English IV CCSS
By twelfth grade, students have repeatedly peered through the window to humanity
that literature has opened for them. Through it, they have gained valuable
perspective on their world, past and present. Their close-textual interaction with
literature over the past three years should have heightened their appreciation for
those texts, improved their critical and analytical skills in reading and writing,
enhanced their speaking and listening abilities, and enriched their academic and
personal vocabulary. The window will now open on selected works of European
literature from the twelfth century through the twenty-first century. Students will
approach this literature chronologically, so they can see the influences on and
evolution of the ideas and forms. Writing, research, and speaking assignments will
continue to focus on formulating and expressing ideas and arguments about the
readings. Particular emphasis will be placed on gaining critical perspective on the
relationship between content and form and on synthesizing ideas into clear and
concise prose and presentations.
Curriculum decisions for this course are guided by the Common Core State
Standards. These standards were developed to provide clear and consistent goals for
student learning and to ensure that students have the skills they need to be
successful beyond high school. These standards define what students need to know
and be able to do by the end of each grade. In additional to defining grade-level
skills, the ELA standards require that students be exposed to increasingly more
complex texts to which they apply those skills. In order for curriculum to align to
these standards, it must be both rigorous and relevant. It must also expose students
to certain critical content. In English language arts, that content includes classic
myths and stories from around the world, America’s Founding Documents,
Foundational American literature, and Shakespeare. English IV students will
complete their climb up this staircase of skills through their study of the following
units:
•
•
Unit 1: Framing Western Literature: Students will explore selected works of
medieval literature and philosophy and draw connections between the two.
Students will closely examine the narrative structure of the literary works
and how that structure affects the content. They will explore literary
elements such as allegory and satire, noting the way in which these elements
reflect social and philosophical views.
• Unit 2: Humanism: Students will explore selected philosophical and
literary works of the Renaissance, looking closely at the value they place on
human beings. Within the selected works, students will explore the humanist
philosophy of secularism, the appreciation of worldly pleasures, and the
emphasis on individual expression. They will compare the works of this
period with those of the Middle Ages, looking at their differences and
similarities. The writing focus will be on argumentation. The unit will
culminate with a multimedia research project.
A+
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DF
Grading Scale
97.00-100%
93.00-96.99%
90.00-92.99%
87.00-89.99%
83.00-86.99%
80.00-82.99%
77.00-79.99%
73.00-76.99%
70.00-72.99%
67.00-69.99%
63.00-66.99%
60.00-62.99%
0-59.99%
Assignment Weighting per
Unit With Projects
Lessons: 15%
Quizzes: 25%
Projects: 30%
Tests: 30%
Assignment Weighting per
Unit Without Projects
Lessons: 21%
Quizzes: 36%
Tests: 43%
• Unit 3: The Quest for Knowledge: In this unit, students will look at the philosophical and literary writings of
the late seventeenth and the eighteenth century, focusing their emphasis on reform, reason, and science.
Students will explore themes of man's divided nature, sin and redemption, economic inequality, vanity and
hypocrisy. Special attention will be paid to the literary form known as satire and what it reveals about the
author's purpose. Also included in this unit is a seminal work of science fiction.
• Unit 5: Head and Heart: The focus of this unit will be on the conflict between reason and emotion that is
prevalent in the literature and philosophy of the early nineteenth century and the emphasis on emotion in early
romantic works. Students begin the unit by reading Austen's Sense and Sensibility, the novel that captures this
conflict in its title and its characters. Students will read excerpts from Rousseau's philosophy on the nature of
man which provides the philosophical basis for the romantic works that follow. The writing focus for this unit
will be on deep revision. Students will examine revisions done by poets read in this unit. They will then create
and revise their own narrative piece
• Unit 6: The Individual and Society: This unit will focus on works and authors concerned with the place of the
individual in society during the nineteenth century. As with other units, students will read some of the important
philosophical works of the period and examine how those philosophies informed the works that follow.
Students will write a literary analysis which compares/contrasts an idea in two of the works from the unit.
• Unit 7: The Search for Meaning: This unit will focus on literature from the first half of the twentieth century
and the philosophies that informed it. Students will explore how literary artists grappled with questions about
the nature of existence, the meaning of life, the human psyche, and alienation. The unit will culminate with a
multimedia research project which presents and evaluates different critical perspectives of a work of the
student's choice.
Course Requirements
1. Keep up with your daily lesson plan. If you fall a day behind, work
extra hard to catch up the next day.
2. Ask your teacher questions regularly to clarify concepts.
Resources
Academy Support
Glossary and
Credits
Resource Center
If you need help you may send a message to your teacher using
the messaging system or call 888-399-4267 to speak with a
teacher on the phone.
Each unit contains a Glossary and Credits section with important
formulas and definitions. This is a useful section to read and
study.
Visit the Resource Center to access academic policies, The Bridge
– Student Newsletter, and additional student resources
(handouts, study guides, and videos) to help you in your course.
