PSYCHOLOGY & LITERATURE

Course #12157

Half Year

½ Credit

Available to Grades 11-12

Can the characters we read about provide insight into human behavior or reflect who we really are?  Students in this course will have the opportunity to study two diverse disciplines: psychology and literature.  Students will read both classic and modern texts such as Hesser's Kissing Doorknobs, Styron's Darkness Visible, and Schreiber's Sybil as a way to interpret human behavior.  They will explore authors’ motivations for the creation of characters as a means of understanding and gaining insight into themselves.  Special emphasis will be placed on the study of well-known psychologists, patient/character case studies, and psychological theories and illnesses.  Film selections will allow students opportunity for in-depth analysis of characters' psyches.

Prerequisite:  English 9 and 10