COURSE NAME: Literature of War

SCHOOL DISTRICT: Corinth

INSTRUCTOR:

OTHER: 20 weeks - 1.0 credits

COURSE PREREQUISITES: This class is intended for 11th and 12th graders because the subject matter
requires a level of maturity that many 9th and 10th graders do not possess. A complete syllabus will be
provided and a signed parental permission form, which will list all texts used in the class, will be required from
each student.

BRIEF COURSE DESCRIPTION / OUTLINE: The purpose of this course is to enable the students, through
reading and viewing the texts of war, to self-develop an informed framework of ideas with which they will be
able, as young adults, to evaluate and analyze the concept of war and its hold on the human psyche.
Students will become literate in reading, understanding and interpreting the texts of war. Students will learn
how war affects the lives of both combatants and non-combatants alike. Through the production of their
own texts students will demonstrate their understanding and analysis of war.

War in its many guises seems to be a continual part of the reality of our world. As Chris Hedges writes in his
book, War is A Force That Gives Us Meaning, "The historian Will Durant calculated that there have only been
twenty-nine years in all of human history during which a war was not underway somewhere."

Today, from Iraq to Darfur, conflicts rage and lives are lost or broken. Our students are constantly exposed
to the images of war through the news, TV shows, the Internet and other texts of war, and some of our
former students are at war. Yet we rarely engage our students in conversations about war and its meaning
and ramifications in our lives. In a sense they are versed in war, even if it's only the fictitious images
provided by the latest TV show or details remembered from history class. However, they perhaps lack a
critical perspective from which to analyze the very notion of war and its manifold impacts on our lives.

Why does warfare persist? What drives men to war? Is war inevitable? How is war represented in our culture?
Does the representation of war promote war? The literature of war can provide the gateway to an
exploration of these and other critical questions.

3/21/07