicates what my son has read/will read this year

 

 

The Mayflower Compact

Common Sense -- Thomas Paine

Speech to the 2nd Virginia Convention (Give Me Liberty) -- Patrick Henry

The Declaration of Independence

The U.S. Constitution

*Early American Poetry:  Beauty in Words  

*Captain John Smith and Pocahontas

from Of Plymouth Plantation -- William Bradford

*from The Bay Psalm Book, Psalms 1 and 63

*Captured By Indians -- Mary Rowlandson

*Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God -- Jonathan Edwards

*from Poor Richard's Almanac -- Benjamin Franklin

from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

*Rip Van Winkle -- Washington Irving

*The Scarlet Letter -- Nathaniel Hawthorne

*Rappaccini's Daughter -- Nathaniel Hawthorne

*Moby Dick -- Herman Melville (audiobook)

*Billy Budd, Sailor -- Herman Melville (Focus on the Family Radio Drama)

from A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Scott v. Sandford

On Dred Scott -- Frederick Douglass

The Emancipation Proclamation -- Abraham Lincoln

The Gettysburg Address -- Abraham Lincoln

Up From Slavery -- Booker T. Washington

*I Have a Dream -- Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Letter from Birmingham City Jail -- Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Little Women -- Louisa May Alcott

*The Princess and the Brownie -- Louisa May Alcott

*Tom Sawyer -- Mark Twain

*Pudd'nhead Wilson -- Mark Twain

My Antonia -- Willa Cather

*Ben Hur -- Lew Wallace (Focus on the Family Radio Drama)

*The Ransom of Red Chief -- O. Henry

*The Most Dangerous Game

*The Milk Pitcher

*The Catbird Seat

*The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

*A Piece of Steak

*The Luck of Roaring Camp

*The Cask of Amontillado

*Camping Out -- Ernest Hemingway

*The Story of an Eyewitness:  The San Francisco Earthquake -- Jack London

*from Spoon River Anthology -- Edgar Lee Masters

*Modern American Poetry -- Echoes and Shadows

*Bernice Bobs Her Hair -- F. Scott Fitzgerald

*The Curious Case of Benjamin Button -- F. Scott Fitzgerald

*To Kill A Mockingbird -- Harper Lee

*The Pearl -- John Steinbeck

*Farewell to Manzanar -- Jeanne Watasuki Houston

 

 

These are the poetry books I use.  (I've borrowed them from the library, but if I ever have a kid who likes poetry I would buy them.)

 

http://www.amazon.com/Early-American-Poetry-Beauty-Words/dp/1598453785/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1428973353&sr=8-11&keywords=american+poetry+early

 

http://www.amazon.com/Modern-American-Poetry-Echoes-Shadows/dp/1598453793/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1428974112&sr=8-3&keywords=poetry+rocks+american

 

I love the sharing of all of these ideas and I'm looking forward to tweaking my curriculum as I see works that I forgot.

 

 

[Murrayshire]

Thanks Root Ann and Juni!