EPPING HIGH SCHOOL
COURSE SYLLABUS
Course Title:
Course
Description
District
Competencies
for Learning
District Skills
Competencies
for Learning
British Literature
This fast-paced and intensive literature course focuses on critical and analytical
interpretation of literature, knowledge and application of literary elements, and an
advanced writing program. Students will read a multitude of literary works: epic poetry,
poetry, plays, short stories, essays, and novels. Literary texts will range from Anglo-Saxons
through the 20th Century. In addition to the rigorous reading schedule, students will write
multiple literary analysis papers designed to improve sentence structure and organization
of multi-paragraph essays.
Students will understand concepts and demonstrate ability to transfer skills across
content areas and apply concepts and skills to real-life situation.
Reading - Students will demonstrate the ability to read closely and analytically to
comprehend a range of increasingly complex literary and informational texts.
Writing – Students will demonstrate the ability to produce effective and well-grounded
writing for a range of purposes and audiences.
Speaking & Listening – Students will demonstrate the ability to employ effective
speaking and listening skills for a range of purposes and audiences.
Research & Inquiry – Students will demonstrate the ability to engage in research and
inquiry to investigate topics, and to analyze, integrate, and present information.
Students will become a:
Collaborator – Students will understand that respect, collaboration, and leadership
are critical to interacting and working effectively with others.
Communicator – Students will demonstrate the ability to communicate clearly using
the most appropriate and effective means.
Contributor – Students will demonstrate the ability to contribute toward a better
world through community service, acceptance and tolerance of diverse people, and
responsibility for the environment.
Evaluator – Students will demonstrate the ability to access, evaluate, use, and
manage information.
Learner – Students will demonstrate the ability to be flexible, adaptable, and
accountable throughout the learning process.
Producer – Students will demonstrate the ability to manage projects, produce
results, and create media products.
Technology User – Students will demonstrate the ability to use technology
respectfully and apply it effectively.
Thinker – Students will demonstrate the ability to think critically, creatively, and
systemically to define and solve problems.
The Epping High School community educates and empowers students within a safe environment to
become Respectful, Involved, and Knowledgeable citizens.
EPPING HIGH SCHOOL
COURSE SYLLABUS
School Based
Course
Competency
Statements
(CCS linked to
DCL)
1. Students will demonstrate the ability to interpret and critically analyze British Literature
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Units of Study
Course Unit
Content and
Skills
to understand the human experience. (Reading)
Students will demonstrate the ability to effectively communicate through writing for a
variety of purposes and audiences. (Writing)
Students will understand that speaking purposefully and articulately, and listening and
viewing attentively and critically, are essential to becoming effective communicators.
(Speaking and Listening)
Students will demonstrate the ability to acquire and express knowledge by reading
nonfiction and informational texts. (Reading, Research and Inquiry)
Students will understand that effective learners use specific cognitive and metacognitive
strategies to solve problems, overcome obstacles, and reflect on their own learning.
(Reading, Writing, Research and Inquiry)
Students will demonstrate the ability to effectively research, organize, and critically
evaluate information in assessing problems. (Research and Inquiry))
1. Literature of Anglo-Saxon England (449 – 1066)
2. Literature of Medieval England (Anglo-Norman 1066 – 1485)
3. Literature of Elizabethan England (1485 – 1625)
4. Poetry of the 17th Century, the Restoration, and the Romantics
5. Literature of English Romanticism and Gothic Novels (1760 – 1832)
6. Literature of Victorian Literature (1837 – 1901)
7. Literature of 20th Century England and Beyond (1901 – Present)
Literature of Anglo-Saxon England (449 – 1066) (CCS: 1, 2, 3, 6)(DCC: Reading,
Writing, Research and Inquiry)(DSC: Learner, Evaluator)
1. Students will be able to identify and name the characteristics of epic poetry.
2. Students will infer characteristics of Anglo-Saxon culture and society from
their reading of the literature of that time.
3. Students will determine and assess how the character of Beowulf aligns with
the Anglo-Saxon culture.
4. Students will be able to write an analytical essay composed of a thesis
statement and at least 3 supporting cases with quotations from the textual
source.
5. Students will examine and assess a modern interpretation of Beowulf,
identifying how the changes from the original story allow modern viewers to
make inferences about modern values.
The Epping High School community educates and empowers students within a safe environment to
become Respectful, Involved, and Knowledgeable citizens.
EPPING HIGH SCHOOL
COURSE SYLLABUS
Literature of Medieval England (Anglo-Norman 1066 – 1485) (CCS: 1, 4, 6)(DCC:
Reading, Writing, Research and Inquiry)(DSC: Thinker, Contributer)
1. Students will be able to name and define some of the genres during Medieval
England.
