PinkInTheBlue Posted May 27, 2010 Share Posted May 27, 2010 So, I've created our plan of action for next year's 9th grade. Our history is on more of a 3-year cycle, so this will be American history. I'm very interested in recommendations from you guys on related American fiction. He's not a very strong reader so I have him read the book while listening along with the audio (non-abridged). His reading skills are great. He just comprehends that much better with hearing AND reading at the same time. I use audible.com. I'm reading through suggestions in my WTM. I'm interested in what was enjoyed in your house. Also, she intends the student to be in 12th grade for American history and literature, so that does make a difference. Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alphabetika Posted May 27, 2010 Share Posted May 27, 2010 My dd greatly enjoyed To Kill a Mockingbird. I think A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a concise but eloquent and chilling respresentation of slavery. I'll probably think of others; I'm looking forward to hearing what others have to say! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithr Posted May 27, 2010 Share Posted May 27, 2010 I agree with To Kill a Mockingbird and A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Also Ben Franklin's autobiography is rather short and surprisingly easy to read. Other books we enjoyed: The Scarlet Letter, Red Badge of Courage, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, My Antonia, The Great Gatsby. We also enjoyed the poetry of Emily Dickinson, Longfellow, Frost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted June 3, 2010 Share Posted June 3, 2010 (edited) Some great "don't miss" works of American Literature that would appeal to a 9th grader (at least, these all went over well with our 2 DSs); we did many of them this year for our American Lit (gr. 10 & 11), but have done others in previous years, too. Enjoy your American Lit adventures! Warmest regards, Lori D. novels - To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee) -- BIG favorite! - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Twain) - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Twain) -- right after, we did The Day They Came to Arrest the Book, a teen fiction book on censorship and Huck Finn; DSs really enjoyed discussing this - The Scarlet Letter (Hawthorne) -- DSs didn't mind the story, but the writing style was tough for them; try a short story instead - Call of the Wild (London) -- easy to read; adventure tale; then can discuss Naturalism - Penrod (Tarkington) -- we didn't have time to get to this, but heard it's comic sketches - The Jungle (Sinclair) -- we didn't have time for this one; it is depressing! - The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald) -- a surprise hit here; sad, but lovely writing - Farenheit 451 (Bradbury) -- the classic sci-fi; older DS LOVES Bradbury's writing - Something Wicked This Way Comes (Bradbury) -- "supernatural" thriller suspense tale - the Earthsea Trilogy: Wizard of Earthsea; Tombs of Atuan; Farthest Shore (LeGuin) -- very well written American fantasy; book 1 (boy protagonist) or book 2 (girl protagonist) stand alone well (book 3 definitely a sequel of book 1) novellas - The Red Badge of Courage (Crane) -- we didn't do this; we did a short story by Crane instead - The Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway) -- short; easy read; and DSs enjoyed it - The Pearl (Steinbeck) -- Hemingway may have modeled the writing style of Old Man and the Sea on this work; these 2 were similar enough it made for some good comparison discussions; I couldn't make myself do Grapes of Wrath with DSs -- too depressing! - Billy Budd (Melville) -- DSs HATED Melville! (thank heavens we didn't try Moby Dick!!) -- SO wishing we had instead done Melville's short story "Bartleby the Scrivner" - I Heard the Owl Call My Name (Craven) -- lovely book - The Giver (Lowry) -- a YA novel; faulty world/plot set-up, BUT, very worthwhile discussions on utopia/dystopia, importance of memory, individual responsibility, etc. short stories - Rip Van Winkle -- OR -- Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Irving) - Young Goodman Brown -- OR -- The Minister's Black Veil (Hawthorne) - Fall of the House of Usher -- OR -- Tell Tale Heart -- OR other story (Edgar Allen Poe) - Bartleby the Scrivner (Melville) -- we didn't do this, but wish we had - Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (Bierce) -- the first "twist ending" like this - The Luck of Roaring Camp (Harte) -- funny, but also poignant - Bride Comes to Yellow Sky -- OR -- The Open Boat (Crane) -- first story is funny/poignant - The Lady or the Tiger (Stockton) -- a very short, very fun classic - Gift of the Magi -- OR -- The Ransom of Red Chief (Henry) -- VERY fun! - The Most Dangerous Game (Connell) -- VERY fun! - Thank You, Ma'am (Hughes) -- funny, but sad, too - The Catbird Seat (Thurber) -- very funny irony - There Will Come Soft Rains (Bradbury) -- great sci-fi story - A Good Man is Hard to Find (O'Conner) -- funny, tragic, Southern "grotesque" or "Southern gothic" - The Lottery (Jackson) -- chilling - The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas (LeGuin) -- also chilling; we enjoyed comparing this and The Lottery poetry Anne Bradstreet Phyllis Wheatly Edgar Allen Poe ("The Raven") Emily Dickinson Walt Whitman Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ("Midnight Ride of Paul Revere"; "Village Blacksmith") Ralph Waldo Emerson William Carlos Williams Robert Frost ("Two Roads") Langston Hughes E. E. Cummings biography - To Be a Slave (Julius Lester, editor) -- powerful excerpts from memoirs of former slaves; liked this better than Frederick Douglass, as is was easier, faster but especially had MANY voices, including women's experiences - Life of Frederick Douglass (Douglass) - The Story of My Life (Helen Keller) -- DSs did NOT like this, but girls might - Black Like Me (Griffin) -- white author lives/travels in the Deep South of 1959 for 6 weeks as an African American to experience lack of civil rights and racial attitudes firsthand - Warriors Don't Cry (Beals) -- autobiography of one of the first 9 students to integrate in Little Rock Also, consider some of the non-fiction short pieces by Ernie Pyle, WW2 correspondent, on people and events of the war. We read one: "Thunderbird Limps Home" about an American bomber plane that lost 3 of its 4 engines over the Mediterranean Sea -- and miraculously just made it back to its base in England; very descriptive, powerful, and gives you a sense of the mindset of the times. (See reprints of some of his columns here.) Edited September 25, 2021 by Lori D. added info 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krstbrwn Posted June 3, 2010 Share Posted June 3, 2010 We did: Ben Franklin's autobiography The Narrative of Frederick Douglas The Red Badge of Courage The Scarlet Letter Their Eyes Were Watching God The Chosen To Kill a Mockingbird A Jury of Her Peers, a short story Mercury 13, a non-fiction book about women who trained as astronauts The Grapes of Wrath We may have done others, short stories and poetry, but this is what I can recall right now. Kristi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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