"Death in Literature," a nine-week elective course for high school juniors and seniors, was added to the English curriculum at a Kansas City high school in 1976. It has proved very popular with students and is being expanded to 18 weeks. The explicit objectives of the course are to help students to explore the theme of death in various types of literature, to learn about the diversity of views and behaviors pertaining to death and dying, to relate their own concerns and experiences relating to death, and to learn about changing attitudes concerning death that have occurred in the United States through the years. Among the implicit course objectives are to help students develop a toleration of different points of view, behavior, and beliefs, and to make them aware that people, institutions, and beliefs change. It is hoped that students gain insight into literature, themselves, and others through the course and that they also improve their language skills. (GT)