2017-2018 10th Grade
English II Humanities
Dante's Inferno by Dante Alighieri - Not Available (ISBN: 978-0-4515-3139-1)
Belonging in the company of the works of Homer and Virgil, The Inferno is a moving human drama, a journey through the torment of Hell, an expression of the Middle Ages, and a protest against the ways in which men have thwarted the divine plan. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky – Not Available (ISBN: 978-0-4515-3006-6). Raskolnikov, a former Russian student, murders an old pawnbroker and her sister. The subsequent guilt with which he struggles results in a tragedy of tension and terror. |
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - Not Available (ISBN: 978-0-5532-1176-4 or 978-0-5532-1176-5)
It was the time of the French Revolution — a time of great change and great danger. It was a time when injustice was met by a lust for vengeance, and rarely was a distinction made between the innocent and the guilty. Against this tumultuous historical backdrop, Dickens' great story of unsurpassed adventure and courage unfolds. The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare - Not Available (ISBN: 978-0-7434-7756-7)
The Merchant of Venice is an intriguing drama of love, greed, and revenge. At its heart, the play contrasts the characters of the maddened and vengeful Shylock, a Venetian moneylender, with the gracious, level-headed Portia, a wealthy young woman besieged by suitors. At the play's climax, Shylock insists on the enforcement of a binding contract that will cost the life of the merchant Antonio — inciting Portia to mount a memorable defense. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka - Not Available (ISBN: 978-0-5532-1369-0)
When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin." With this startling, bizarre, yet surprisingly funny first sentence, Kafka begins his masterpiece, The Metamorphosis. |