MADISON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT
English 10 Enriched
Authored by: Julie Harding, Janice Nellins and Anne Wessel Dwyer
Reviewed by: Lee Nittel
Director of Curriculum and Instruction
Mark DeBiasse,
Supervisor of Humanities
Updated with Common Core State Standards: Fall, 2012
Members of the Board of Education:
Lisa Ellis, President
Patrick Rowe, Vice-President
David Arthur
Kevin Blair
Shade Grahling
Linda Gilbert
Thomas Haralampoudis
James Novotny
Superintendent: Dr. Michael Rossi
Madison Public Schools
359Woodland Road, Madison, NJ 07940
www.madisonpublicschools.org
I. COURSE OVERVIEW
In English 10 Enriched, sophomore students study both classic and contemporary American works to
broaden and refine the language tools they need to navigate 21st century discourse. Language and literature
study at this level provides a bridge from the experience of freshman year, an introduction to scholarship at
the secondary level, to the experience of junior year, where students prepare for college level reading
comprehension, analysis and synthesis.
Through their reading and writing, students develop an understanding of the complexities of the
American Dream and its legacies, a theme that has captured the imagination of American writers and
storytellers since this country’s inception. Students read a variety of genre – poetry, drama, novel, short
story, memoir, article, and essay. In their reading, they examine the ideas associated with the American
Dream as they are manifested through elements of fiction, particularly through characterization, setting,
symbolism, imagery, point of view and theme. While most of the reading is fiction, non-fiction is a key
component of study, especially as they undertake research and synthesis of ideas. The whole class approach to
reading is balanced by choice reading, which may take the form of independent reading projects and/or
literature circles.
Writing is used for the purposes of understanding and expressing ideas. Students hone writing skills
through informal and formal practice in expressive, imaginative and analytical modes. While writing
assignments are guided at the beginning of the year, by the end of the year students should be able to create
topics, develop thesis statements using subordination, write competent 3-5 page processed papers, and write
clear, thoughtful timed essays independently. A research project is also required. Both reading and writing
are enhanced by vocabulary study using the Sadlier-Oxford program.
As the internet and other media “texts” take on increasing importance in the 21st century, students
need to develop other kinds of literacies. In this course, students will periodically examine visual texts, such
as photographs, advertisements and films, to understand their rhetorical components. Opportunities for
integrating online periodicals and websites will increase as more educational tools are offered via the internet
and these should be an integral part of the content of this course.
The Enriched level student works at a faster pace with more complex works than his/her counterpart
in English 10. As sophomores also take US History, the study of American literature provides a crosscurricular experience and supplement to their history course. In the spring of junior year, all New Jersey high
school students are required to take the HSPA (High School Proficiency Assessment). Several opportunities
over the course of sophomore year provide practice for this exam.
II. STUDENT OUTCOMES (Linked to 2011 Common Core Content Standards)
Reading Literature
1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text.
2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the
text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of
the text.
3. Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the
course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme and evaluate how
theme provides a unifying link between the various chronological periods of American literature and history,
reflecting a variety of social conditions.
4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and
connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g.,
how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
5. Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel
plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.
6. Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work.
7. Read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 9–10 text complexity
band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed.
Reading Informational Text
1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text.
2. Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it
emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
3. Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the
points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them.
4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative,
and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g.,
how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).
5. Analyze in detail how an author’s ideas or claims are developed and refined by particular sentences,
paragraphs, or larger portions of a text (e.g., a section or chapter).
6. Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to
advance that point of view or purpose.
7. Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person’s life story in both print and
multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account.
8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid
and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning.
9. Analyze seminal U.S. documents of historical and literary significance (e.g. the Gettysburg Address, King’s
“Letter from Birmingham Jail”), including how they address related themes and concepts.
10. By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 9–10 text
complexity band independently and proficiently.
Writing
1. Write to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and
sufficient evidence.
• Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create
an organization that establishes clear relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and
evidence.
• Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly, supplying evidence for each while pointing out the
strengths and limitations of both in a manner that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level and
concerns.
• Use words, phrases, and clauses to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify
the relationships between claim(s) and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between
claim(s) and counterclaims.
• Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and
conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
• Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information
clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
• Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information to make important
connections and distinctions; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables),
and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
• Develop the topic with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete
details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of
the topic.
• Use appropriate and varied transitions to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and
clarify the relationships among complex ideas and concepts.
• Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic.
• Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and
conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or
explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).
3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen
details, and well-structured event sequences.
• Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation, establishing one
or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters; create a smooth
progression of experiences or events.
• Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines,
to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
• Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to create a
coherent whole.
• Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of
the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.
• Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved
over the course of the narrative.
4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to
task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3
above.)
5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new
approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.
6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing
products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information
flexibly and dynamically.
7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated
question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on
the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
8. Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches
effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into
the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for
citation. Madison students use MLA format for research assignments.
9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
• Apply grades 9–10 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Analyze how an author draws on and
transforms source material in a specific work [e.g., how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from
Ovid or the Bible or how a later author draws on a play by Shakespeare]”).
• Apply grades 9–10 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (e.g., “Delineate and evaluate the
argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is
relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning”).
10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time
frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
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Speaking and Listening
1. Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9–10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
• Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under study; explicitly
draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic or
issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas.
• Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that relate the current discussion
to broader themes or larger ideas; actively incorporate others into the discussion; and clarify,
verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions.
• Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, summarize points of agreement and
disagreement, and, when warranted, qualify or justify their own views and understanding and
make new connections in light of the evidence and reasoning presented.
2. Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats (e.g., visually,
quantitatively, orally) evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source.
3. Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any
fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted evidence.
4. Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that
listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are
appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.
5. Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in
presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
6. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when
indicated or appropriate.
Language and Grammar
1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or
speaking.
• Use parallel structure.
• Use various types of phrases (noun, verb, adjectival, adverbial, participial, prepositional) and
clauses (independent, dependent; noun, relative, adverbial) to convey specific meanings and
add variety and interest to writing or presentations.
2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling
when writing.
• Use a semicolon (and perhaps a conjunctive adverb) to link two or more closely related
independent clauses.
• Use a colon to introduce a list or quotation.
3. Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make
effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
• Write and edit work so that it conforms to the guidelines in the MLA Style Guide.
4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grades
9–10 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
• Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence, paragraph, or text; a word’s position or
function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
• Identify and correctly use patterns of word changes that indicate different meanings or parts of
speech (e.g., analyze, analysis, analytical; advocate, advocacy).
• Consult general and specialized reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses),
both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word or determine or clarify its precise
meaning, its part of speech, or its etymology.
• Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by checking the
inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary).
5. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
• Interpret figures of speech in context and analyze their role in the text.
• Analyze nuances in the meaning of words with similar denotations.
6. Acquire and use accurately general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, sufficient for
reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate
independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to
comprehension or expression.
Teachers may elect to assign sustained research during one marking period where a final product is
produced or over three marking periods as students work with the teacher and independently to complete
a final long-term project. Teachers teaching the course in a given year will agree on the type of research
project.
III. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
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What fundamental ideas about the American Dream are evidenced in pre-colonial and colonial
documents?
What are the problems and possibilities of the Dream envisioned by American writers?
How do the concerns of the American female writer compare to those of the American male writer?
How has our diversity expanded the form and subject matter of American literature?
How has the language used to convey the American experience evolved?
How is the subject of a work distinguished from the theme?
How do writers use plot, characterization, setting, symbolism, imagery and point of view develop theme?
How do poets, in particular, use imagery, symbolism, rhythm and sound devices to convey meaning?
What are the characteristics of American Romanticism, Realism, Regionalism and Modernism?
How does context (historical and cultural background) shape the meaning of a work?
How does one determine purpose, audience, thesis and evidence in both non-fiction and visual texts such
as advertisements and photographs?
How do creators of visual texts, such as advertisements and photographs, convey meaning through
imagery and symbolism?
IV. SCOPE AND SEQUENCE
The authors of this curriculum have imagined theme units and identified works which embody those
theme units; however, the works may be moved from one unit to another depending on the teacher’s vision.
