Digital Learning Department

Prerequisites

Junior English

Technology Requirements

General Workstation/Laptop Requirements:
We strive to minimize the technical requirements for our courses. Our multimedia is almost exclusively flash-based to minimize the need for plug-ins. Other requirements include:

Browser:

• Firefox Extended Support Release (ESR) is recommended for stability, but both the ESR and final release channel are supported (both Mac and Windows)
• Internet Explorer 8 or 9 (Windows) (Must not be in compatibility mode)
• Safari 4 or higher (Mac OSX)

• Google Chrome stable channel (both Mac and Windows)

• Popup Blocking Disabled

• JavaScript Enabled

OS:

• Windows XP, Vista, and 7

• Macintosh OS X 10.5, 10.6, and 10.7

RAM:

• 512MB or higher

Resolution:

• 1024 X 576 or higher

Media:

• Soundcard and Speakers/Headphones

• Microphone required for certain courses

Plugins:

• Sun Java 6 (Blackboard 9.1 does not work properly with Java 7)
• Flash Player Version 10 or higher
• QuickTime Version 7 or higher
• Real Player required for certain courses

• Jaws 11 or higher (for accessibility)

Third Party Applications:

• Google Earth 6.0

Network Requirements

Aventa will provide a complete list of external sites that require access upon request to individual districts/schools.

Materials to be ordered via the DLD

• Antigone by Sophocles: $22.84 (Required)
• Arms and the Man by Bernard Shaw: $25.01 (Required)
• Caesar and Cleopatra by Bernard Shaw: $17.40 (Required)
• Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau: $18.49 (Required)
• Cyrano De Bergerac by Edmond Rostand: $17.40 (Required)
• Hamlet by William Shakespeare: $15.22 (Required)
• Oedipus Rex: $22.84 (Required)
• Self Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson: $16.31 (Required)
• The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde: $15.22 (Required)
• The Odyssey: $18.49 (Required)
• Apocalypse Now - Directed by Francis Ford Coppola (movie): $33.72 (Optional)
• As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner: $27.19 (Optional)
• Beloved by Toni Morrison: $22.84 (Optional)
• Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya: $20.66 (Optional)
• Catch 22 by Joseph Heller: $25.01 (Optional)
• Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky: $20.66 (Optional)
• For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway: $25.01 (Optional)
• Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad: $15.22 (Optional)
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou: $20.66 (Optional)
• Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison: $23.93 (Optional)
• Lysistrata by Aristophanes: $15.22 (Optional)
• Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert: $18.49 (Optional)
• Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf: $23.93 (Optional)
• Platoon - Written and directed by Oliver Stone (movie): $33.72 (Optional)
• The Awakening by Kate Chopin: $17.40 (Optional)
• The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan: $21.75 (Optional)
• The Crucible by Arthur Miller: $22.84 (Optional)
• The Hours by Michael Cunningham: $20.66 (Optional)
• The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros: $17.40 (Optional)
• The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper: $15.22 (Optional)
• The Last Samurai - directed by Edward Zwick; Cruise-Wagner production company (movie): $33.72 (Optional)
• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver: $26.10 (Optional)
• The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane: $18.49 (Optional)
• The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien: $20.66 (Optional)
• Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe: $20.66 (Optional)
• To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf: $20.66 (Optional)

Other Materials

These required texts available for purchase via the DLD registration system or found online:

• Oedipus Rex, Required. Also called Oedipus the King or Oedipus Tyrannos, Combined tragedies Oedipus Rex, Oedipus Rex at Colonus, Antigone. Available online in older translations, but students may prefer newer translations available in print.
• The Odyssey, Required. Fitzgerald Translation suggested but students are free to use whichever translation they prefer.
• Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Required. This play will be available online through this class, but students might consider the ease of having their own text.
• Arms and the Man by Bernard Shaw, Required. Online version available
• Caesar and Cleopatra by Bernard Shaw, Required. Online version available
• The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde, Required. Available online, or student may choose to view via tape or DVD
• Cyrano De Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, Required. Available online, or student may choose to view via tape or DVD; The preferred movie version is hard to find. It can be ordered from Amazon: Gerard Dépardieu version of Cyrano on DVD
• Antigone by Sophocles, Required. Available online; text strongly suggested.

One required pair of books to be selected by students from the following pairs of books; available for purchase via the DLD registration system:

• Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert AND The Awakening by Kate Chopin
• For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway AND Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
• To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf AND As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

Two required essays available for purchase via the DLD registration system or found online:

• Self Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau

One required essay found online

• Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.; Can be found online from many sources, including:
  • http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/popular_requests/frequentdocs/birmingham.pdf
  • http://almaz.com/nobel/peace/MLK-jail.html
  • http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html

Students' final collection of works must include three genres; students should try to view at least one movie. The longer and more complex works are identified:

• Lysistrata by Aristophanes; Students should check with parents and the school before selecting this adult-themed Greek comedy. It would definitely be R-rated today.
• Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky; This is a major, challenging work, and those who select it are not expected to read as many other works.
• The Crucible by Arthur Miller; This play is simultaneously about the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Hearings. It was recently a movie, so it can be viewed on tape or DVD.
• The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper; Cooper is a tough read. Watch the movie.
• Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad; available for purchase via the DLD registration system
• Apocalypse Now - Directed by Francis Ford Coppola (movie); This movie about the Vietnam war is based upon Heart of Darkness. Students choosing one might want to choose the other for comparison purposes.
• The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane; available for purchase via the DLD registration system
• Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf; available for purchase via the DLD registration system
• The Hours - novel by Michael Cunningham; movie by Rudin/Fox; available for purchase via the DLD registration system. The novel connects especially to Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway. Students who select either this novel or movie should consider reading Mrs. Dalloway as well.
• Beloved by Toni Morrison; available for purchase via the DLD registration system
• The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien; available for purchase via the DLD registration system
• Platoon - Written and directed by Oliver Stone (movie)
• Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison; available for purchase via the DLD registration system
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou; available for purchase via the DLD registration system
• Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya; available for purchase via the DLD registration system
• The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros; available for purchase via the DLD registration system
• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver; available for purchase via the DLD registration system. Consider reading Heart of Darkness or Things Fall Apart, as well.
• Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe; available for purchase via the DLD registration system
• The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan; available for purchase via the DLD registration system
• The Last Samurai - directed by Edward Zwick; Cruise-Wagner production company (movie); available for purchase via the DLD registration system