World Lit., Here We Come!

I am making progress on the year-long plan for SILSA Honors World Literature. In terms of the literature we read, world lit. is such a hodge-podge. In order to align with the Civics and Economics class, we begin with early Native American literature, Colonial American literature, and slave narratives. Then we read literature from the American Civil Rights Movement. It takes a couple of months before we move into the world beyond America.

Each world lit. unit this year has a conceptual lens: utopia/dystopia, justice, the hero archetype, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic literature, poverty, gender, etc. I am writing essential questions for each unit, too. By the end of the year last year, I had decided that my essential questions were too broad. I hope that this year's questions will generate more lively discussions.

Like most world lit. students in North Carolina, my students will read Night by Elie Wiesel. This year we will read at least excerpts from Cormac McCarthy's The Road when we do so. I mentioned this to someone recently who balked a bit at the idea of 10th and 11th graders reading The Road. I do not understand her objection. Isn't Night even more horrific than The Road? Does Night seem more suitable for high school students only because it has been a part of the high school literary canon for twenty years? I think The Road will help students connect better with Night. In this unit we will also read excerpts from Dante's The Inferno. I just hope the soon-to-be released film version of The Road will not ruin my students experience with the book. I have seen the trailer for the film, and my first two complaints are that there is too much of mother in the movie and that the child, especially, is not nearly as thin as he should be. If the child and his father are not malnourished, then the movie will not be nearly as desperate as the book is.

We begin our SILSA retreat in one week. I need to finish my year-long plan first, then I need to work on my electronic presence. Our school district moved from SharePoint 2003 to SharePoint 2007 this summer, and my website isn't ready yet. I am also allowed to pilot Moodle, but those sites aren't available yet, either. I hope both will be available before the start of school.