Unit 1: What Is Your American Dream?
We begin our year's study of US literature by reading Sherman
Alexie's book, The Absolutely True Autobiography of a Part-time Indian.
This book is about a young Native American boy, Junior, who
struggles to find his identity. We will trace the themes in this book
and draw from these themes as a point of departure for our
American literature course.
Readings:
● The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian
Unit Questions/ Topics:
● How do stories help us understand ourselves and the world around us? Why are
stories so important to many Native American cultures? Why are stories important
in other cultures?
● How are the values of Native Americans seen in this story? How does this story
preserve culture and language?
● How does one define his/her identity? What are the characteristics that
make up one’s identity?
● What does it mean to be an Indian? A Native American? An indigenous
person? An American Indian? An aboriginal? Who decides?
● How can societies’ expectations influence us and impact our identities?
● What are some of the major themes in this story? How might they connect to larger
themes in US literature?
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this unit students will have learned to:
• read for themes in the text
• understand course themes
● understand how we are influenced by our community
Assessments:
- Daily Quizzes
- Class Participation
Unit 2: Strategies for Success in English 11
What learning skills are necessary to succeed in a literature class?
How should we approach reading a novel or a short story to gain
as much as possible from the experience? What habits do we
need to maintain to ensure that we are getting the most out of
ourselves while taking a class in literature?
This unit focuses on answering these overarching questions. American short stories are
used to show students the difference between leisurely reading and a more “active
reading” that requires note-taking strategies. The course reading calendar, curriculum
outline, and class policies are designed to cultivate the skills of material organization,
long-term planning, and time management.
Readings:
• Thank You, M’am
• Little Things Are Big
• A Pair of Tickets
• Cask of Amontillado
• Joe, My Joe
• The Man Who Was Almost a Man
• The Yellow Wallpaper
• A Good Man Is Hard to Find
• A Rose for Emily
Unit Questions/Topics:
• What are some of the goals of students studying literature? Starting with these goals,
derive some habits that a “good” student should develop. Now shift perspective.
What should a teacher’s goals be and how can he/she achieve these goals?
• From a pragmatic point of view, what type of organizational skills and timemanagement skills do you need to develop in order to be successful in a literature
class?
• How will I be accountable for my work in English class?
• Why do people read? What are the various ways that individuals read?
• What are some reading strategies that strong readers use?
• What is “active” reading?
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Three Flags, 1958
Jasper Johns (American, born 1930)
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• What is “literature”? Does the definition evolve or regress across historical timeperiods? Can different people maintain alternative definitions of literature? Are there
nonetheless universal commonalities? If so, what elements of the “human experience”
would account for these commonalities?
• What are the elements of plot in a story?
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this unit students will have learned to:
• organize a notebook
• take notes from a reading
• take notes from a lecture
• take notes from a discussion
• identify the elements of a plot
• apply the following active reading strategies:
- Predict
- Visualize
- Connect
- Clarify
- Question
- Summarize
- Evaluate
Literary Language: By the end of this unit, students will have learned these terms:
Antagonist, character (round, flat, static, dynamic), characterization, conflict, drama,
fiction, foreshadow, genre, non-fiction, rubric, setting, short story, poetry, plot, plot
diagram (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, denouement),
prose, protagonist
Assessments:
• Daily Reading Quiz
• Active Reading/ Blog Check
• Unit 2 Exam (Students will “actively” read a short story in class.)
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Unit 3: Early American Voices
(B.C.-1782 A.D.)
Unit 2 begins our chronological survey of American Literature. We
begin our study from a historical perspective. Who were the “first”
Americans? What did it mean to be an American in colonial times
and how did this notion evolve? How do we define early American
literature? To address these questions, we read works of literature
from Native Americans as well as colonists and learn how these early
writings form the foundation of our national literature.
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Readings:
• Native American Oral Narratives
• Plymouth Plantation Poetry
• Selections from Bradstreet
• Captivity of Mary Rowlandson
• Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
• Poetry Selections from Wheatley
• What is an American?
• Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
• President Obama’s Grant Park Speech (contemporary connection)
Unit Questions/Topics:
• How can you contribute effectively to class discussion?
• What does it mean to be an “American”? How do we define “American Literature”?
Who do we consider “American” authors?
• What do myths and stories tell us about ourselves and others?
• Characterize the relationship between oral narratives (e.g. myths and legends) passed
down through generations as a cultural tradition and the written narrative? Similarly,
how does the collective relate to the individual in society?
• What can oral narratives teach us about Native Americans? What are the strengths
and limitations of oral literature?
• How does form shape the message of revolutionary writers?
Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Tishcohan, 1735
Gustavus Hesselius (Swedish born American, 1704)
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• What does the motto, “E Pluribus Unum” mean? How does this concept apply to
Americans then and now? How is this concept expressed through the literature of this
time period? To literature and society today?
