Literature in the Cultural Context, 8 grade English Course Overview: Dr. Chris Mink
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Quarter 1
Major Texts


Supplemental Texts
Poetry
 “Dramatis Personae”
by Maurice Manning
 “Theme for English
B” by Langston
Hughes
 “I’m Nobody, Who
Are You?” by Emily
Dickinson
 “We Real Cool” by
Gwendolyn Brooks
 “Self Pity” by D.H.
Lawrence
 “Her Kind” by Anne
Sexton
Prose


Focus
Assessment
Required summer
reading
To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
“The Lottery” by
Shirley Jackson
“A Very Old Man
With Enormous
Wings” by Gabriel
Garcia Marquez
Selected excerpts, essays, and
articles.
 Vocabulary
 Narrative
 Argument/Main Idea
 Myth/Hero’s journey
 Rhetorical analysis
 Expository
 Archetype
 Inference
 Character motivation
 Figurative language
 Persuasive
 Writing journal
 Reading quizzes
 Essay
 Vocabulary
 Creative
writing/revision
 Group activity
Quarter 2

Lord of the Flies by
William Golding
Poetry
 “In the Heaven of
Animals” by James
Dickey
 “Lady Lazarus” by
Sylvia Plath
 “Facing It” by Yusef
Komunyakaa
 “Howl” (excerpt) by
Allen Ginsberg
 “Fork” by Charles
Simic
 “Death of the Ball
Turret Gunner” by
Randall Jarrell
 “Bully” by Martin
Espada
Prose


“Harrison Bergeron”
by Kurt Vonnegut
“The Monkey’s Paw”
by W.W. Jacobs
Selected excerpts, essays, and
articles.
 Paraphrasing and
quoting
 Figurative Language
 Historical and cultural
context
 Connotation and
Denotation
 Persona
 Imagery
 Theme







Writing journal
Reading quizzes
Expository writing
Rhetorical analysis
Vocabulary
Essay
Group activity
Literature in the Cultural Context, 8 grade English Course Overview: Dr. Chris Mink
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Quarter 3
Major Texts
Supplemental Texts

The House on Mango
Street by Sandra
Cisneros
A Midsummer Night’s
Dream by William
Shakespeare
Poetry
 “1616” by Mark
Twain
 “The Memories of
Fish” by James Tate
 “The Eagle” by
Alfred, Lord
Tennyson
 “Shall I Compare
Thee…” by William
Shakespeare
 “A Song on the End of
the World” by
Czeslaw Milosz
Prose

Prose

“St. Lucy’s Home for
Girls Raised by
Wolves” by Karen
Russell
“Hot Combs,
Watermelon, and
Hello Kitty
Backpacks” by
ARynn Davis
Selected excerpts, essays, and
articles.
Assessment

Poetry
 “Lower East Side” by
Miguel Pinero
 “The Dance” by
Humberto Ak’Abal
 “History Lesson” by
Natasha Tretheway
 “Fifteen, Maybe
Sixteen Things to
Worry About” by
Judith Viorst
 “Those Winter
Sundays” by Robert
Hayden

Focus
Quarter 4















Voice
Inference
Language
Personal Essay
Expository
Rhetorical analysis
Vocabulary
Grammar
Imagery
Rhetorical fallacy
Writing journal
Hero project
Reading quizzes
Writing and revision
Vocabulary

“Names/Nombres” by
Julia Alvarez
“The Alligators’
God’s” by Micah
Dean Hicks
Selected excerpts, essays, and
articles.







Drama
Archetype
Argument
Grammar
Expository writing
Language
Culture
 Writing Journal
 Poetry project
 Rhetorical project
Literature in the Cultural Context, 8 grade English Course Overview: Dr. Chris Mink
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