H.G. Wells and Isaac Asimov: Exploring Literary Analysis Theories

In this self paced course learners will be reading and analyzing H.G. Wells' science fiction classic "The Stolen Bacillus" for the purpose of writing a literary analysis essay from a chosen theory lens. The story's vocabulary and historical context is challenging as it was published in 1894. I have taught English literature and ELA assessment preparation to hundreds of learners on Outschool (this text included!), so I have anticipated areas of misunderstanding in a carefully crafted interactive guided reading document. From my experience as a classroom teacher, learners tend to struggle with annotation. When annotating a century's old text the vocabulary is the main obstacle standing in the way of learner comprehension, so I modeled vocabulary annotations to make reading more productive. I provide learners with nonfiction articles within sections of the Active Reading Packet with insight into connecting the texts. The articles are taken from Wikipedia, Smithsonian, Science Museum, and Cogent Arts & Humanities Journal. 

Learners will also read Isaac Asimov' novella 'Youth' in order to answer comprehension analysis questions and write a comparative essay for each text. 

Each lesson video provides learners with an opportunity to check their written responses. I always inform learners that their answers are not expected to match mine because literature can be interpreted in many ways. I will model live writing, to encourage learners that it is a process that can take time! I try to be creative in an attempt to engage learners in literary controversy. I will also draw historical and present day connections when discussing the story in lesson videos. 

All of my self paced, literary analysis courses provide learners with:
-An Active Reading Packet consisting of the required text to pair with learner videos. The packet provides learners with in reading vocabulary definitions, images to assist in setting visualization, and Common Core aligned questions to guide thinking towards choosing a thesis later in the course. 
-An Interactive Literary Element Study Guide, shared as a Google document for feedback that includes:
     1. An author study lesson
     2. A pre reading theme development lesson
     3. Defines basic and abstract literary elements in a cohesive order with examples
     4.  Writing activities to get learners comfortable using literary terminology in writing
     5.  Instructions for literary analysis essay with a guided outline
     6. The Ultimate Literary Theory Analysis Guide Manual with an explanation of literary analysis theories/criticisms and tips for crafting the perfect essay