2024-2025 School Year

English w/British Literature Honors GVL

Course Description

Welcome to the thousand-year adventure of British literature! We will read important British fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama spanning the centuries from before English was a written language through the twentieth century. We will survey the basic chronology of British literature and the major authors and cultural and literary developments  of each period, as well as focusing in-depth on each work we read. We will analyze both the literary characteristics and the larger themes of each book, both on its own terms and in the larger context of the Christian worldview.

To be successful in this class:

Students must be able to maintain a rigorous reading schedule (100 pages or approximately four hours of audio most weeks), take an active part in classroom discussions, and complete essays and other written assignments (including a research paper), as well as presentations and tests, to demonstrate understanding and critical analysis of each work.

Grades: 11th Grade, 12th Grade

Fees: $465

Prerequisites:

English 1 (must have completed one high school English course)

Parents must read UHC High School Literature Class Parent Information before registering their student for a literature class at UHC.

Course Credit: 1 English (honors)

Required Materials

  • Every student in grades 7-12 taking a Literature class at UHC must have access to the Blue Book of Grammar. You can download a free pdf or purchase a hardcopy. You will only need to download or purchase this book once, and your student will use it as a reference for all UHC Literature classes.
  • Three-ring notebook with paper
  • Reliable access to a word processor and printer

Books (no electronic books may be used in the classroom): *

Honors Addendum Summary

Honors books (honors students will choose two to four from this list):

Honors students will:

  • Complete additional honors work incorporated into class assignments (for example, an extra question on tests, a leadership role in a group activity, or a more challenging essay prompt)
  • Complete two additional assignments per semester, for a total of four per year. The two additional assignments per semester must include reading one additional book from the honors list with its required project/presentation (fall) or essay (spring). The other required assignment per semester may be any one of the following:
    • A field trip and reflection,
    • An additional book from the list and a three-paragraph reflection,
    • An assignment chosen from the alternative assignments list,  or
    • An assignment proposed by the student using the proposal form.

Prompts and rubrics are provided for all honors essays, project/presentations, and alternative assignments.

Specific assignments and details for honors work will be provided by the teacher.

Meet Shandi Stevenson

Education:  BA Literature in English Excelsior College 2004, MA Humanities California State University 2013

Experience:  Freelance writer and tutor

UHC courses taught:

  • Middle school journalism
  • Fifth grade IEW
  • American Literature
  • Seventh and eighth grade literature analysis
  • English with British Literature
  • English with World Literature
  • SAT prep verbal skills
  • ACT prep verbal skills

Began teaching at UHC in 2009