Unit I should be the first unit taught, but the order of the units that follow can be rearranged based on the
availability of texts and teacher objectives. Required reading is indicated under “Anchor Texts.” Literature
circles should be used at least twice during the year. The suggestions in these units need to be modified based
on the time restraints of the school year and the teacher’s decision to monitor and adjust the pacing and
sequencing of the units.
THEME UNIT 1: FOUNDATIONS OF THE AMERICAN DREAM (4 WEEKS)
Anchor Texts:
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
A Raisin in the Sun - Lorraine Hansbury
“The Declaration of Independence” - Thomas Jefferson
“Revolutionary Dreams” - Nikki Giovanni
“Speech in the Virginia Convention” - Patrick Henry
“What is an American?” – Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur
“I Hear America Singing” - Walt Whitman
Choice Related Readings:
“America and I” -Anya Yezierska
“In the American Society” - Gish Jen
“Mexicans Begin Jogging” - Gary Soto
“The New Colossus” - Emma Lazarus
“Legal Alien” - Pat Mora
“The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica” - Judith Ortiz Cofer
“Straw Into Gold” - Sandra Cisneros
“I Stand Here Ironing” - Tillie Olsen
“Ironing Their Clothes” - Julia Alvarez
“Women Work” - Maya Angelou (www.poemhunter.com)
Selected poems by Langston Hughes, including “I Too”
Selected poems by Walt Whitman, including “I Hear America Singing”
“My Father and the Fig Tree” - Naomi Shihab Nye (www.pbs.org)
“Adolescence” - Rita Dove
“Notes on the African-American Novel” - Toni Morrison
“American Dream is Elusive for New Generation” - Louis Uchitelle (NYT)
Visual Texts: (optional)
Raisin in the Sun (film)
The Pursuit of Happyness (film)
The Arrival – Shaun Tan (graphic novel with no words)
Essential Questions:
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How does society define the American Dream?
How do individuals define the American Dream?
How is freedom defined by American writers?
What innovations did American writers like Whitman bring to the literary world?
What common thread or threads are present in the American Dream across cultures?
What vision of "America" did our forefathers embrace?
What are the obstacles to the American Dream? Can those obstacles be overcome?
Suggested Activities and Assessments:
• Assess contemporary American hopes and dreams by analyzing the content of a sample homepage,
e.g., MSN
• Examine colonial documents through interrupted reading.
• Select a symbol of the American Dream - a house, a car, a job, etc. - and write a description of it.
Detail the item in order to convey the emotional meaning of the item. You can write as yourself, or
invent a character whose dream you are representing.
• Imagine that you are writing as Patrick Henry or Thomas Jefferson. Respond to the representation of
the American Dream in two or three of the works we have read. Consider the style and tone of the
writings you have read by Henry and Jefferson.
• Compare and contrast Walt Whitman’s poem, “I Hear America Singing” with Langston Hughes’
poem “I, Too.”
THEME UNIT 2: SIN, GUILT, AND THE AMERICAN WAY (4 WEEKS)
Anchor Texts:
The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
and/or The Crucible - Arthur Miller
“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” - Jonathan Edwards
“The Gettysburg Address” - Abraham Lincoln
Literature Circles:
Fences - August Wilson
All My Sons - Arthur Miller
Doubt – John Patrick Shanley*
Long Day’s Journey Into Night – Eugene O’Neill*
Our Town – Thornton Wilder*
Choice Related Readings:
“Letter to My Nephew” - James Baldwin
Selections from “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” - Harriet Ann Jacobs*
Visual Texts (optional):
The Crucible (film)
The Scarlet Letter, 1979 WGBH Version (film)
Essential Questions:
• What are the tenets of Puritanism and how have they influenced American literature and culture?
• What connections can be made between Puritanism and the theme of escaping one’s past?
• How is the Puritan reason for coming to the New World - fleeing religious persecution - reflected in
our culture and literature today?
• What are the benefits and constraints of a theocratic society?
• Why are certain voices or opinions perceived as threatening? What are the societal and individual
consequences of suppressing these voices?
Suggested Activities and Assessments:
• Write a scene that is suggested by the play, but not actually included in the play. Then, write an essay
in which you theorize about the effect of omitting the suggested scene.
