Core Values Literature Connection
High School
Quarter 3
The Core Values Literature Connection Guide will assist teachers in infusing Miami-Dade County Public
Schools’ Core Values throughout the ELA curriculum. The document is aligned to the District Pacing
Guides for the 2015-2016 school year. It is designed to help teachers make connections between literature
and the District’s Core Values.
Grade 12
Week(s)
Text
Core Value
Connection
Samuel Pepys writes in extreme detail about all areas
21-23
of his life, including his drinking and his extramarital
“The Diary of
affairs. His decisions often lack honesty and integrity.
Samuel Pepys”
(Samuel Pepys) p. Honesty/Integrity/Cooperation Additionally, the Great London Fire required the
cooperation of many people to try to limit the damage
566-577
caused.
21-23
21-23
24-25
24-25
26-27
“A Journal of the
Plague Year”
(Daniel Defoe) p.
582-587
“The Rape of the
Lock” (Alexander
Pope), p. 598-607
“Gulliver’s
Travels”
(Jonathan Swift)
p. 624-641
“Letter to
Alexander Pope”
(Johnathan Swift)
p. 642
“Elegy Written in a
Country
Churchyard”
(Thomas Gray) p.
680
Integrity/Responsibility/
Cooperation
Kindness/Honesty/Respect
Respect/Honesty/Integrity
Citizenship
Respect/Integrity/Honesty
In this journal, H.F. is torn between leaving London to
escape the plague, or staying to be responsible and
help those in need. He ultimately decides to stay and
help, which shows a great commitment to maintaining
his integrity. The journal outlines his cooperation with
those affected by the plague.
The Baron acts dishonestly and disrespectfully when
he steals the lock of hair from Belinda. Women aren’t
treated as equals, and this disrespect is what enables
the Baron to think his actions are acceptable. Another
act of dishonesty occurs when the lock is stolen from
the Baron.
In Gulliver’s Travels, Gulliver experiences the
advantages and respect that comes with being
powerful, and also the difficulties of lacking physical
power. He weighs the importance of society being
ruled by those who are strongest, or by moral factors
including honesty and integrity.
Swift explains that he hates all collective groups of
people and societies, but he loves individuals. Thus,
he does not believe in citizenship but rather being
true to oneself.
Gray’s elegy is about death, but more about how
we’re remembered when we’re gone. The message is
to live a life of respect, integrity, and honesty in order
to be remembered that way.
26-27
26-27
28-29
28-29
30
30
“A Vindication of
the Rights of
Woman” (Mary
Wollstonecraft), p.
706
“The Lamb”
(William Blake) p.
754
“The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner”
(Samuel Taylor
Coleridge), p.
796-818
“Kubla Khan”
(Samuel Taylor
Coleridge), p.
824-827
Pursuit of Excellence/
Citizenship/Fairness
Wollstonecraft denounces marriage and monarchy as
oppressive forces, and argues for the equal rights of
women. In this pursuit of excellence, she fights for the
fair treatment of her gender.
Respect
In Blake’s poem, the boy demonstrates a respect for
God because he created the lamb, as well as the
world around it.
Respect/Kindness
The Mariner tells a wedding guest a long story with
the moral of loving and respecting other people and
things. The wedding guest is so shaken by this story
that he chooses to not attend the wedding at all.
Respect
“To an Athlete
Dying Young”
(A.E. Houseman), Pursuit of Excellence/Respect
p. 1040
“When I was One
and Twenty” (A.E.
Houseman), p.
1044
Kindness/Integrity
Coleridge’s poem is about his deep-sleep dream,
where he emphasizes the importance of man and
nature acting symbiotically. This can be achieved
through a mutual respect.
Most of this poem takes place at a funeral, where an
athlete who pursued athletic excellence was now
heading to his next “destination”. The poem respects
death, but doesn’t see it as the finish line.
The speaker in this poem encourages the reader to
not focus on materials, but instead to love each other
and be “fancy free.” This is a lesson that you only
finally begin to learn when you turn twenty-two.
Grade 11
Week/Dates
Text
21-22
“The Gettysburg
Address”
(Abraham Lincoln)
p. 562
21-22
23
Core Value
Connection
Lincoln persuades citizens to keep fighting in the Civil
War to preserve the nation. He argues that if they
Citizenship/Cooperation
don’t cooperate and fight together, the nation will
dissolve.
“The
Abraham Lincoln declares the end of slavery, granting
Emancipation
freedom to all formerly held slaves. This was a step in
the right direction for African-Americans, but it would
Proclamation”
Citizenship/Respect/Fairness still be a struggle to get citizenship which came in the
(Abraham Lincoln)
14th amendment.
p. 566
“Life on the
Mississippi” (Mark
Respect/Cooperation
Mark Twain details the difficulties of boating on the
Mississippi River, and outlines the importance
respecting the power of the water. He also
Twain) p. 649
24
25
25
26-30
emphasizes the importance of collaboration among
boat pilots to help each other prevent wrecks.
Georgiana left Boston many years ago to move to
“Wagner Matinee”
Nebraska with her husband. The lifestyle of the
(Willa Cather), p.
