Tenth-grade students study American literature to 1900 and world literature that influenced the development of American literature. The study of American writing and its background helps students relate the literature to the historical period being studied in social studies. Some early American novels that we will read are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Tenth-grade also emphasizes vocabulary development, critical thinking, reading and writing, study skills, research, and appropriate language usage.