English 12: African Heritage Literature
Course Outline
English 12: African Heritage Literature encompasses the experience,
study and appreciation of language, literature, media and communication
from an African heritage perspective. As with any English 12 course it
involves language processes including listening, speaking, viewing,
reading and writing. It also includes other ways of representing. The
application of these interrelated ways of communicating is fundamental to
the development of language abilities, cultural understanding and creative
and critical thinking. Hopefully students of AHL 12 will experience their
life through a different set of lenses.
English 12: African Heritage Literature will engage students in a range of
interactions and experiences with a variety of texts designed to help them
develop increasing control over language processes. Ultimately AHL 12
students will write the English 12 Provincial examination.
People of African descent have inhabited Nova Scotia for nearly four
hundred years and continue to arrive from a wide variety of places. They
have contributed in a significant way to the development of the culture and
heritage of the province. English 12: African Heritage Literature focuses
on writers and artists of African descent and their contributions. These
writers and artists and their works, and the ideas and values contained there
can all contribute to the intellectual growth of our students and to their
appreciation of African heritage.
English 12: African Heritage Literature will engage the Curriculum
Outcomes Framework as found on the Department of Education website or
in downloadable curriculum guidelines. There will be an ongoing focus on
the practice of reading and writing strategies building on students’
knowledge of these structural processes from earlier grades. This course
offers students a very broad range of classic and contemporary texts in a
variety of genres from poetry through short stories, novels, media texts,
plays and autobiographies.
Students will be expected to respond to texts in personal and critical ways
including a daily journal cataloguing their individual experience with the
course material. Students will be assessed and evaluated in a range of ways.
Homework and assignments will be posted on my website with due dates.
The website can be accessed through the school site.
English 12: African Heritage Literature encompasses units from PreColonial Africa, Slavery and Reconstruction, the Renaissance, Social and
Political Change and Contemporary Literature.
Assessment and Evaluation
In Class and Homework Assignments – 30%
Tests- 20%
Projects – 30%
Journal- 20%
Students will be expected to be to class on time with the necessary supplies
including paper, pens and pencils. Cell phones and MP3 players are not
permitted. It is vital that students understand the connection between regular
attendance and success in the course. The rapid pace of the course and
continuity makes this especially important.
Please feel free to contact me at akaiser@staff.ednet.ns.ca or by phone at the
school number, 826-3222, extension 790-1122.