Unit 1: Framing Western Literature:
Assignments
1 Course Overview
20 Narrative Style in The Decameron
2 Framing the Foundations of the Medieval World
21 Arriving at Themes in The Decameron
3 Saint Augustine: On God, Time, and
22 Project: Group Discussion: Emotional Realism in
Neoplatonism
Early Renaissance Art and Literature
4 Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Philosopher and
Scholasticism
23 Quiz 3
5 Quiz 1
24 Alternate Quiz 3 – Form A
6 Alternate Quiz 1 – Form A
25 Alternate Quiz 3 – Form B
26 General Prologue of Chaucer's The Canterbury
7 Alternate Quiz 1 – Form B
Tales
27 Social and Religious Satire in Chaucer's The
8 Project: Presentation: Influences on Dante
Canterbury Tales
28 Project: Creative Writing: Character Study of
9 Inferno, Canto I
The Canterbury Tales
10 Inferno, Canto II
29 Quiz 4
11 Inferno, Canto III
30 Alternate Quiz 4 – Form A
12 Inferno, Canto IV
31 Alternate Quiz 4 – Form B
13 Constructing Moral Order in Dante’s Inferno
32 Special Project
14 Project: Essay: Dante’s Hierarchy, Cantos VI-XI
and XXXI-XXXIV
33 Review
15 Project: Essay: The Two Lovers
34 Test
16 Quiz 2
35 Alternate Test – Form A
17 Alternate Quiz 2 – Form A
36 Alternate Test – Form B
18 Alternate Quiz 2 – Form B
37 Glossary and Credits
19 The Decameron: A Window into Medieval
Literature
Unit 2: Humanism
Assignments
1 Past Revisited: Understanding Renaissance
Literature
18 Alternate Quiz 2 – Form A
2 Petrarch and Sonnet 292
19 Alternate Quiz 2 – Form B
3 The Prince, Chapter XV
20 Carpe Diem Poets: Marlowe and Raleigh
4 Montaigne's "To the Reader" and "Of Cannibals" 21 Carpe Diem Poetry: Marvell and Herrick
5 Shakespeare: Sonnets 130 and 138
22 Donne's "Holy Sonnet XIV: Batter My Heart"
6 Introducing Hamlet
23 Project: Presentation: Humanist Poetry
24 Project: Presentation: The Middle Age's Effect
7 Hamlet, Act 1
on Humanism
8 Hamlet, Act 2
25 Quiz 3
9 Hamlet, Act 3
26 Alternate Quiz 3 – Form A
10 Quiz 1
27 Alternate Quiz 3 – Form B
11 Alternate Quiz 1 – Form A
28 Special Project
12 Alternate Quiz 1 – Form B
29 Review
13 Hamlet, Act 4
30 Test
14 Hamlet, Act 5
31 Alternate Test – Form A
15 Project: Essay: Literary Essay on Hamlet’s
Character
32 Alternate Test – Form B
16 Project: Analyzing Hamlet from a Particular
Perspective
33 Glossary and Credits
17 Quiz 2
Unit 3: The Quest for Knowledge
Assignments
1 The Quest for Knowledge: Introduction to the
Enlightenment
21 Alternate Quiz 3 – Form B
2 Faustus Intro
22 Satire and the Elements of Humor
3 Doctor Faustus, Scenes 1 through 4
23 Alexander Pope's "The Rape of the Lock"
4 Doctor Faustus, Scenes 5 and 6
24 Swift’s "A Modest Proposal"
5 Quiz 1
25 Quiz 4
6 Alternate Quiz 1 – Form A
26 Alternate Quiz 4 – Form A
7 Alternate Quiz 1 – Form B
27 Alternate Quiz 4 – Form B
28 Project: Essay: Comparing Horatian and
8 Doctor Faustus, Scenes 7 through 9
Juvenalian Works
29 The Rise of Science Fiction: Voltaire and
9 Doctor Faustus, Scenes 10 through 12
Micromegas
10 Doctor Faustus, Scenes 13 and 14
30 Language Work
11 Project: Essay: View of Faustus
31 Quiz 5
12 Project: Essay: Doctor Faustus versus The
Imaginariam of Doctor Parnassus
32 Alternate Quiz 5 – Form A
13 Quiz 2
33 Alternate Quiz 5 – Form B
14 Alternate Quiz 2 – Form A
34 Special Project
15 Alternate Quiz 2 – Form B
35 Review
16 Descartes’ Philosophy
36 Test
17 Achieving Enlightenment
37 Alternate Test – Form A
18 The Origins of Ideas
38 Alternate Test – Form B
19 Quiz 3
39 Glossary and Credits
20 Alternate Quiz 3 – Form A
Unit 4: Semester Review and Exam
1 Review
2 Exam
Assignments
3 Alternate Exam – Form A
Unit 5: Head and Heart
Assignments
21 Wordsworth's "She Dwelt Among Untrodden
