We examine the simplest relevant molecular model for large-amplitude shear (LAOS) flow of a polymeric liquid: the suspension of rigid dumbbells in a Newtonian solvent. We find explicit analytical expressions for the shear rate amplitude and frequency dependences of the first and third harmonics of the alternating shear stress response. We include a detailed comparison of these predictions with the corresponding results for the simplest relevant continuum model: the corotational Maxwell model. We find that the responses of both models are qualitatively similar. The rigid dumbbell model relies entirely on the dumbbell orientation to explain the viscoelastic response of the polymeric liquid, including the higher harmonics in large-amplitude oscillatory shear flow. Our analysis employs the general method of Bird and Armstrong ["Time-dependent flows of dilute solutions of rodlike macromolecules," J. Chem. Phys. 56, 3680 (1972)] for analyzing the behavior of the rigid dumbbell model in any unsteady shear flow. We derive the first three terms of the deviation of the orientational distribution function from the equilibrium state. Then, after getting the "paren functions," we use these for evaluating the shear stress for LAOS flow. We find the shapes of the shear stress versus shear rate loops predicted to be reasonable.