Synopsis/Unit Theme: During this three-week mini unit on Southern Gothic literature, AP English 12
students will examine the elements of the Southern Gothic (entrapment, the macabre, the sublime, etc.)
through four short stories, brief film excerpts, and two full-length films—one British, and one American. The
choices for the unit will allow students to see the breadth of time chronology encompassing the Southern
Gothic period, as well as learn to appreciate offshoots of this element in modern literature and film.
Students will be able to identify and
process the main themes found within
Southern Gothic literature.
Students will be able to compare and
contrast literary themes found within
Southern Gothic literature to relatively
modern films.
Students will be able to analyze the
causes of behavior and the effects
within Southern Gothic literary
characters.
Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is Hard To
Find"
Charlotte Perkins’ Gilman’s “The Yellow
Wallpaper”
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Premature Burial”
William Faulkner’s “A Rose For Emily”
Cool Hand Luke (film)
Stephen King’s It (film)
Comprehension Strategies:
-Drawing on Background Knowledge, Explanation/Discussion of gender roles in Victorian England/United States, early feminism, The Genteel Tradition, early medical
practices and effects.
Processing Text:
-Summarizing plot elements, making inferences between household relationships in the story, analyzing literary elements/terms within the text and dialogue of the story,
writing alternate ending to the story, viewing BBC adaptation of the short story on film.
Monitoring Comprehension:
-Teacher-generated higher-order thinking questions about the story, student-generated AP-style multiple choice questions about the story, Socratic method classroom
discussion over the story to clarify any muddled points within, evaluation/prediction writing prompt halfway through the story.
Comprehension Strategies:
-Historical/socio-cultural aspects of the American south circa 1930-1950, familial roles—especially with extended families in the same geographic area, civil rights
issues/African-American roles during time period, background information on O’Connor.
Processing text-Visualizing/predicting plot elements at various points within the story, making inferences between character interactions/relationships in the story, categorizing and
distinguishing important vs. less important story information, analyzing Southern Gothic literary terms and elements within.
Monitoring Comprehension-Teacher-generated higher-order thinking questions about the story, student-generated AP-style multiple choice questions about the story, Socratic method classroom
discussion over the story to clarify any muddled points within, evaluation/prediction writing prompt halfway through the story.
Comprehension Strategies
Southern Civil-War era vocabulary and practices, courtship habits between men and women circa 1870’s-1910’s, funeral practices and tax codes around similar time period in
American south, background information on Faulkner.
Processing TextMaking inferences between familial relationship, between narrator and other story characters, etc., using knowledge of text structure—reordering the events in proper
chronology, sequencing and visualizing proper order of events to solve mystery of ‘whodunit’ within the story.
Monitoring Comprehensionteacher-generated higher-order thinking questions about the story, student-generated AP-style multiple choice questions about the story, Socratic method classroom
discussion over the story to clarify any muddled points within, evaluation/prediction writing prompt halfway through the story.
Comprehension Strategies
Funeral practices in antebellum America, early study of medical conditions that mimic death-like states, prior background information on Poe and his other collection of
ghastly tales.
Processing TextSynthesizing dialogue/narrator information, and Visualizing proper sequence of events/order of events. Distinguishing important from less important information, Analyzing
Southern Gothic literary terms/elements.
Monitoring ComprehensionTeacher-generated higher-order thinking questions about the story, student-generated AP-style multiple choice questions about the story, Socratic method classroom
discussion over the story to clarify any muddled points within, evaluation/prediction writing prompt halfway through the story.
-Student Oral Project/VideoDelivery of an “Alternate Ending” to
one of the stories, that can be
shared during parent conferences
-Formal Essay of Southern Gothic
themes compared and contrasted
from one of the short stories to one
of the films.
www.michigan.gov/documents/ELA11-14open1_142201_7.pdf
CE 1.1.4, CE 1.2.2, CE 1.3.1,
CE 2.1.3, CE 2.2.2, CE 2.2.3,
CE 3.1.1, CE 3.1.4, CE 3.1.9, CE 3.2.1, CE
3.3.1,
CE 4.2.2