1 Introduction to Romanticism
Ways"
2 Project: Presentation: Jane Austen
22 Coleridge and "Kubla Khan"
3 Fay Weldon's "The City of Invention"
23 Quiz 4
4 Sense and Sensibility Chapters 1-10
24 Alternate Quiz 4 – Form A
5 Sense and Sensibility Chapters 11-20
25 Alternate Quiz 4 – Form B
6 Quiz 1
26 Byron's "She Walks in Beauty"
7 Alternate Quiz 1 – Form A
27"Ode to the West Wind" by Shelley
8 Alternate Quiz 1 – Form B
28"When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be"
29 Project: Seminar and Essay: Analysis of Three
9 Sense and Sensibility Chapters 21-30
Romantic Poems on One Theme
10 Sense and Sensibility Chapters 31-40
30 Project: Analysis: Neoclassicism vs. Romanticism
11 Sense and Sensibility Chapters 41-50
31 Project: Working on Your Own Work in Progress
12 Quiz 2
32 Quiz 5
13 Alternate Quiz 2 – Form A
33 Alternate Quiz 5 – Form A
14 Alternate Quiz 2 – Form B
34 Alternate Quiz 5 – Form B
15 Rousseau's Book 1 from Confessions
35 Special Project
16 William Blake: "The Lamb" and "The Tyger"
36 Review
17 Quiz 3
37 Test
18 Alternate Quiz 3 – Form A
38 Alternate Test – A
19 Alternate Quiz 3 – Form B
39 Alternate Test – B
20 Wordsworth's "Preface to Lyrical Ballads"
40 Glossary and Credits
Unit 6: The Individual and Society
Assignments
1 The Victorian Era: The Individual and Society
23 Alternate Quiz 4 – Form B
2 "The Lady of Shalott"
24 Daisy Miller: A Study by Henry James, Part I
3 Quiz 1
25 Daisy Miller: A Study by Henry James, Part II
4 Alternate Quiz 1 – Form A
26 Quiz 5
5 Alternate Quiz 1 – Form B
27 Alternate Quiz 5 – Form A
6 Project: Presentation: Brontëquest
28 Alternate Quiz 5 – Form B
7 Jane Eyre, Chapters 1–4 (Gateshead)
29 Hedda Gabler, Act I
8 Jane Eyre, Chapters 5-10 (Lowood)
30 Hedda Gabler, Act II
9 Quiz 2
31 Hedda Gabler, Act III
10 Alternate Quiz 2 – Form A
32 Hedda Gabler, Act IV
11 Alternate Quiz 2 – Form B
33 Project: Speech: The Human Conscience
12 Jane Eyre Chapters 11-28 (Thornfield)
34 Project: Essay: Quintessential Daisy Miller
13 Jane Eyre Chapters 29-35 (Moor House)
35 Language Works
14 Jane Eyre Chapters 36-38 (Ferndean); Character
Development and Symbolism in Jane Eyre
36 Quiz 6
15 Project: Essay: Charlotte and Jane
37 Alternate Quiz 6 – Form A
16 Quiz 3
38 Alternate Quiz 6 – Form B
17 Alternate Quiz 3 – Form A
39 Special Project
18 Alternate Quiz 3 – Form B
40 Review
19 Study of Darwin's "On the Origin of Species"
41 Test
20 Mill's Excerpt from "On Liberty: On Individuality,
as One of the Elements of Wellbeing"
42 Alternate Test – A
21 Quiz 4
43 Alternate Test – B
22 Alternate Quiz 4 – Form A
44 Glossary and Credits
Unit 7: The Search for Meaning
Assignments
1 Introduction to Realism
17 Quiz 3
2 Project: The Fallacy of Success
18 Alternate Quiz 3 – Form A
3 Valery’s "The Crisis of the Mind"
19 Alternate Quiz 3 – Form B
4 Quiz 1
20 The Stranger, Part One
5 Alternate Quiz 1 – Form A
21 The Stranger, Part Two
6 Alternate Quiz 1 – Form B
22 Project: Essay: Literary Analysis of The Stranger
23 Project: The Search for Meaning Critical Analysis
7 James Joyce's "Araby"
Essay
8 Project: Essay: "Eveline" by James Joyce
24 Quiz 4
9"Shakespeare's Sister" by Virginia Woolf
25 Alternate Quiz 4 – Form A
10 Reading Strategies
26 Alternate Quiz 4 – Form B
11 Sartre on Existentialism
27 Special Project
12 Quiz 2
28 Review
13 Alternate Quiz 2 – Form A
29 Test
14 Alternate Quiz 2 – Form B
30 Alternate Test – A
15"The Metamorphosis"
31 Alternate Test – B
Unit 8: Semester Review and Exam
16 Project: Essay: Insights into Kafka
32 Glossary and Credits
Assignments
1 Review
3 Alternate Exam – Form A
2 Exam
Unit 9: Final Exam
1 Exam
Assignments
2 Alternate Exam – Form A