• Write a dramatic monologue for one of the characters in the play that takes place before or after the
setting of the play in which you reveal some previously unknown facet of the character’s life.
• Write an essay in which you examine the subtext of a dramatic scene.
THEME UNIT 3: INDIVIDUALISM AND THE AMERICAN VOICE (4 WEEKS)
Anchor Texts:
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
From “Self-Reliance”- Ralph Waldo Emerson
From “Civil Disobedience” – Henry David Thoreau
Literature Circles (required):
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou
Autobiography of a Face - Lucy Grealey**
The Color of Water – James McBride*
Growing Up – Russell Baker*
A Hole in My Life – Jack Gantos*
Funny in Farsi – Firozeh Dumas*
Having Our Say – Sarah and Elizabeth Delany and Amy Hill Hearth
Choice Related Readings:
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass - Frederick Douglass
They’re Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston
Selections from Leaves of Grass - Walt Whitman
Selections from Walden - Henry David Thoreau
“Sympathy” - Paul Laurence Dunbar
“New England Nun” - Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
“The Story of an Hour” - Kate Chopin
“Indian Education” - Sherman Alexie
“Frederick Douglass” - Robert Hayden (in textbook and on Poetry Outloud CD)
Visual Texts:
Color Adjustment (documentary)
The Great Debaters (film)
Born to Trouble (documentary)
Mark Twain (documentary)
Shrek (excerpts)
Essential Questions:
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What is the role of self-reliance and the “self made man” in American Literature?
What are the tenets of American Realism and Romanticism?
How does naïve narration shape the text?
How are the politics, values and tensions of a given time reflected in its literature?
How have American writers such as Twain acted as social critics on subjects such as slavery?
What is the role of transformation in memoir?
Why is narrative reliability an important consideration in memoir and autobiography?
What is satire? What devices does a writer employ to create satire?
Suggested Activities and Assessments:
• Interview and write a profile of a relative or friend and incorporate his/her views of a significant event
in American History.
• Keep a journal in which you track Huck’s naivete and/or Twain’s satirical tone and targets.
• Write a chapter from your memoir – real or fictionalized.
• Write an autobiographical poem or a series of autobiographical poems.
• Imagine Frederick Douglass’s response to Twain’s book in a journal writing.
• Use a series of photographs to tell the story of an important autobiographical event.
• Expository essay practice: Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: Do not go where the path may lead, go
instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” What does one stand to gain from being an
individual? What does society stand to gain from individuals who follow Emerson’s advice? Use an
example from literature history, science, film or your own experience or observation to write your
essay on individuality.
THEME UNIT 4: ALIENATION AND ILLUSION (4 WEEKS)
Anchor Texts:
“The Yellow Wallpaper” - Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger (This text might also be used as part of the literature circle.)
Literature Circle:
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian – Sherman Alexie
The Awakening - Kate Chopin
The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath*
The Bluest Eye- Toni Morrison*
Looking for Alaska - John Green
Choice Related Reading:
“Life for My Child is Simple” - Gwendolyn Brooks
“Masque of the Red Death” - Edgar Allan Poe
“Self in 1958” - Ann Sexton
“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” - T.S. Eliot
“Separating” - John Cheever
“Bartleby the Scrivener” - Herman Melville
“What Life Asks of Us” - David Brooks (NYT)
“Get a Life, Holden Caulfield” - Jennifer Schuessler (NYT)
“Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” - Nathaniel Hawthorne
“The Raven” - Edgar Allan Poe
“We Wear the Mask” - Paul Laurence Dunbar
“Mirror” - Sylvia Plath
“Richard Cory” - Edwin Arlington Robinson
“Teenage Wasteland” - Ann Tyler
Visual Text (optional):
The Age of Innocence (film)
Essential Questions:
• How have changes and advancements in urban American society precipitated the alienation of the
individual?
• What issues related to alienation emerge from differences in race, ethnicity, and/or gender?
• What do literary heroes who have experienced alienation have in common?
• What effect has the achievement of the American Dream had on family life?
• What are the characteristics of American Gothic Literature?
