Penn- Delco School District
Eleventh Grade American Literature
Planned Course
Grade Level: Eleventh
Length of Course: Full Year
Periods per Cycle: 6
Clock Hours per Year: 144 hours
Duration of Sessions: 49 minutes
Written By:
Amanda Wessel
Tara Young
Special Requirement:
In order to successfully complete this course, each eleventh grade student must complete
a research paper appropriate to their level of instruction.
Students are required to read independently during each quarter.
Course Description
This course is intended as a survey of American literature. Students will critically
examine various American works published during the past four centuries. Students will
learn to relate the literature of the past to present day situations. Emphasis will be placed
on critical reading and listening skills, analyzing, researching, speaking and writing in
various modes.
Learning Objectives
Unit One: Summer Reading
 The Great Gatsby
Unit Two: Foundations to 1800
 Evaluate the historical and social influences of the foundations and colonial
period in America.
 Analyze an author’s style.
 Analyze characteristics of subgenres of poetry and prose.
 Analyze the use of figures of speech.
 Analyze points of view on a topic.
 Compare and contrast works from different literary periods.
 Analyze features of public documents.
 Recognize and analyze modes of persuasion.
Unit Three: Romanticism
 Evaluate the historical and social influences of the Romantic period in
America.
 Analyze the author’s style.
 Analyze theme.
 Analyze the use of poetic and literary devices.
 Analyze characteristics of subgenres of poetry and short stories.
 Analyze points of view on a topic.
 Analyze an author’s style.
 Analyze archetypes drawn from myth and tradition.
 Compare and contrast works from different literary periods.
 Analyze implicit and explicit philosophical assumptions.
 Critique arguments in public documents.
 Recognize and analyze modes of persuasion.
Unit Five: The American Masters
 Analyze genres and traditions in American literature.
 Analyze characteristics of subgenres in poetry.
 Analyze the use of poetic and literary devices.
 Analyze an author’s tone.
 Compare and contrast works from different literary periods.
Unit Six: Realism
 Evaluate the historical and social influences of the Realist period, from the Civil
War to 1914.
 Analyze points of view on a topic.
 Analyze the use of literary devices.
 Analyze point of view.
 Analyze literary elements.
 Analyze American Indian Oratory.
 Analyze an author’s style.
 Analyze characteristics of satire.
 Analyze philosophical assumptions of literary works.
 Analyze connotations.
 Compare literary works of different literary periods.
 Analyze features of public documents.
Unit Seven: The Moderns
 Evaluate the historical and social influences of the Modernist period in America,
from 1914-1939.
 Analyze the use of poetic devices.
 Analyze characteristics of drama, short stories, poetry, and prose.
 Analyze the protagonist.




Analyze archetypes drawn from myth and tradition.
Analyze theme.
Analyze an author’s style.
Compare and contrast works from different literary periods.
Unit Eight: Contemporary American Literature
 Evaluate the historical and social influences of contemporary America, from
1939 to the present.
 Analyze points of view on a topic.
 Analyze the use of poetic and literary devices.
 Analyze objective and subjective writing.
 Analyze theme.
 Analyze characteristics of subgenres of short stories, nonfiction, and poetry.
 Analyze an author’s tone and style.
 Analyze archetypes drawn from myth and tradition.
 Analyze a poem’s speaker.
 Compare literary works of different literary periods.
 Evaluate the credibility of an author’s argument.
 Analyze a writer’s message.
 Analyze features of public documents.
 Identify historical context.








Methods of Instruction
Cooperative learning
Large group instruction
Discussions
Small and large group activities
Individual projects
Silent sustained reading with various reading materials
Audio/visual instruction and analysis
Written expression
Content
Unit One- Summer Reading
 The Great Gatsby—Required reading
Unit Two- Collection One: Foundations to 1800
 Native American Literature
 African American/Slave Narrative
 The Enlightenment
 The Settlers
 Puritanism
 American Drama (“The Crucible”)
Unit Three- Romanticism
 Transcendentalism
 Anti-Transcendentalism
 Edgar Allan Poe
Unit Four- The Research Paper
Unit Five- The American Masters
 Whitman
 Dickinson
Unit Six- Realism
 Slavery
 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
 War
Unit Seven- The Moderns
 Poetry
 The Greats
 The Harlem Renaissance
 Sandburg & O’Connor
Unit Eight- Contemporary American Literature
Text/Resources
Holt Elements of Literature Fifth Course and various supplemental texts.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribners, 1999.
Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Bantam, 2003.
Various other works.
Expected Levels of Achievement



Attend and participate regularly in class
Complete assignments on time and satisfactorily
Achieve a minimum score of 70% on projects and tests
A percent score will be determined at the end of the marking period, as per school policy.
Letter grade equivalents are as follows:
A
B
C
92%-100%
84%-91%
76%-83%
D
E
F
70%-75%
69%-69%
0%-59%
Procedures for Evaluation
Students’ achievement will be evaluated through:
 Objective tests and quizzes
 Various modes of writing
 Research paper
 Mid-term and Final Examinations
 PSSA-type practice exams