School District of the Chathams
Curriculum Profile
Program of Study: English
Course Title: Contemporary Nonfiction
Grade Level: Twelve
I.
Course Description:
In this course, students experience an entry-level college composition course that is
designed to improve their critical reading and analytic writing. The texts, which provide
opportunities for interdisciplinary study in the fields of business and economics, sports,
and politics, may include such nonfiction works as Fast Food Nation, Freakonomics,
Nickel and Dimed, Seabiscuit, and Friday Night Lights, as well as modern and
contemporary essays and speeches. By examining texts closely, students learn to read
with a writer’s eye and write with a reader’s ear. Writing assignments range from the
analytic and expository to the narrative and creative.
II.
Course Objectives and Alignment with NJCCCS
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
• Read and understand sophisticated nonfiction texts. (3.1)
• Identify literary elements and rhetorical strategies and understand how they
enhance the meaning of a text. (3.1)
• Write clearly, concisely, and thoughtfully about literature. (3.1, 3.2)
• Use rhetorical strategies in their written work. (3.2)
• Understand the writing process by using process-writing strategies and
techniques. (3.2)
• Perform a close reading that involves understanding and using the vocabulary of
literary criticism in the analysis of texts, in discussion and in their written work.
(3.1, 3.2)
• Demonstrate vocabulary development by the use of improved vocabulary in
writing. (3.1, 3.2)
• Demonstrate a command of correct grammar, mechanics, and usage in written
work. (3.2)
• Use phrases, clauses and sentence-combining techniques to vary constructions
effectively in written assignments. (3.2)
• Use correct parenthetical documentation, and correct form for paraphrases and
direct quotations. Students should also be able to locate this information in a style
manual and to follow those instructions correctly. (3.2)
• Participate as an articulate speaker and a critical listener in class discussions. (3.3,
3.4)
• Understand how visual media can be used rhetorically. (3.5)
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III.
Topical Outline
Essential Questions this Course Addresses:
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How do different types of nonfiction hope to accomplish different goals?
What messages can nonfiction impart to a reader that fiction
cannot?
How does an author’s point of view influence his writing?
What specific traditionally fictive literary techniques can nonfiction authors
employ in their writing?
What effect does the use of the aforementioned techniques have on a discerning
readership?
Unit One: Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand
Essential Questions:
• What is the nature of nonfiction literature?
• How does an “American Legend” fade from a public’s consciousness?
• How does an author effectively use traditionally fictive elements
in a nonfiction text?
Unit Two: Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger
Essential Questions:
• How does a journalist successfully become a nonfiction novelist?
• What ethical considerations must an author contemplate as he/she
reveals controversial content?
• How does a community’s (a state’s, a nation’s) social priorities
help define its moral character?
• How does the nonfiction dynamic compare to the traditionally
fictive text oriented literary concept of The American Dream?
• What impact does a non-fiction text have on an incendiary issue like race or
educational policy?
Unit Three: Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
Essential Questions:
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What responsibility does a capitalist society owe to the
underclass that supports its infrastructure?
What problems does an author who adopts a fictitious narrative
persona encounter in a nonfiction text?
Are the emotional responses to nonfiction more valuable than the emotions
elicited from fiction? More intense?
Related Chapter
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o This Land is Their Land by Barbara Ehrenreich
Unit Four: Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
Essential Questions:
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What is an economist’s job?
To what extent might nonfiction texts prey on an uninformed populace by
exploiting data? (i.e. propaganda, hyperbole, yellow journalism)
How similar are the economist’s tools of analysis and the literary scholar’s tools
of interpretation?
Does a nonfiction text’s lack of style detract from its ability to achieve its
purpose?
Unit Five: Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
Essential Questions
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What are the inherent social problems of a Capitalist society?
How do Capitalist countries attempt to solve/mitigate these inherent problems?
Can Capitalism effectively function for an entire population?
Can we trace subtle ideas of Socialism and even Marxism as we investigate
Capitalist consumption?
To what extent is sarcasm, often criticized for its negative, an effective rhetorical
device?
Related reading and film
o Excerpts from The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Fredrich
Engels
o Roger and Me by Michael Moore
Unit Six: Authentic Assessment
Students will complete the yearlong English 12 authentic-assessment portfolio project.
Students also will engage in authentic experiences throughout the semester, including the
following assessment.
Essential Questions:
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How does the changing landscape of intellectual engagement, especially
technology-based forums of interaction, increase the importance of nonfiction
writing?
