Course Introduction Transcript

In this course, you will explore many types of literature. You will read a well-known fantasy novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, as well as many shorter stories and poems. You will use those texts to explore techniques that will help you get more out of what you read. Examining the characters, plot, and setting of stories can lead you to their central ideas, perspectives, and deeper meanings. Paying attention to information that is stated and information that is not stated directly enables you to appreciate everything an author is expressing. Once you have mastered these elements of stories, you will practice writing summaries.

You will also learn to recognize figurative language and connotative words, which add layers of meaning to poetry and prose. Several lessons take you more deeply into poetry and drama. You will learn what makes them different from other forms of literature, and you will even get to write poems of your own.

Another writing project also calls on your creativity, as you will write a personal narrative—a story about something important to you. In addition, you will learn new vocabulary words and will review irregular verbs and conjunctive adverbs. You will also explore ways to avoid making errors when using pronouns.

Through the lessons in this course, you will master techniques that will increase your enjoyment of literature.

Course Objectives

• Use context and reference materials to find the meaning of unfamiliar words and phrases. 
• Use correct verb tenses, conjunctive adverbs, pronouns, and variations from standard English when writing to improve clarity and effectiveness in narrative writing. 
• Compare authors and related texts based on their use of key individuals, events, ideas, and figurative language. 
• Infer the meaning of unfamiliar words using Greek or Latin affixes and roots. 
• Compose and support appropriate responses to a collegial discussions. 
• Explain how different organizational structures develop the central ideas and convey an author’s purpose and perspective. 
• Support a literary analysis using textual evidence and precise, domain-specific vocabulary.   
• Produce coherent writing that uses development, organization, and styles appropriate to the time frame, task, purpose, and audience. 
• Analyze how different forms or genres of text approach similar themes, topics, or central ideas, and how the medium can alter how the audience experiences a story. 
• Explain how a narrator’s or speaker’s perspective is developed, how transition words, phrases, and clauses convey a shift from one time frame or setting to another, and how characters change and respond to specific key details or plot developments. 
• Write a personal narrative with clearly defined focus, a logical sequence of events, and an effective conclusion. 
• Use precise language and relevant descriptive details to engages the reader and establish a context through an organized event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically 
• Use narrative techniques, consistent style, and tone to develop experiences, events, and characters in a literary text. 

Click the link to read through the Student Course Overview, which provides more detailed information on what you can expect throughout the course.