• What can we learn about settlers’ worldview based on their writing? How does our
worldview affect our understanding and interpretation of their texts?
• What are the elements of an effective colonial sermon? Are these elements important
today? Can you make analogies between any of the sermons you have read about
from the colonial era to a sermon you have heard over the course of your life?
• What is the relationship between power and voice in early American Literature?
Whose voices are heard in early American Literature? Are the answers to these
questions subject to revision depending upon current sociopolitical circumstances?
• How do these works of literature reflect colonial writers’ philosophies?
• How do these works of literature characterize their literary movements?
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this unit, students will have learned to:
• participate effectively in class discussion
• define American literature
• understand the strengths and limitations of oral narrative
• understand the whys and hows of the relationship between early American
philosophies and literary movements
• understand the relationship between power and voice in early American literature
Literary Language: By the end of this unit, students will have learned these terms:
Allusion, connotation, denotation, essay, expository text, main idea, myth, rhetoric,
thesis, topic, trickster tale, traditional narrative, writing process (pre-writing, drafting,
revising, editing and proofreading)
Assessments:
• Daily Reading Quiz
• Active Reading/Blog Check
• Class Participation during discussion
• Unit 3 Exam
• Essay 1: What is your American Dream? (500 words)
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Unit 4: The Subversive Imagination
(1824 -1895)
During
the 1800’s, many writers developed a distinctly
“American” voice, a voice that captured the spirit, struggle and
perspective of the American experience as it was lived by many
elements of society. This period has been characterized as the
“American Renaissance.” Many writers of this period used
allegory, satire, and other subversive literary devices to challenge readers to critically
examine social iniquities. Through their fiction (and non-fiction) works, these writers
advocated a sense of social responsibility that could pave the way for a more just and
equal society. We will study these writers and pay particular attention to how each
writer uniquely crafts his or her message. Finally, we will look to see if the writers from
our corner of the country – New England – developed a characteristic writing style that
reflected in some way the region’s living conditions.
While studying the “American Renaissance,” we will also work on our own writing
skills, particularly the ability to analyze literary passages and to craft an effective
argumentative essay tightly organized about a central thesis.
Further, students will learn how to lead discussion by creating leveled discussion
questions of their own.
Readings:
• Devil and Tom Walker
• The Scarlet Letter
• Self Reliance
• Walden
• Civil Disobedience
• Seneca Falls Declaration
• An Ain’t I a Woman
• Bartleby the Scrivener
• Song of Myself
• Poetry Selections from Emily Dickinson
• African American Songs
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Boston Harbor, 1850-5
Fitz Hugh Lane (American, born 1804)
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• Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
• Narrative of Frederick Douglass
• Poetry Selections from Paul Lawrence Dunbar
• Fight No More Forever
• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Unit Questions/Topics:
• Why is this period called “The American Renaissance”? Do you think this literary
honor is fitting?
• How does Transcendentalism affect the writers of the American Renaissance?
• How can the literary movement of Romanticism and the philosophy of
Transcendentalism be seen as a reaction to Puritanism, Calvinism and Enlightenment?
• How does the idea of manifest destiny influence writers and artists of the day?
• How do many of these writers use the subversive form to advocate for their causes?
• What is the sentimental style? How does this form of writing shape the writer’s
message?
• How can the literary movement of Realism be seen as a reaction to Romanticism?
Which movement is more effective in its mission of challenging the norms of the
period?
• How do visual artists of the time reflect the spirit of the 1800s? What are the
similarities and differences between writing as an art form and painting as art form
during this time?
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this unit, students will have learned to:
• understand Reader Response Theory
• write a standard literary analysis
• write an argumentative essay
• cite textual evidence in essays
• write a timed essay
• identify different leveled questions
• develop leveled questions for class discussion
• understand why this time period has been labeled the “American Renaissance”
• understand the literary periods Romanticism and Realism
• understand the philosophy of Transcendentalism as a reaction to earlier colonial
philosophies
• understand how form shapes meaning as well as creates art
• understand the idea of manifest destiny
• analyze tone and purpose in speech
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Literary Language: By the end of this unit, students will have learned these terms:
Allegory, cliché, dialect, diction, hyperbole, narrator, novel, onomatopoeia,
overstatement, paradox, personification, persuasion/persuasive writing, poetry, point of
view, satire, stanza, style, symbol, theme, tone, vernacular, verse, voice
Assessments:
• Daily Reading Quiz
• Active Reading/Blog Check
• Class Participation during discussion
• Class Leadership
• Unit 4 Exam
• Essay 2: What lessons can we learn from the Scarlet Letter today? (750 words)
• Essay 3: Character sketch of Huck or Jim. Or, should “HF” be taught? (1,000 words)
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Unit 5: American Dream/American Realities
(1913- 1968)
Early
20th century America occupies a unique niche in
world history. A confluence of economic and political
factors was responsible for an unparalleled rise in the
country’s status and power as projected on a global scale.
