- Ages:Teen
This class is offered on Outschool.
Together the teacher and learners will explore three different literary forms: Short Stories, Narrative Poetry, and Essays. Literature can seem out of reach, out of touch, and outright boring. But I have found that learners can love literature when they are supported with modeling and aid in analysis, lots of time for discovery and discussion, and a teacher who finds it all fascinating. I love talking to learners about the ways that their interests, experiences, and ideas intersect with literature.
For each author, we will read a short work, talk about their time and place in history, and discuss the genre and literary elements of the work we are reading. Most classes will include a short video, reading the poem aloud or an in-depth story structure and analysis, and then discussion of the implications of the piece and connections/comparisons to other pieces of literature.
If a student would like a half-credit class, this can be accomplished by doing the optional assignments that will be posted in the classroom. Parents will need to assess these assignments and assign any grades.
Unit 1: The Truth of a Story: Short Stories
Nathaniel Hawthorne-“Young Goodman Brown”
O’Henry-“The Caliph, Cupid, and The Clock”
Shirley Jackson-“The Possibility of Evil.”
Gabriel Garcia Marquez-“An Old Man with Enormous Wings”
Unit 2: The Story in the Poem: Narrative Poetry
Lord Tennyson-“The Charge of the Light Brigade”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge-“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
Lewis Carrol-“The Walrus and The Carpenter”
Christina Rossetti-“Goblin Market”
Unit 3: My Story: Personal Essays
Virginia Woolf-“The Death of the Moth”
E.B. White-“Once More to the Lake”
Tom Wolfe-“Pell-Mell”
Amy Tan-“Mother Tongue”
This is a discussion-intensive course. All students are expected to interact with respect and civility. I understand that the topics and themes can be controversial and invite disagreement. However, kindness facilitates productive and persuasive conversation.
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Provider Tassie Smith
I teach all kinds of English classes including writing, grammar, literature, and ESL. I am an avid reader of fiction and non-fiction especially poetry, science fiction, and fantasy.
I have been teaching in one form or another for more than 10 years. I taught English as Foreign Language in three different Chinese universities for a total of eight and a half years. These classes included comprehensive English, listening and speaking, writing, and pronunciation where I taught BA, MA, and Ph.D. students. Since we have returned to the United States, I have taught/tutored ESL and English Language Arts both in person and online.
I am also a professional writer. I have a traditionally published book, another at my publisher waiting to be edited, and a novel in its second draft. I love giving students the chance to communicate, write, and learn in community with others.
I love sharing the wonder of language with learners young and old--both those who are learning English for the first time and those who reading the classics or writing brand new classics of their own.
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