Honors English 11
Scott Leventhal
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sleventhal@crsd.org
Continuing development of critical reading strategies for use in
analyzing the significance of particular works
•American Literature
•Theme of American Identity
•Social/Historical Context of Literature
“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”
-Emerson
Literary Eras
Native American Period
Puritanism
Age of Enlightenment
Romanticism (and Transcendentalism)
Realism
Naturalism
Modernism (Harlem Renaissance)
Age of Anxiety
1620-1720
1720-1820
1820-1865
1865-1895
1895-1920
1920-1945
1945-
“What is wonderful about great literature is that it transforms the man who
reads it towards the condition of the man who wrote it.” -E.M. Forster
Literature
Novels
-Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neal Hurston
-The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
-The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
-Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
-Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close – J. Safran Foer
-Of Mice and Men– John Steinbeck
-Independent Research Novel – American Author
“Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone…just remember that all the people in this
world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” -Nick – The Great Gatsby
Literature
continued
Short Stories
Honors English 11
Short Story Selections
Play(s)
The Crucible
Death of a Salesman
Essays
Thoreau
Emerson
Franklin
Literary Criticism
Poetry
Whitman
Dickinson
Bradstreet
Harlem Renaissance Poets
Collins
Frost
“That you could omit anything if you knew that you omitted and
the omitted part would strengthen the story and make people
feel something more than they understood” - Hemingway
Writing
- Journal Responses
- Blue Book Essays: timed writing
- Persuasive Essays
- Personal Narrative & Creative Pieces
- Literary Criticism Paper
- Grading of major writings based on
Pennsylvania Writing Assessment Scoring
Guidelines
"I may have said the same thing before... But my explanation, I am sure, will
always be different." - Oscar Wilde
Research Paper
- Completed third marking period
- 25% of marking period grade
- Self-selected American novel
- Collect Literary Criticism
- Synthesis of personal analysis and literary
critics views into thesis driven paper
- Can be expanded for graduation project
- Plagiarism results in zero for assignment
as per student handbook policy
“Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely
astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It’s beyond
me.” -Zora Neal Hurston
Short Story Presentations
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Group Dynamics
Public Speaking and Presentation Skills
Synthesis of Literary Criticism
Class Participation
See sales pitches for details
“The dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only one-eighth of it being above
water. A writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow
places in his writing.” – Ernest Hemingway
Grammar / Usage / Mechanics
- Taught formally using multiple resources
- Addresses problems seen in compositions
- The SAT has a writing section containing
multiple-choice grammar / usage /
mechanics questions as well as an essay
“Ignorant people think it is the noise which fighting cats make that is so aggravating,
but it ain't so; it is the sickening grammar that they use.” ~Mark Twain
Vocabulary
Sadlier-Oxford Vocabulary Workshop Level G
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20% each Marking Period
Twenty-Two new words per week: parts of speech,
definitions, synonyms, antonyms, sentence completion and
word forms
Tests- Biweekly and Cumulative
Website with games and iWords; vocabtest.com
Solid SAT performance enhanced by rich vocabulary
background
Workbook or Flashcards
$12.00 to CRHS South Activities - English
Homework and Assessments
- Regularly Scheduled Reading
- Journal Response Writing
- Biweekly Vocabulary Tests
- All assessments returned for review; look
for the *