Course Syllabus

In this advanced high school course, we will read and discuss several 20th century novels that are weird, dense, complicated, and hopefully also valuable. The authors have all been categorized as and/or accused of being postmodern, a term that is controversial and possibly also minimally useful. 

The goal of the course is to help you read and analyze literature, write about it using secondary research, and expand your critical thinking skills. This will prepare you for college and allow you to combine English curriculum with other subjects in the exciting and trendy interdisciplinary style everyone is raving about.

Texts:

Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49

Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude

Rafael Bernal, The Mongolian Conspiracy

László Krasznahorkai, Werckmeister Harmonies

Minnesota Academic Standards in English Language Arts

Like any course taking place in a public school in Minnesota, our curriculum is rooted in the state standards that define effective practice for educators. Here are the four standards most relevant to the class:

11.12.2.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.

Benchmarks: We will focus on the political and historical contexts of each novel and use a variety of research material to help gain insight into the texts and their many possible interpretations. We will also connect these analyses to current events that are meaningful for political or other reasons.

11.13.7.7. Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., quantitative data, video, multimedia) in order to address a question or solve a problem.

Benchmarks: Our classroom discussions and activities will all be grounded in this standard. Students will receive detailed comments on written and other assignments by me and by their peers in a collaborative and constructive manner.

11.13.8.8 Evaluate the hypotheses, data, analysis, and conclusions in a science or technical text, verifying the data when possible and corroborating or challenging conclusions with other sources of information.

Benchmarks: In our first novel, the concept of entropy is a central metaphor. Other scientific and technical aspects will be present throughout the curriculum, and students can also incorporate even more through secondary research.

11.12.8.8 Evaluate an author’s premises, claims, and evidence by corroborating or challenging them with other information.

Benchmarks: Assignments and discussions will focus on argumentation and rhetorical analysis about both fictional and nonfictional texts.