The course is an in-depth chronological survey of American Literature and its historical perspectives including non-fiction, short stories, novels, poetry, and drama. Emphasis is on reading for understanding, terminology, structure, analysis of literature, and on the development of composition skills. Students are expected to practice evaluating tone, drawing inferences, discerning patterns, gathering and presenting supporting evidence from literature. Instruction in student writing continues through an ordered sequence of personal and literary essays. Instruction in grammar focuses on review and how to create a research project integrating multimedia sources.