👋 WELCOME 😁 
If this is your first class with me, use this coupon code: VANCEFIRSTCLASS10

CLASS PURPOSE
🎊 Learning should be exciting, natural, low-pressure, even celebratory... but should also challenge, intrigue, and (of course) educate! 📚
That is the purpose of this course. We celebrate every season of the year through discussions revolving around the text that are low-pressure, conversational, and even invite occasional tangents to help ensure students are welcomed, engaged, and feel involved with what matters to them!
...In the process we engage in analysis, comprehension, intertextual comparisons, figurative language, biographical information, literary period studies, literary elements, abstract thinking, philosophy, vocabulary and more as these topics naturally introduce themselves through the texts themselves... We also have the opportunity to be introduced to the works of several historical and renowned authors including Edgar Allen Poe, Langston Hughes, Louisa May Alcott, Jack London, and beyond!
So don't tell the students who are laughing and having a great time... but we are actually LEARNING A LOT OVER HERE 🤫

OVERVIEW
    • This is a read-and-discuss course
    • Students will read one short story prior to each class
    • A new classic literature author will be chosen every month.  This allows students to be introduced to a variety of writing styles and literature greats!
    • Text-related short-answer questions will be provided each week to sharpen analysis and comprehension of the text
    • The class will engage in discussions revolving around the short-answer questions provided

CONTENT
Classic short-stories provide several opportunities for rich analytical discussion.  What they lack in narrative length, they make up for in quality academic content
Class discussion will revolve around the following concepts:
    • Personal analysis
    • Critical analysis
    • Academic analysis
    • Literary elements
    • Literary periods
    • Biographical influence
    • Historical influence

TEACHING STYLE
    • I put an emphasis on students feeling comfortable and supported in their efforts in their analysis to allow lessons to be learned organically and at a pace that works for them.  
    • I want my students to discuss, interact, and learn from each other! Every chance I get,  I will encourage them to respond to other’s ideas
    • I hope to facilitate conversation, protect think-time, and pose questions that provoke deeper thought based on the central text
    • I hope that students feel as welcomed to think as they are challenged in their thinking
    • While I will challenge students to think deeply, their perspective will always be encouraged and celebrated  
    • I love interacting with my students!  I will be apart of the conversation as well 😁
    • Occasionally, mini-lessons will be taught to ensure all students comprehend concepts and themes

SCHEDULE
X Oct 10/12: The Tell-Tale Heart (Edgar Allen Poe)
X Oct 17/19: The Masque of the Red Death (Edgar Allen Poe)
X Oct 24/26: The Black Cat (Edgar Allen Poe)
X Oct 31/Nov 2: NO CLASS
X Nov 7/9: Professor (Langston Hughes)
X Nov 14/16: The Blues I'm Playing (Langston Hughes)
X Nov 21/23: NO CLASS
X Nov 28/30: Tilly's Christmas (Louisa May Alcott)
X Dec 5/7: A Christmas Dream and How It Came True (Louisa May Alcott)
X Dec 12/14: Becky's Christmas Dream (Louisa May Alcott)
X Dec 19/21: Berties New Year's (Lucy Maud Montgomery)
X Dec 26/28: NO CLASS
X Jan 2/4: To Build a Fire (Jack London)
X Jan 9/11: That Spot (Jack London)
X Jan 16/18: The Law of Life (Jack London)
X Jan 23/25: Love (Anton Chekhov)
X Jan 30/Feb 1 About Love (Anton Chekhov)
X Feb 6/8: The Lady with the Dog (Anton Chekhov)
X Feb 13/15: Darling (Anton Chekhov)
X Feb 20/22: Joy (Anton Chekhov)
X Feb 27/29: Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Bohemia (Arthur Conan Doyle)
X March 5/7: Sherlock Holmes: The Red-Headed League (Arthur Conan Doyle)
X March 12/14: Sherlock Holmes: A Case of Identity (Arthur Conan Doyle)
X March 19/21: Sherlock Holmes: The Boscombe Valley Mystery (Arthur Conan Doyle)
X March 26/28: Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Speckled Band (Arthur Conan Doyle)
X April 2/4: John Redding Goes to Sea (Zora Neal Hurston) 
X April 9/11: Spunk (Zora Neal Hurston)
X April 16/18: Sweat (Zora Neal Hurston)
X April 23/25: Drenched in Light (Zora Neal Hurston)
X April 30 / May 2: There Will Come Soft Rains (Ray Bradbury)
X May 7/9: The Flying Machine (Ray Bradbury)
X May 14/16: A Sound of Thunder (Ray Bradbury)
X May 21/23: The Last Night of the world (Ray Bradbury)
X May 28/30: All Summer in a Day (Ray Bradbury)
X June 4/6 My Lucy Friend Who Smells Like Corn (Sandra Cisneros)
X June 11/13 Mexican Movies (Sandra Cisneros)
X June 18/20 Barbie-Q (Sandra Cisneros)
X June 25/27 Mericans (Sandra Cisneros)
X July 2 [no class on the 4th] For Esme--With Love and Squalor (JD Salinger)
X July 9/11 The Sea Raiders (HG Wells)
X July 16/18 In the Abyss (HG Wells)
X July 23/25 The Man Who Could Work Miracles (HG Wells)
X July 30/August 1 The Door in the Wall (HG Wells)
X August 6/8: The Swimmer (John Cheever)
X August 13/15: Marigolds (Eugenia W. Collier)
X August 20/22: At Five O'Clock in the Morning (Lucy Maud Montgomery)
X August 27/29: In Football Season (John Updike)
X September 3/5 The Rockpile (James Baldwin)
X September 10/12 Sonny's Blues (James Baldwin)
X September 17/19 The Lottery (Shirley Jackson)
X September 24/26: The Raven (Edgar Allen Poe)
X October 1/3: 24/26: A Good Man is Hard to Find (Flannery O'Connor) 
X October 8/10: The Landlady (Roald Dahl)
X October 15/17: The Monkey's Paw (WW Jacobs)
X October 22/24: The Pit and the Pendulum (Edgar Allen Poe)
X October 29/31: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Washington Irvin)
X November 5/7: An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving (Louisa May Alcott)

***NEXT CLASS:
• November 12/14: Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen (O. Henry)


• November 19/21: Aunt Susanna's Thanksgiving Dinner (Lucy Maud Montgomery)
• November 26/28: NO CLASS
• December 3/5: At Christmas Time (Anton Chekhov)
• December 10/12: The Gift of the Magi (O. Henry)
• December 17/19: A Christmas Memory (Truman Capote)
• December 24/26: NO CLASS
• December 31/January 2: Ida's New Years Cake (Lucy Maud Montgomery)
• January (2025): Leo Tolstoy?
• February (2025): Oscar Wilde (Nightingale and the Rose)
• March (2025): James Joyce (Araby / Eveline / A Little Cloud / A Painful Case)
• April (2025): Ken Liu (The Paper Menagerie)
• May: TBD
• June: TBD
• July: A Jolly Fourth (Louisa May Alcott)
• August: Ernest Hemingway
• September: 
• October: Flannery O'Connor
• November: O. Henry (The Last Leaf)
• December: Assorted Christmas stories from authors we’ve read
*FUTURE READING ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE UPDATED REGULARLY*