Suggested Activities and Assessments:
• Write a note to Holden Caulfield telling him whether or not he made the right decision in leaving Mr.
Antolini’s apartment. Reread the text closely to find support for your position.
• Write a literary essay in which you examine the novel’s ending to determine if the narrator or
protagonist of your novel changes during the events of the text.
• Write an essay in which you examine the misunderstandings that society has about the narrator or
protagonist.
• Write an essay in which you assess the narrator or protagonist’s ability to fit in with his/her society at
the end of the book and assess the value of such a resolution of the conflict.
THEME UNIT 5: PEACEABLE CO-EXISTENCES: HOW TO LIVE IN HARMONY (3 WEEKS)
Anchor Texts:
Ethan Frome - Edith Wharton
Selected Native American works
From “Walden” - Henry David Thoreau
Selected poems by Emily Dickinson
Choice Related Readings:
“The White Heron” - Sarah Orne Jewett
“I Will Fight No More Forever” - Chief Joseph
“A Black Man Talks of Reaping” - Arna Bontemps
“Of Plymouth Plantation” - William Bradford
“The Turtle” from The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
“Why We Can’t Wait” and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” - Martin Luther King
Selected Poems by Robert Frost (NOT “The Road Not Taken,” “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” or “Fire and Ice”)
Essays from Teaching a Stone to Talk - Annie Dillard*
Selected poems by Rita Dove
Selected poems by Mary Oliver
Selected poems by William Stafford
Visual Texts (optional):
Selected pieces by the Hudson River School artists at the Metropolitan Museum of Art online
Ethan Frome (film)
Essential Questions:
• What is transcendentalism?
• What are the Native American views of nature and how are they reflected in their poetry and
storytelling?
• How have modern day poets been influenced by Native American literary traditions?
Suggested Activities and Assessments:
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Write a literary essay on the question: Is Ethan a victim of circumstance or the architect of his own
fate?
Write an imitation of a Native American story.
Write a poem or series of poems on a natural setting from a variety of viewpoints or at a variety of
times.
Using a selected painting from the Hudson River School, identify the mood of the work and explain
how the details convey that mood.
Compare and contrast the mood of one of the Hudson River School paintings to the mood of one of
the poems on the subject of nature.
THEME UNIT 6: VIOLENCE, WAR AND LOSS (2 WEEKS)
Anchor Texts:
Excerpts from The Greatest Generation*
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (documentary)*
Flag Raising at Iwo Jima (photograph – available on-line)
Choice Related Reading
Red Badge of Courage - Stephen Crane
Fallen Angels – Walter Dean Myers*
“Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” - Ambrose Bierce
“Mystery of Heroism” - Stephen Crane
“The End of Something” - Ernest Hemingway
“Why Soldiers Won’t Talk” - John Steinbeck
“Ambush” - Tim O’Brien
“Letter from Paradise” - Joan Didion
“The Hollow Men” - T.S. Eliot
“Facing It” and/or “Camouflaging the Chimera” - Yusef Kumanyakaa
Selected poems by Brian Turner
“Death of a Ball Turrett Gunner” - Randall Jarrell
“In Response to Executive Order 9066:All Americans of Japanese Descent Must Report to Relocation
Centers” - Dwight Okito
Selected 9/11 poems such as “The Names” by Billy Collins
Essential Questions:
• How do violence, war and loss shape individuals and the generations or societies in which they occur?
• How can writing catalyze healing from trauma?
• How did the forces of capitalism, politics, family, religion and war shape the World War II
generation?
• What roles have and do writers take in shaping public sentiment about war? How do they use
language to accomplish their purpose?
Suggested Activities and Assessments:
• Read and analyze poetry from units 5 and 6 in literature circles
• Collect advertisements for the Armed Forces and analyze the appeals to patriotism.
• Write an analysis of the language used to report on battles in the current war.
• Analyze the symbolism in “Flag Raising at Iwo Jima.” Identify and analyze similar symbols in
Crane’s “The Mystery of Heroism or another text.” How do these symbols develop the protagonist or
theme of the text?
