Syllabus
Mrs. Murphy
7/8 Literature and Composition
Course goal: To support students in developing critical reading and writing skills and
to encourage effective and strategic higher order thinking skills in response to
literature and composition.
This is a survey course of literature genres. In addition to the study of literature, the
course will include the development of writing skills and will incorporate daily spelling
practice (DSP), daily grammar practice (DGP) and daily reading practice (DRP). A
writing journal will also be required, which will be comprised of daily writing prompts.
Major Readings
The Lord of The Flies
The Devil’s Arithmetic
The Odyssey
Romeo and Juliet
Subjects to be addressed:
The Power of Story Telling
Genre fiction
Short Stories: “The Most Dangerous Game,” “The Necklace,” and “Two Kinds”
Genre character essay
Suspense and Surprise
Genre poetry
Readings: “The Gift of the Magi,” “The Sniper,” and “The Possibility of Evil”
Essay on “The Possibility of Evil”
Edgar Allen Poe, “The Cask of Amantillado,” Edgar Allen Poe project
Nonfiction genre
Readings: “Life After Go-go Boots,” “Unfinished Business,” “A Christmas Memory,”
and “The Road Not Taken.”
Personal narrative/ memoir essay
Rite of Passage in Literature
Selected readings
The Lord of the Flies, with class discussion
Lord of The Flies research paper
Literary Style
Readings: “Into Thin Air” and “On Being 17 and Unable to Read”
Themes in Literature
Readings: “The Scarlet Ibis,” “The Courage My Mother Had”
Poetry writing assignment
Author’s Perspective: excerpts from Black Boy, Metaphor, The House On Mango Street
Detective Stories
Selected readings from Full Circle, Wasp’s Nest, The Utterly Perfect Murder
Illusion and Reality, Point of View
“Sorry, Wrong Number”
The Devil’s Arithmetic
Class discussion/ study of The Devil’s Arithmetic with historical contexts
Compare/contrast essay
The Odyssey
Homer and Greek literature
Mythology
Odyssey project/essay
Shakespeare/Romeo and Juliet
Introduction to Shakespeare and his influence
Theater during Shakespeare’s era
Romeo and Juliet
Final exam