America was suddenly prosperous, powerful, and – as a
democracy – populist (at least in theory). As a result,
millions of immigrants from around the world flocked to America’s shores to grab their
piece of the “American Dream.” But was that dream a myth or a reality? Rapid
economic/technological progress did create opportunity and wealth for many, but it
also created iniquity, poverty, and exploitation for others. In this section, we use
literature as a tool to help understand the complex and multi-faceted socioeconomic
dynamics of this era. In particular, the concept of attaining wealth and prosperity
through sheer determination and hard work will be critically examined through writers
of different races, classes, and genders. These diverse viewpoints spawned a host of
distinctive literary movements, often affiliated with specific social causes, such as the
Lost Generation, the Harlem Renaissance and Early Feminist Voices.
Readings:
• Poetry Selections from Carl Sandburg
• Poetry Selections from Ezra Pound
• Poetry Selections from Robert Frost
• The Great Gatsby
• The Old Man and the Sea
• Death of a Salesman
(Please note: The writers and works of the Harlem Renaissance are studied in students’ 10th grade year at ACC.)
Unit Questions/Topics:
• What is the American Dream? Is the American Dream a myth or a reality?
• What is the Lost Generation? How is the title “Lost Generation” apropos for this
generation of writers?
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
Nighthawks, 1942
Edward Hopper (American, born 1882)
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• How do the writers of the “Lost Generation” challenge the notions of the American
Dream?
• How do the writers of the “Lost Generation” view the “American Dream”? Compare
and contrast their views to your view.
• What is a hero? How do you define a hero? How are heroes classically defined? What
are the different types of heroes?
• What are some situational, symbolic, and character archetypes?
• What is stream of consciousness? Why would a writer use this form?
• What is Modernism? How are the characteristics of Modernism seen in the works we
are reading?
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this unit, students will have learned to:
• identify some situational, symbolic and character archetypes
• understand the ideas of Modernism, the American Dream, and the Lost Generation
• identify different types of heroes
Literary Language: By the end of this unit, students will have learned these terms:
Alliteration, archetype (situational, symbolic, character), assonance, consonance,
description, drama, dramatic literature, dialogue, figurative language, figure of speech,
hero/heroine, image, imagery, internal rhyme, irony, jargon, metaphor, meter, mood,
moral, perspective, refrain, rhyme scheme, rhythm, simile, understatement
Assessments:
• Daily Reading Quiz
• Active Reading/Blog Check
• Class Participation during discussion
• Unit 5 Exam
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Unit 6: Literature of Social Protest
(1963-1990)
By
now you have realized that social commentary is one of the
main goals of writers and artists – by commenting on the
prevailing social, cultural, and political landscape, these
individuals often seek to trigger change. This era in particular was
characterized by dramatic upheaval as a result of the Vietnam War
and the civil rights movement. Both struggles forced all of America
to grapple with the duality of rights and responsibilities when living in a democratic
society. The stakes of this debate were high and the emotions surrounding this issue
intense. This intensity is reflected through the writing styles of the authors of this era,
styles which often blended hard-edged realism with a strong narrative voice in an
attempt to shake the reader into action.
We will also look at the idea of prize-worthy texts and the literary canon. You have now
had the opportunity to sample texts from many different authors across many different
eras. Naturally, some of these books appealed to you more than others. Literary
scholars, too, have their own opinions regarding the artistic/intellectual merit of literary
works. Yet, from some kind of emergent scholarly consensus, there arises a literary
canon – that is, a delineation between those novels deemed worthy of being included in
the literary legacy of an era and those novels that do not quite meet this criterion. What
makes a novel worthy of inclusion into the canon? Does it have to reflect universal truth
or truths restricted to a particular time-period? Can the canon itself change, and if so,
how does that change undermine the notion of the canon and what does that change
say about human nature? These are larger questions than cannot be fully considered in
any one course at any educational level, but in this section, you will be asked to reflect
on these issues and to construct your own criteria for entry into the canon.
Readings:
• Letter from Birmingham Jail
• Autobiography of Malcolm X
• The Color Purple
• Poetry Selections from Nikki Giovanni
• Poetry Selections from Rita Dove
• The Things They Carried
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Mustard Race Riot, 1963
Andy Warhol (American, born 1928)
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Unit Questions/Topics:
• What is the American Literary Canon? Pulitzer Prize?
• What are your criteria for a work to be considered for the canon or the Pulitzer Prize?
• How does the social and political milieu affect nominations for these high honors?
• What are the characteristics of the counter-culture movement in the 1960’s?
• How does Malcolm X rise up and challenge the role of Black Americans in society?
• Does Malcolm X’s message hold true today? Is his message relevant?