2. Students will evaluate the Canterbury Tales to determine which genre they are
classified as based on the genre characteristics of the time.
3. Students will compile information on Chaucer's characters as a means of
understanding how characters are created in literature.
4. Students will compare and contrast the characters in Canterbury Tales to
similar "stock" characters of today.
5. Students will identify examples of direct and indirect characterization.
6. Students will analyze examples of indirect characterization to infer a
character’s characteristics.
Literature of Elizabethan England (1485 – 1625) (CCS: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)(DCC: Reading,
Writing, Speaking and Listening, Research and Inquiry)(DSC: Learner,
Collaborator, Evaluator, Producer)
1. Students will identify the characteristics of Elizabethan theater.
2. Students will compare and contrast characters in a play by analyzing literary
foils.
3. Students will analyze the text and determine which events of the play are
primary to the action in the text.
4. Students will use their textual analysis of the play to rewrite the play for
presentation to a modern audience.
5. Students will evaluate the performances of their peers as well as themselves
by viewing and listening attentively.
Poetry of the 17th Century, the Restoration, and the Romantics (CSS: 1, 2, 4, 5,
6)(DCC: Reading, Writing, Research and Inquiry)(DSC: Learner, Contributor,
Technology User, Producer)
1. Students will identify and give examples of literary techniques used in poetry
including, but not limited to, allusion, symbolism, conceit, alliteration, assonance,
imagery.
2. Students will analyze poetry to determine, interpret and evaluate the message
of the poem.
3. Students will research the lives of important British Poets, and organize a
method for presenting this information to their classmates.
4. Students will demonstrate an understanding of mood and tone as presented
by the speaker of a poem.
5. Students will evaluate how the literary devices of poetry are used to create
meaning within a text.
The Epping High School community educates and empowers students within a safe environment to
become Respectful, Involved, and Knowledgeable citizens.
EPPING HIGH SCHOOL
COURSE SYLLABUS
Literature of English Romanticism and Gothic Novels (1760 – 1832) (CSS: 1, 2,
5)(DCC: Reading, Writing)(DSC: Thinker, Collaborator)
1. Students will outline the characteristics associated with Romanticism and
Gothic Literature.
2. Students will build on their prior knowledge by comparing the characteristics
of British Romanticism with American Romanticism.
3. Students will analyze the main characters of a novel, and then infer what
actions/statements they would make in a fictional scenario that occurs outside
the text based on their analysis of character as presented in the text.
4. Students will compare and contrast Mary Shelley’s idea of a monster with
modern day definitions of monster.
5. Students will define tragedy and tragic hero, and demonstrate how Victor
Frankenstein fits that definition.
6. Students will judge the two main characters of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to
determine to what extent they are responsible for their actions.
Literature of Victorian Literature (1837 – 1901) (CCS: 1, 2, 3, 4)(DCC: Reading,
Writing, Speaking and Listening)(DSC: Thinker, Producer)
1. Students will identify and give examples of satire (hyperbole, understatement,
sarcasm) and irony (verbal, situational) in literary texts.
2. Students will predict future actions in texts by applying critical reading and
thinking skills.
3. Students will create an interpretation of text through performance.
4. Students will compare how themes in literature from Victorian England
compare to their lives today.
5. Students will evaluate a text to determine in what ways it can be categorized
as a particular genre.
6. Students will categorize a work of literature, determining if it fits the criteria
for Victorian, Romantic, or both.
Literature of 20th Century England and Beyond (1901 – Present) (CSS: 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6)(DCC: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, Research and Inquiry)(DSC:
Thinker, Technology User, Evaluator)
1. Students will identify the techniques used to create propaganda, then
demonstrate their understanding of these techniques by creating their own piece
of propaganda.
2. Students will evaluate how the themes of government control and personal
freedoms found in a text relate to our world today.
3. Students will analyze a text to determine the themes addressed in a text.
4. Students will rewrite text to make it appropriate for a different audience.
5. Students will effectively research a topic, evaluate their research, assess the
The Epping High School community educates and empowers students within a safe environment to
become Respectful, Involved, and Knowledgeable citizens.
EPPING HIGH SCHOOL
COURSE SYLLABUS
Instructional
Strategies
information, and persuasively debate their topic before a group of peers.
Individual and group learning through direct instruction, discussions, modeling,
research, think/pair/share, group work, learner’s strategies.
Assessment
Strategies
Approved
Homework, “do now” activities, exit tickets, quizzes, journal entries, papers, tests,
projects, presentations, student self-assessments
February 2012
The Epping High School community educates and empowers students within a safe environment to
become Respectful, Involved, and Knowledgeable citizens.