LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION B 

 Tentative Course Overview

​Subject to Revision for the 2026-2027 year 

LITERATURE

The Adventures of Robin Hood, by Roger Lancelyn Green

The Princess and the Goblin, by George MacDonald

A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle

Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien

A study of numerous:

poems*

fables*

fairy tales*​

legends*       

*Provided by Instructor


PARTIAL LIST OF SKILLS TAUGHT

In addition to reviewing and practicing skills taught in Lit and Comp A, students will:

Literature:

  • continue to develop the skill and the art of reading well
  • become more adept at identifying the basic story elements of setting, character, plot, conflict, theme, and point-of-view
  • practice noticing the uses of figures of speech and figures of description
  • continue to notice and identify recurring themes, motifs, and archetypes
  • become more familiar with descriptive and narrative poetry 
  • expand familiarity with figures of speech and figures of description 
  • practice poetic scansion, identifying rhyme and meter
  • join the "Great Conversation" through drawing connections between stories read

Composition:  

  • learn how to create two- and three-level hierarchical outlines
  • practice composing narratives of longer and more complex models
  • recast narratives by changing point-of-view and chronology
  • learn new copia tools for crafting well-written sentences
  • practice summarizing and paraphrasing longer and more complex stories
  • learn to write a a précis
  • imitate beautiful sentences and poems
  • develop fluency, voice, and stamina through informal journal writing
  • ​practice the art of revising and editing with more independence

Grammar:

  • the eight parts of speech
  • verbs: action verbs, linking verbs, helping verbs and verb tense
  • subject and predicate
  • subject/verb agreement
  • pronoun/antecedent agreement
  • direct objects, indirect objects, and subject complements​​
  • phrases: prepositional, appositive, verbal
  • independent clauses
  • dependent clauses 
  • sentence purpose (declarative, exclamatory, imperative, interrogative)
  • sentence type (simple, complex, compound, compound-complex)
  • punctuation of sentence parts, phrases, and clauses
  • diagramming and parsing


FOCUS OF WORK

In class:  

  • A balance of lecture and discussion focused on literary elements, archetypes and drawing connections between works. 
  • Focused lessons on grammar and composition.
  • Guided practice in composition.
  • Review of weekly homework.

Homework:

  • Read assigned literature and maintain a commonplace notebook
  • Complete weekly grammar, composition, and journal assignments
  • Complete multiple developed compositions throughout the year


                                        This syllabus is subject to revision.