ENG III - AMERICAN LITERATURE
UNIT 1: "This Land is Your Land" - Identifying American CultureReading Selections:
The World on a Turtle’s Back (creation myth / short story) “I Hear America Singing” - Whitman (poem) “This Land is Your Land” - Guthrie (song) The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County - Twain (short story) Overall Objectives: Students will understand how the issues of a group of people can impact their literature. Students read both literary and nonfiction texts, engage in whole-class discussions and explore the motivations and values of early American explorers and Native Americans as the introduction to this concept. Essential Questions: How is culture defined? What has helped define American culture? Where do people get their beliefs? How are beliefs passed from one generation to another? Why have people immigrated to America over several centuries and why do they continue to come? |
UNIT 2: “Strength of One vs. Power of the Collective” - Rebellion & Conformity in America
Reading Selections:
The Crucible (drama) “Much Madness is Divinest Sense” - Dickinson (poem) “Mending Wall” - Frost (poem) The Lottery (short story) “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” (sermon) “Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town” - Cummings (poem) The Scarlet Letter (novel / excerpts) Self-Reliance - Thoreau (nonfic) Red Scare & McCarthyism (nonfic / historical) Overall Objectives: Students will explore how religious voices have contributed to the evolution of American identities over time through class discussion, research, and analysis of fiction and nonfiction texts, as well as audio/visual sources. They will analyze texts which reflect the values and principles of the religious beliefs of the time in which they were written. They will also specifically analyze how diction influence meaning, effectiveness and style of a piece of writing. Essential Questions: Can justice be done in the name of religion? What is the power of the mob? Is anything worth giving up your integrity for? Should the welfare of one outweigh the welfare of the many? What is good for the community? What are implications for individuals? Why do some people choose to conform and others doe not? How does society change as a result of these choices? |
UNIT 3: “Loss of Innocence” - The American Dream & NightmareReading Selections:
To Kill a Mockingbird (novel) “A Dream Deferred” - Hughes (poem) A Good Man is Hard to Find (short story) “The Road Not Taken” - Frost (poem) Thoughts on the American Dream from an Immigrant (article) The Flowers (short story) Masque of the Red Death - Poe (short story) “The Raven” - Poe (poem) Scotsboro Trial / Jim Crow Laws (nonfic / historical) Young Goodman Brown (short story) Othello (drama) “American Pie” - McLean (song) Overall Objectives: Students will examine how America’s social values have shifted over time and analyze how an author utilizes the elements of both fiction and nonfiction texts, including setting, action, structure, language, diction, etc., to convey specific messages. They will also discuss how social values influence the concept of the American Dream and which groups have access to that dream or whether or not the dream is even attainable. Essential Questions: What is the American dream? What values does it reflect? Is the American dream something everyone can achieve? What common factors contribute to the loss of the American Dream? What attitude toward individual spirit is conveyed through these literary works? How can author's examination of psychological darkness and terror lead to a deeper understanding of ourselves? |
UNIT 4: “Song of Myself” - American Individualism & Self-identityReading Selections:
Into the Wild (nonfic / excerpts) “I, Too” - Hughes (poem) “Ain’t I a Woman” - Truth (poem) “America” - Simon and Garfunkel (song) “Upon the Burning of Our House” - Bradstreet (poem) Everyday Use - Walker (short story) “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” - Dickinson (poem) Whitman and Emerson selections Overall Objectives: Students will explore how both nature and individualism contribute to the evolution of the American voice and authors’ choices in regards to how they develop and relate the elements of a story, including setting, plot, and characterization. Essential Questions: How do American Romantic authors stress the importance of a close relationship with nature? What is the role of the individual in society? How do certain ideals lead to a decrease in morality and spirituality and an increase in materials and consumerism in society? Is the journey as important as the destination? How can author's examination of psychological darkness and terror lead to a deeper understanding of ourselves? How do we relate to our families, communities, and society? How do our personal journeys shape who we become? |
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