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American History & Literature
| 9th & 10th Grade Omnibus

Engage and delight in conversations of the past and cultivate a redemptive and poetic imagination.

In American Literature, the focus turns more on integration of literature into life. While continuing to deepen their understanding of the various worldviews and philosophies underlying each author, students will begin to solidify their understanding of the Christian worldview as it is expressed in various literature that will shape their convictions, imaginations, and vision for the future. 

  • The Scarlet Letter

  • Uncle Tom's Cabin

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Spring Semester 2025​

Program Dates:

Jan 27, 2025 - June 6, 2025

Tentative Schedule*:

Mon, Wed, & Fri

9:30am-10:45am KST

*Class schedule may be modified to meet student needs. See FAQ for more info.

Price**:

$510

**Discount available. See FAQ for more info.

Enrollment Closes:

Jan 27, 2025

The course will be opened based on a minimum enrollment of 6 students. See FAQ for more info.

What You'll Learn​​​​​

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In this course you will study literature that is representative of the ancient civilizations - what they believed and how it influenced their lives. Our aim is to glorify God, so the class will work to do God's work, as we pray and bless over our year together. Our guiding questions for this year are:

  • What are the principles upon which America was birthed?

  • How have they eroded, and how can they be recovered?

  • How do our texts align with scripture as well as characters and decisions made?

  • What place does God have in American literature, and how can we place him first in all we do?
     

​​By the end of the course, students will be able to:​

✓ Encourage every student to begin and develop his relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ.

 

✓ Teach all subjects as parts of an integrated whole with the Scriptures at the center.

 

✓ Disciple the students, training them in the instruction and the discipline of the Lord, teaching them to obey everything Christ has taught. 

 

✓ Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

 

✓ Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.​

✓Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.

 

✓Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. 
 

✓Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on 9th and 10th grade topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. 

Your Instructor

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Mrs. Lessye Ashworth earned her B.A. in English Literature with an M.A. in Education. She has homeschooled her own children using a classical education model, and enjoys the way classical education focuses on the whole student, as well as allowing students room for creativity and personalization.  She has been in education for seventeen years in different roles such as a Learning Specialist and head of the English department. To her, the best part of teaching is seeing the students grow throughout the year and getting to know each student as a child of God.

When she is not teaching, you can find her involved in a Bible study, playing games with her family, or outdoors in God's creation. Her favorite Bible verse is John 15:5: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned."  It is a constant reminder that without God, she can do nothing, so always put the kingdom of God before anything.

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Course Information â€‹

Course-Specific Required Texts and Materials:
The cost of the course does not cover books and materials.

N.B.: Upon formation of the class the teacher will finalize the literature selection for the 2025 Spring Semester.

  • The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne. 

  • Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe.

  • Moby Dick, Herman Melville.

  • Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain.

  • The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald. 

  • Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Franklin.

  • Laptop or tablet for research and note taking.

  • Post-it notes and sticky tabs.

  • A physical or digital planner.

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General Technical Requirements: 

  • Laptop or Desktop

    • Please use a reliable laptop or desktop with a processor with a speed of 1 GHz or better on one of the following operating systems: Mac OS X with Mac OS 10.7 or later; Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista (with SP1 or later) or XP (with SP3 or later). An inexpensive laptop or netbook is preferred, as they enable you to plug an Ethernet cable directly into your computer. Students are only permitted to use phones for the Zoom sessions in cases of emergency. Note: It is significantly better to use an Ethernet cable to wire into a router rather than using WiFi, as WiFi signals can be notoriously unreliable based on device, distance to router, and interference from other electronics nearby

  • High-Speed Internet Connection

    • You will also need a reliable high-speed internet connection, ideally through an Ethernet cable directly connected to your computer. While Wi-Fi can work, it may not provide the best performance in terms of bandwidth. A faster internet connection will improve your experience, and we recommend a minimum download/upload speed of 5/1.5 Mbps. Depending on your location, you may also need to purchase a VPN to access Google Classroom, Google Suite, and Gmail.

  • Zoom

    • For our classes, we use Zoom, a web conferencing platform that allows students and instructors to connect face-to-face in real time, no matter where they are in the world. Zoom is free to download and simple to use. Click here to download Zoom.

  • See §VII in the VOA Parent-Student Handbook for more information about our technical requirements.​

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