• Write a letter to your congressional representative in support or opposition of the war in Iraq or
Afghanistan. Develop your letter with appropriate research.
• Debate the merits of military conscription or mandatory military service.
THEME UNIT 7: DISINTEGRATION OF THE DREAM (4 WEEKS)
Anchor Texts:
Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller or A Lost Lady - Willa Cather*
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Choice Related Readings:
“Seventeen Syllables” – Hisaye Yamamoto
“The Story of An Hour” – Kate Chopin
“A Wagner Matinee” – Willa Cather
Booker T. and W.E.B. DuBois – Dudley Randall (www.poetryoutloud.org)
“Those Winter Sundays” - Robert Hayden
“My Papa’s Waltz” - Theodore Roethke
“Rags to Rags, Riches to Riches” – Clive Cook (The Atlantic Monthly)
Visual Texts (optional):
Death of a Salesman (film)
The Great Gatsby (film)
Essential Questions:
• How is the subject of escaping one’s past treated by modern writers?
• What is the relationship between work and success for Americans?
• How have the tensions between the values of the East and the values of the West manifested
themselves in American Literature?
• What are the defining qualities of an American Tragedy?
• What are the tenets of American Modernism?
• What happens to the Dream in American Literature?
• How have ideas about the Dream departed from the thinking of the founders of this country?
• How have marriage and family life affected the achievement of the Dream for both men and women?
Suggested Activities and Assessments:
• Compare and contrast a character or the setting of a work from this unit with an ancillary work from
another unit and explain why ancillary work would fit or would not fit in this unit.
• Read the stage directions to Death of a Salesman and identify six quote fragments that hint at why the
details Miller includes are significant to the play. Record these quote fragments and draw the stage as
you imagine it.
• Consider the significance of Willy’s and Gatsby’s deaths. Write an essay in response to the following
question: what does the fate of these characters reveal about authors’ attitudes towards the American
Dream?
• Examine the advertisements inside the front page of the New York Times or in the Sunday Real Esate
section to assess their assumptions about their audience and the American Dream.
• Read “Poor Richard’s Almanac” and assess how well Gatsby measures up to Franklin’s aphorisms.
THEME UNIT 8: MODERN AMERICA: CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND THE DREAM (2 WEEKS)
Anchor Texts:
Literature Circles: Short Stories
Selected stories from Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri*
Selected stories from A Good Fall by Ha Jin*
Selected stories from Tonto and the Lone Ranger Fist Fight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie*
Choice related readings:
Enrique’s Journey - Sonia Nazario**
“On the Subway” – Sharon Olds (www.mrbauld.com/oldspoems.html)
“Immigrant Blues” – Li-Young Lee (www.poets.org)
Film (Optional)
Freedom Writers*
Essential Questions:
• What aspects of the American Dream continue to draw people from all over the world to this
country?
• What cultural conflicts inspire and concern American writers who live within two cultures?
• What narrative and thematic elements unify the stories of one particular writer?
• What role does the setting play in a collection of short stories?
• How have issues of race changed the American Dream?
• How does racism exist today, and how can we work to eradicate it?
Suggested Activities and Assessments:
• Write a profile of a recent immigrant – family member or friend – after researching recent immigration
trends and completing an interview of your subject.
• Write an expository essay in which you compare and contrast two short stories by two different
writers for the purpose of finding a common theme.
• Write an essay in which you argue for or against requiring every American high school student to
read your selected short story collection.
• If you were to write a collection of stories, what might your project be?
• Write a book review evaluating the collection of short stories you have read.
• Write a film review of Freedom Writers.
• Read or view news reports of hate crimes. Write a reaction in which you identify the underlying
causes of the violence.