Citizenship/Responsibility citizens there was much more difficult than it had
been at Boston, and she looked back wondering if
692
she made the right decision all those years ago.
The American Dream means that all people can
“Harlem”
become great with hard work and dedication. In
(Langston
Fairness/Pursuit of Excellence
“Harlem”, Hughes argues that the American Dream is
Hughes), p. 838
limited for African-Americans.
In this poem, Hughes traces the heritage of black
“The Negro
Americans back to ancient civilizations, and explains
Speaks of Rivers”
Pursuit of Excellence
how their perseverance was so necessary in their
(Langston
long pursuit of excellence.
Hughes), p. 842
Novel Study:
“Their Eyes Were
Watching God”
(Zora Neale
Hurston)
Respect/Fairness/Kindness
In Hurston’s novel, the issues of race, gender, and
identity are deeply explored. There are many
instances of racism, but also examples where there is
disrespect and unkindness within a racial group.
Women are also considered the weaker sex, and
cases of sexism highlight the unfairness in
relationships.
Grade 10
Week/Dates
21-22
21-22
23-24
25-26
Text
Core Value
Connection
It is unfairness and disrespect for others that led to
African-Americans not being allowed to sit in the front
“Montgomery
Fairness/Respect/Cooperation/ of the bus. This segregation was so degrading that
eventually the Montgomery Boycott was launched in
Boycott” (Coretta
Pursuit of Excellence
African-Americans’ pursuit of excellence and their
Scott King), p. 882
pursuit to be treated equally. The cooperation
eventually led to the bus rules being changed.
This eulogy was to honor the integrity and pursuit of
“Eulogy for Martin
excellence displayed by MLK. Robert F. Kennedy
Luther King”
Respect/Integrity/Pursuit of clearly respects the incredible work that Dr. King did
(Robert F.
Excellence
for equality in this country.
Kennedy) p. 893
“Everyday Use”
(Alice Walker) p.
44
“Peruvian Child”
(Pat Mora) p. 546
Respect/Citizenship
Fairness/Respect/
Responsibility
Dee is angered by the oppression inherent in her own
heritage, so she tries to adopt an African heritage
which leads her to bit of an identity crisis. She has
respect for the African heritage, but her distance from
it makes it not her own. The mother’s story is also
told, where disrespect towards her race resulted in an
inadequate education and tough schooling for her.
The speaker feels guilty by the poor conditions that
the “Peruvian Child” lives in, but he is unable to
overcome this guilt to help the child. Instead, in an
unfair solution, his group takes a picture of the girl
and they continue on with their tour.
25-26
27-29
27-29
27-29
“Lady Freedom”
(Rita Dove) p. 550
Respect/Responsibility
“When I Heard the
Learn’d
Astronomer” (Walt
Whitman), p. 792
Respect
“The Artilleryman’s
Vision” (Walt
Whitman) p. 796
Respect
“Letter to His
Mother” (Walt
Whitman) p. 798
Kindness/Respect
In this poem, a homeless woman is compared with
the Lady Freedom statue. The speaker seems to lack
respect for the struggles of the woman, and fails to
take responsibility for her poverty, even though the
homeless woman represents lady liberty.
The speaker has great respect for astronomy, not
because of all the facts he learns from the “learn’d
astronomer”, but from looking up at the beauty of the
stars. Some things can’t be described well enough,
even by the experts.
In this poem, Whitman uses vivid detail to describe a
war in a soldier’s dream. He has great respect for the
art of war, and also the consequences.
Whitman writes to his mother about a wounded
soldier he had recently met. This soldier had been left
to “fate” by his regiment, and the enemy soldiers had
been mean to him with the exception of one man,
who came to him with benevolent purposes, and
helped him heal.
Grade 9
Week/Dates
21-21
21-22
23
Text
Core Value
Connection
Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech is about how we
need to respect all people regardless of their race. He
Fairness/Citizenship/Respect
believes that everyone should have the rights of a
citizen no matter their skin color.
Mr. Fox discusses his pursuit of excellence despite
“Testimony before
his battle with Parkinson’s disease. He never let his
the Senate
Pursuit of Excellence
Speech” (Michael
disability get in the way of the career and life
J. Fox) , p. 610
aspirations.
The speaker in New York reminisces about being a
“Tropics in New
citizen somewhere else, as he remembers the tropics
York” (Claude
Citizenship
because of the fruit in the windows.
“I have a Dream”
(Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr.) p. 600609
McKay), p. 896
24-25
“The Rights to
Streets of
Memphis” (Richard
Wright) p. 110
Respect/Fairness
26-30
I Know Why the
Caged Bird Sings
(Maya Angelou) p.
236 and Novel
Study
Respect/Integrity/Fairness
It is unfair that the narrator doesn’t have enough food
to eat because of his family’s economic conditions.
He has to win the respect of the “streets” in order to
be able to go to the store and bring home food
without getting jumped.
There is so much unfairness that surrounds the
speaker because of her race. She is disrespected
because of the way she looks, and is even raped at
the age of 8 because the disrespect is systemic.
Maya battles with identity issues, but she fights hard
to keep her integrity.