How do responsible citizens contribute to society in a digital world?
Final Project: Students will identify a “respectable” online forum for the exchange
of ideas (i.e. NY Times, The Economist, The Washington Post), commit
themselves to regular, frequent participation within a specific topic, and, finally,
respond, online, to a discussion the general population has generated.
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IV.
Skills
In each high school English course, students are provided with academic
experiences that help them to grow as readers, writers, speakers, listeners, and
viewers. More specifically, students will be able to:
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Read with fluency and comprehension. (3.1)
Read challenging classic and contemporary literature and informational readings,
some of which are self-selected. (3.1)
Understand the importance of discussing and writing about texts as ways to
deepen their comprehension. (3.1, 3.2, 3.3)
Recognize and analyze universal themes, appreciate diverse cultures and
perspectives, and understand the nature of human existence. (3.1)
Respond to texts on a personal and critical level. (3.1)
Relate prior knowledge and personal experiences to written texts. (3.1)
Apply various reading comprehension strategies to construct meaning from texts.
(3.1)
Recognize and understand that literary elements and rhetorical strategies enhance
and shape meaning in a text. (3.1)
Synthesize information and ideas from various sources. (3.1)
Understand the nature of writing as a complex process that begins with the
recording of the writer’s thoughts. (3.2)
Recognize the various purposes of writing and the different strategies used for
these purposes. (3.2)
Understand that there are several phases to the writing process, all of which are
important, and that writing and rewriting on a sustained, regular basis is the key to
gaining fluency as a writer. (3.2)
Use a rubric and the responses of others to evaluate and improve their writing and
the writing of others in the areas of content, style, organization, coherence, clarity,
sentence structure, word choice, grammar, and mechanics. (3.2)
Use technology in the drafting and revising processes. (3.2)
Understand the research process and write a paper that integrates and synthesizes
data and information from sources to support and defend a thesis. (3.2)
Understand plagiarism and how to use proper MLA format to cite and
appropriately credit sources. (3.2)
Assess their own strengths and weaknesses as writers and trace their growth as
writers by maintaining a portfolio of self-selected pieces. (3.2)
Recognize the fundamental relationship between reading and writing—more
specifically, they should understand that each informs and refines the other and
that successful writers are sophisticated, critical readers. (3.1, 3.2)
Use language as a means for thinking more deeply about ideas and for learning by
communicating with others. (3.1, 3.2, 3.3)
Speak confidently and fluently with a partner, in small groups, and in front of the
entire class in both formal and informal settings. (3.3)
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Recognize that reading, writing, and listening are directly related to their speaking
skills. (3.1, 3.2, 3.3)
Listen actively and critically in order to comprehend, evaluate, and respond to
complex ideas raised within the context of literature and language study. (3.4)
To view critically and thoughtfully in order to respond to visual messages and
images. (3.5)
To evaluate media for credibility and understand how creators of media and film
use words, images, and sounds to influence the viewing audience and convey
messages about contemporary society. (3.4, 3.5)
Recognize that their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills contribute
directly to how they view film and other forms of media. (3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5)
V.
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Methods of Instruction and Sample Activities
Small group, large group, and teacher-guided discussion and activities (3.2, 3.3)
Individual and group practice exercises (3.3, 3.4)
Film, audiotapes, videotapes, DVDs, posters, newspapers, magazines, journals,
and news shows (3.1, 3.2, 3.4, 3.5)
Activities including, but not limited to, oral presentations, class discussions,
simulations, and individual projects (3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5)
Mini-lectures (3.4)
Literature Circles (3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4)
Technology-related instruction (3.5)
VI.
Instructional Materials
Required Texts
• Seabiscuit Hillenbrand
• Friday Night Lights, Bissinger
• Nickel and Dimed, Ehrenreich
• Freakonomics, Levitt and Dubner
• Fast Food Nation, Schlosser
Films
• Friday Night Lights
• Seabiscuit
• Roger and Me
VII.
Student Outcomes and Methods of Assessment
The following are used to measure student achievement of course objectives:
• Attendance in accordance with school policies;
• Homework, class work, projects—each assessed according to a rubric;
• Analytical and expository essays;
• Online writing projects;
• Teacher-designed tests and quizzes;
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Oral presentations;
Active classroom participation in and preparation for class lessons and
discussions;
Final examination.
Authentic Assessment
Date of Last Review or Revision: September 2009
Members of Review / Revision Committee: Terrence Ferguson and George Alexis
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