• How can literary theory assist in and shape a reader’s understanding of text?
• What are Formalist, Historicist, Feminist, Psychoanalytic, and Reader Response
theories?
• How do writers use the story to address their own lives?
• What is Postmodernism? How do you see the characteristics of this movement in the
works we are reading?
• How does O’Brien use form in The Things They Carried? How is his writing
representative of postmodern work?
• How do writers, like Alice Walker in the Color Purple, use form to shape their message
to the reader?
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this unit, students will have learned to:
• understand the concept of the canon
• develop criteria for entry into the canon
• understand the political underpinnings of the canon
• analyze texts using five literary theories
• understand Postmodernism
• understand the how form shapes a text’s message (e.g. epistolary form)
Literary Language:
Review terms from Units 1-5
Assessments:
• Daily Reading Quiz
• Active Reading/Blog Check
• Class Participation during discussion
• Unit 6 Exam
• Essay 4: Pulitzer Prize entry. (1,000 words)
• Essay 5: Gender roles in the Color Purple. Or, personal journey essay. (1,000 words)
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Unit 7: Power of Storytelling in Examining
Cultural Identity (1983-2003)
Each
of us has his/her own highly personalized life-story to tell.
Imagine that someone with a video camera follows you around all
day every day. In this age of reality TV, this possibility isn’t so hard
to imagine. If an audience were to watch long stretches of the video
footage of you, they would gradually gain insight into your identity.
They would begin to see how your past experience shapes your
present personality; they would gradually discover the influence language, culture, and
community have had on shaping your social consciousness; they would eventually
become accustomed to the strengths and weaknesses of your character; and they would
ultimately learn of your hopes and dreams for the future. In short, each one of us could
be the protagonist of a novel.
The literature of the contemporary era can be characterized by personalized storytelling. Whereas authors from earlier eras tended to construct stylized archetypes
whose narrative evolution evoked universal human truths, authors from this era relate
their message from the perspective of the individual or “common man”: there is
universal truth contained in all our stories and any of these distinct viewpoints
constitutes an equally valid perspective from which to explore human nature.
As a result of this shift to personal story-telling, literature became more closely linked to
prevailing social trends. For this reason, writers tended to explore themes of cultural
identity (particularly the immigrant experience), gender expression, aggression, guilt,
and redemption. In a world that is often complicated by misunderstandings and
mistrust, it is the individual’s story that has the potential to promote mutual
understanding in a heterogeneous society.
Readings:
• In the Time of Butterflies
• Kite Runner
• Bridegroom
• Interpreter of Maladies (selections)
Monkey Puzzle, 1988
Keith Haring (American, born 1958)
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Unit Questions/Topics:
• What is contemporary? How do we define contemporary literature? What are its
characteristics?
• What is culture?
• How do these writers explore their cultural identity in their writing?
• How is Postmodernism reflected in the literature we are reading?
• How do the authors in this unit use form to shape their message? Is their style of
writing different from some of the earlier texts we have read? If so, how?
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this unit students will have learned to:
• define contemporary literature
• identify the characteristics of contemporary writing
• define the importance of stories as ways of preserving one’s culture, history and
language
• speak with confidence and clarity about the direction of contemporary American
writing
Literary Language:
Review terms from Units 1-4
Assessments:
• Daily Reading Quiz
• Active Reading/Blog Check
• Class Participation during discussion
• Class Leadership (Students will lead discussion during the 4th term.)
• Unit 7 Exam
• Essay 6: Which text, The Autobiography of Malcolm X or The Things They Carried, is a
more effective work of social protest? (1,250 words)
• Essay 7: College Essay: What is your story? (500 words)
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Unit 8: Independent Reading
All of us have goals we wish to achieve in our lives. It is
not possible for anyone to tell you the specific path you
need to be on to attain those goals. But reading is
universally empowering: the more you read, the more
you discover about yourself and the better able you are
to achieve your goals. There are an infinite variety of writing styles and topics, so even
if one or several books do not speak to you or mesh with your personal aesthetic, there
will always be another book that does. You need to find those books which make
reading seem less like a chore and more like a privilege.
To that end, students will read two books ( approximately 250 pages per book) of their
own choice during the school year. One book will be read during term two and one
book during term three. Book talks will be arranged where students have an
opportunity to discuss the books they are reading with their peers.
Readings:
Varies according to student interest and reading level.
Unit Questions/Topics:
Students will generate their own questions about their readings.
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this unit, students will have learned to:
• define their reading likes and dislikes
• select books of interest
• read for sustained periods of time
• improve vocabulary through reading immersion
• develop positive relationship with the written word
Literary Language:
Students will apply literary terms learned in Units 1-4 to their independent reading
texts.
Assessments:
• Independent Reading Exam 1: Term 2 (timed-essay)
• Independent Reading Exam 2: Term 3 (timed-essay)
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