11th Grade - Why These Books?
Critical Reading and Writing
My Antonia by Willa Cather
Narrated by the adult Jim Burden reflecting on the experiences of his childhood and youth, this is a story that centers around the strong young woman who inspires Jim as she meets the great challenges of her life. Set during the time of the westward expansion and the arrival of many different immigrant groups to the United States, the novel depicts people who must learn to adapt to their human and natural environments and to make decisions about who they are and what they value in life.
This book has been selected because:
1. It is an American classic renowned for its lyrical, evocative description of nature and the
land and of this period of American history.
2. The narrator and the title character are shown as young people making
choices in their lives and as adults whose lives grow out of those choices.
3. The book demonstrates how individuals’ lives are affected by specific
aspects of the time and place in which they live, as well as by universal
human experiences.
Black Boy by Richard Wright
An autobiographical novel, the book chronicles Richard Wright’s struggles, first as a child of poverty and racism in the Jim Crow South, and later, as a young man in the less overtly racist North. Told in vivid, powerful prose, it is the story of an individual who faces insurmountable obstacles but who refuses to knuckle under in defeat.
This book has been selected because:
1. It is an American classic, renowned for its vivid portrayal of social
injustice and for its power to raise moral awareness.
2. The narrator allows the reader to see, not only the external, but the internal
struggles of a young man trying to find his own identity in a hostile environment.
3. The book demonstrates the power of language and literature in the life of an individual
and in the collective life of a society.
American Literature and Composition
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines
Set in the South in the 1940s, Jefferson, a basically uneducated black man, is sentenced to death for the murder of a white storeowner. The fact that he is innocent has little to do with reality. This is not merely a novel about race relationships. It is about humanity, relationships, and the choices that must be made when dealing with personal goals and the conflicting needs of others.
A Lesson Before Dying is a summer reading selection because:
1. The novel allows the reader to be emotionally involved with the characters and yet distant
enough to understand and analyze the major themes within the book.
2. It causes the reader to examine the balance of personal religious beliefs and moral convictions
that are confusing or in opposition with those of other respected people in a community.
3. It is about the many levels and difficulties associated with self-worth.
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
On the surface, this novella is a simple story: An old Cuban fisherman, Santiago, struggles to land a big fish.
The Old Man and the Sea is a summer reading selection because:
1. It is an enduring classic story.
2. Read as an allegory, the story symbolically represents the struggle of all humans against
great odds.
3. Written in 1952, this novella was in part responsible for Hemingway's winning the Nobel Prize
for literature in 1954.
American Studies - Literature
O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
The land belongs to the future... that's the way it seems to me....I might as well try to will the sunset over there to my brother's children. We come and go, but the land is always here. And the people who love it and understand it are the people who own it – for a little while.
O Pioneers! is the story of Alexandra Bergson, a young woman who, at the request of her dying father, becomes the head of her immigrant family on their Nebraska farm. She must exercise her determination, intelligence, and foresight to help her family extract a living from the harsh prairie and find their way among a variety of opportunities and entanglements. Her love for her adopted land, her material success, her personal disappointments, and her transcendence of tragedy through the power of forgiveness make her a true American heroine.
This book has been selected because:
- It ties into major topics of the American Studies class, including the immigrant experience and westward movement.
- It includes a strong female character who shoulders an exceptional burden of responsibility.
- It highlights the Christian concepts of sin, forgiveness, and redemption.
Black Boy by Richard Wright
An autobiographical novel, the book chronicles Richard Wright’s struggles, first as a child of poverty and racism in the Jim Crow South, and later, as a young man in the less overtly racist North. Told in vivid, powerful prose, it is the story of an individual who faces insurmountable obstacles but who refuses to knuckle under in defeat.
This book has been selected because:
- It is an American classic, renowned for its vivid portrayal of social injustice and for its power to raise moral awareness.
- The narrator allows the reader to see, not only the external, but also the internal struggles of a young man trying to find his own identity in a hostile environment.
- The book demonstrates the power of language and literature in the life of individual and in the collective life of a society.
American Studies only - Social Studies
1776 by David McCullough
The American Studies course is divided into four themes: Liberty, Mobility, Prosperity and Security. The course begins with the United States debating and pursuing liberty from England. McCulloch’s 1776 describes the struggle for liberty and the arguments surrounding the struggle with clarity and insight.
This book has been selected because:
1. Students will be exposed to arguments about what liberty means and requires at a depth difficult to achieve in the classroom.
2. Students will learn how to read and interpret narrative historic accounts—and can do so with a book centered on events and people with which they should have some prior knowledge.
3. Students will be able to examine an outstanding example of historic writing which uses primary sources fluently.
U.S. History (all classes except American Studies - Social Studies
Over the Earth I Come by Duane Schultz
The Dakota War was one of the most important events in Minnesota history and was one of the bloodiest conflicts ever between American Indian nations and European settlers. The book uses a variety of sources and points of view to both put the conflict in its broad political and social context, and to explain how individuals experienced the crisis.
This book has been selected for several reasons:
1. It is a well-written, non-fiction work of high interest with local connections.
2. It fits well into the clash of indigenous and European cultures being covered at the beginning of the year.
3. It helps raise important questions about history and scholarship.
