English III College Prep
Historical/philosophical/literary study of American Literature
Mrs. Najd 2015-2016
In vocabulary, critical reading skills, literary analysis and formal writing, College Prep English III
is a major step up from the sophomore curriculum. Your placement in a college prep English
class is based on a conscious decision made by your tenth grade English teacher, your parents,
and you, because work in the college prep class prepares you for a successful beginning of your
college career at either a four –year university or a junior college.. Listed below is the twosemester curriculum. (* = as time permits) Not all pieces are in the textbook. In order to master
critical reading skills, you will want to purchase “major pieces”. Writing will include everything
from basic paragraph format to deep revision skills. Most students will have some homework
every night and most weekends. Assignments/due dates announced; keeping a steady pace and
staying organized is critical. Students are required to record assignments and due dates in an
organized “planner”, keep track of their current grade, and bring an organized 3 ring binder
notebook with all supplies to class. Work must be turned in on due dates. Vocabulary units will
be completed with weekly quizzes, and each literary unit will culminate with a major test and a
written essay. Semester and final exams will include scantron exams and a written essay.
The Colonial Era:
Writers:
Anne Bradstreet
Jonathan Edwards
Edward Taylor
Major Thematic Selection: The Crucible by Arthur Miller
The Age of Reason:
Writers:
Benjamin Franklin
Patrick Henry
Thomas Paine
The Early Romantics:
Writers:
William Cullen Bryant
*Edgar Allan Poe
The Transcendentals:
Writers:
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Henry David Thoreau
The Anti-Transcendentals:
Writers:
*Herman Melville
Major Selections:
*Moby Dick by Melville (selected chapters and film)
*Billy Bud by Melville (abridged version)
The late Romantics:
Writers:
Emily Dickenson (selected poems)
Walt Whitman (selected poems)
The Local Colorists:
Writers:
Bret Harte
Ambrose Bierce (film)
The Realists and Naturalists:
Writers:
Mark Twain
*Stephen Crane
Jack London
*Edgar Lee Masters
Major Selections: Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
*“The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane
The Modern Period:
Writers:
F.Scott Fitzgerald
Major Selections:
The Great Gatsby by F. S. Fitzgerald (Film and novel)
*Modern Poetry: (selected poems as time permits)
Carl Sandburg
T.S. Eliot
Countee Cullen
Ezra Pound
Langston Hughes
Robert Frost
Films: (If you miss viewing a film, you may make up the class participation points by
arranging to watch the film on your own time-either during lunch or at 3pm.)
The Crucible (selected scenes)
Moby Dick
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
*Hemingway Biography
The Great Gatsby
*Bernice Bobs her hair
Compositions: Either timed, in-class essays or take home/deep revision (subject to change)
First Semester
 *Joan Frank article: Los Angeles Times writing placement essay and MLA check
 John Proctor: The Modern Tragic Hero
 *Contrast: Use of symbolism in Bryant and Poe


*Romanticism/Emerson and Thoreau
Moby Dick analysis
Second Semester
 *research/project: archetypes used in literature
 The Adventures of Huckfinn
 *Realisim/Naturalism/Extentialism & “The Open Boat” with reflective essay
 The Great Gatsby
 research and literary criticism
Ongoing:
composition books/journal entries
“quick writes” (done in class-may not be made up)
dialectical journals
vocabulary
analogies
literary terms
listening/note taking
Bonus Point Opportunities:
assigned novel and scantron test TBA: up to approximately 40 points each semester
weekly vocabulary quiz sentences: up to 30 points each semester
2 play write ups a semester: 10 points per write up