IV. EVALUATION
In addition to those activities and assessments noted in the curriculum, further assessments of students
may include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
reading quizzes
unit tests with essay responses
essay responses to open-ended questions
vocabulary tests
class participation
homework assignments
student presentations
peer evaluations
creative writing responses
informal writings, including online discussion board postings and journal entries
notebook checks
expository (analytical) and persuasive essays
single and multiple source essays, including a research project
timed essays and processed essays
V. REQUIRED RESOURCES
Texts:
The Language of Literature: American Literature McDougal Littell
Sadlier Oxford Vocabulary Workshop, Level F
Novels:
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie*
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Arrival by Shaun Tan (graphic novel)*
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath*
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison*
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers*
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A Lost Lady by Willa Cather*
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Non-fiction:
Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealey**
The Color of Water by James McBride*
Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario**
Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas*
The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw
Growing Up by Russell Baker*
A Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos*
Having Our Say by Sarah and Elizabeth Delany and Amy Hill Hearth
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
Dramas:
All My Sons by Arthur Miller
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Doubt by John Patrick Shanley*
Fences by August Wilson
Long Day’s Journey into Night by Eugene O’Neill*
Our Town by Thornton Wilder*
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry **
Films:
The Age of Innocence*
Born to Trouble
The Crucible
Color Adjustment
Death of a Salesman
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam*
Ethan Frome
Freedom Writers*
The Great Debaters*
The Great Gatsby
Mark Twain (directed by Ken Burns)
Raisin in the Sun
The Pursuit of Happyness*
Shrek*
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Short Story Collections:
Interpreter of Maladies - Jhumpa Lahari*
A Good Fall - Ha Jin*
Tonto and the Lone Ranger Fistfight in Heaven - Sherman Alexie*
Other supplemental materials:
The Academy of American Poets online – www.poets.org
The Atlantic Monthly online – www.atlanticmonthly.com
Images from The Arrival at www.shauntan.net
New Jersey State HSPA Test Specs
http://www.state.nj.us/education/njpep/assessment/TestSpecs/LangArts/TOC.html
The New York Times online, especially “The Learning Network” – www.nytimes.com
The Metropolitan Museum of Art online at www.metmuseum.org
PBS (www.pbs.org)
Picturing America - http://picturingamerica.neh.gov/
Poetry Outloud DVD and Companion Guide
On-line resources such as You Tube
Study Island: www.studyisland.com
*Indicates a new work for this course.
** Indicates a work approved for another course that has been moved to this course.
Fiction List: English 10 Enriched
Title, Author (Genre)
Class
Novel
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman
Alexie (Novel)*
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (Novel)
Lit
Circle
X
X
The Arrival by Shaun Tan (Graphic Novel)*
X
The Awakening by Kate Chopin (Novel)**
X
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (Novel)*
X
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (Novel)*
X
The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger (Novel)
X
X
Teacher may use as lit circle or full class read
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton (Novel)
X
Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers (Novel)*
X
A Good Fall by Ha Jin (Short Story Collection)*
X
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Novel)
X
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahari (Short Story Collection)*
X
Looking for Alaska by John Green (Novel)
X
A Lost Lady by Willa Cather (Novel)*
X
X
(teacher may choose between this and Death of a Salesman)
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (Novel)
X
X
Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane (Novel)
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (Novel)
X
(teacher may choose between this and The Crucible)
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (Novel)
Tonto and the Lone Ranger Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie
(Short Story Collection)*
X
X
Copy
Count
Non-Fiction List: English 10 Enriched
Title, Author (Genre)
Class
Novel
Lit
Circle
Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy (Memoir)
X
The Color of Water by James McBride (Memoir)
X
Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario (Memoir)
X
Funny in Farsi by Firozeh Dumas (Memoir)*
The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw (Biographies) (excerpted)*
X
X
X
Growing Up by Russell Baker (Memoir)*
X
A Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos (Memoir) *
X
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (Memoir)
X
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
(Autobiography) (excerpted)**
Copy
Count
X
Drama List: English 10 Enriched
Title, Author (Genre)
Class
Novel
All My Sons by Arthur Miller (Drama)**
The Crucible by Arthur Miller (Drama)
Lit
Circle
X
X
(teacher may choose between this and A Scarlet Letter)
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller (Drama)
X
(teacher may choose between this and A Lost Lady)
Doubt by John Patrick Shanley (Drama)*
X
Fences by August Wilson (Drama)
X
Long Day’s Journey into Night by Eugene O’Neill (Drama)*
X
Our Town by Thornton Wilder (Drama)*
X
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry (Drama)
X
Copy
Count