World Literature and Composition (Cypress)

Class Year:  2024-2025
Time:  Mon 10:00 am - 12:00 pm;
Teacher:  Stacie Ripkowski
Tuition:  $650 / Year or $65 / Month for 10 Months (August - May)
Supply Fee:  $65 / Year - Due Upon Registration (Non-Refundable after August 1)
Location:  Northwest (Cypress)

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Prerequisite: This class assumes that students, 10th grade and up, can write a basic short essay and handle the challenge of weekly reading assignments. If not, I recommend beginning with Classic Lit (see course sequence below).

My goals for this class are for the students to learn how to ask good questions, think critically, analyze information carefully, formulate informed opinions, and express those opinions competently and creatively.

World Literature will challenge your students as they read broadly and write carefully. We will span the globe as we read works from around the world. Our texts will be comprised of poetry, short stories, essays as well as full-length novels. Shakespeare, Eli Wiesel, and Sandra Cisneros are among the authors we read. Students will be doing response writing, formal essays, creative writing, and university-ready writing. Students should expect weekly quizzes as well as unit tests.

We will learn elements of literary analysis by studying a selection of short stories, poems, plays, and full-length novels from around the world.

Expect weekly quizzes as well as unit tests over the work as a whole. After applying the skills of careful reading, students will be challenged to participate in class discussions.

I want the students to be excited about seeing literature come to life, sharing their words through writing, and broadening their world view. I set high standards but work to provide students with the tools necessary to succeed. This course is intended to build on skills learned in Classic Literature and serve as a pre-requisite to American Literature.  Although all high schoolers are welcome, this course is geared toward tenth grade students.

As I am always tweaking curriculum to bring the best possible learning experience to class, a complete list of novels and texts are TBD and will be communicated during the summer.

Students can expect to read novels such as The Night Divided (East Germany, WW 2), The House on Mango Street (Mexican American), The Book Thief (World War 2), Night (WW 2), I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, Thembe’s Cloth (South Africa), short stories, and the Bible.

Our writing curriculum builds on the previous year’s curriculum with the goals of proficiency in writing literary analysis, multi-paragraph essays, persuasive writing, and university-ready writing.

**Upon successful completion of this course, parents may choose to award 1 High School Honors English credit.

**Students wishing to enroll in this course without having completed Classic Literature MUST have teacher approval.

A complete list of novels and texts TBD

How this class fits into the sequence of PREP High School Literature:

9th grade (& up)– Classic Literature. This course covers the basics of writing, including how to gather information, outline thoughts, and write with style. Students will begin learning analysis in their reading through various works of short stories, full length novel, plays and poetry.

10th grade (& up)– World Literature. This course continues to build on the writing skills and expand the depth at which we look at literature. Students will dig deeper into literary analysis through short stories, novels, plays, and poetry from around the world. Students will write a research paper in this class.

11th grade – American Literature.   This course will cover a large scope of American literature from Colonial times to now. This course is faster paced. Students will become proficient in analyzing the works that are read which will include a mixture of novels, short stories, plays, and poetry. The writing focus is on literary analysis.

Tuition: $650/year OR $65/month for 10 months (August – May). I accept cash, checks, Venmo, and Zelle. When using Venmo, it will be $66/month and $659/year. I prefer automated checks via your bank each month. A late fee of $10 per week will be due if tuition is not paid on the first day of class each month.

One Time Supply Fee: $65 (Note: Your supply fee holds your spot in the class. No supply fee refunds after August 1.) Parents supply all novels and supplemental texts (must purchase specific edition and it must be unmarked).

Withdrawal Fee: Two months’ tuition after 10/1/2024