Welcome to English 11 Honors
Mrs. Lynn Bonakdar
Room 203
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Thank you!
Who Am I?
• Four years at Stony Brook (Miss Bennett)
• Fifth year at Westford Academy
American Literature
How does the social, political, economic and cultural
landscape of American society shape its literature?
How does literature, music, photography, painting, film
and architecture from each major period reflect American
ideas and values of the time?
The American Dream
How does the American Dream reflect the values of our
culture?
How has this Dream evolved throughout the course of our
nation’s history?
How do authors use literature to comment on the values of
our society?
1st Quarter Curriculum
• Intro to American Literary Periods
• Historical context and art  American values particular to each
period
• Literary Period Museum (Monday)
• Summer reading, Into the Wild and The Awakening
• Focus on the search for identity, the impact of society on the
individual, and motifs
• Transcendentalism—focus on Emerson and Thoreau
• Analytical essay on The Awakening: Thinking beyond the 5paragraph essay!
• Their Eyes Were Watching God
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Harlem Renaissance
Dialectic journals (interacting with text to make meaning)
Zora Neale Hurston’s use of folklore, dialect and figurative language
Literary criticism presentation and in-class essay test
2nd Quarter Curriculum
• The Great Gatsby and Modernism
• Modern thought as seen in historical
context, philosophy, architecture, film
and art
• Trace modernist motifs in The Great
Gatsby and then in Citizen Kane
• Article for Modernist Magazine
tracing modernist elements in the
novel and film
3rd Quarter Curriculum
• The Scarlet Letter
• Most challenging reading of the year
• Puritanism and the origins of the American Dream
• Early American reading selections through the Age
of Reason
• Student student-led chapter analysis will be
presented in class and posted on class blog
• Personal narrative and analytical essay
4rd Quarter Curriculum
• Death of a Salesman
• Photography project: personal interpretation of the
American Dream
• Reader’s theater in class
• Essay
• Poetry
• Reading and writing
• Formal explication
Sadlier-Oxford Vocabulary
• Quiz roughly every two weeks
• Some form of practice is required
• No cramming! SATs are coming
quickly!
Exams
• Mid-year covers Q1 and Q2
• Final covers Q3 and Q4
• Both contain essay component,
vocabulary, and literature
Contact Information
Mrs. Lynn Bonakdar
Lbonakdar@westfordk12.us
978-692-5570 x331
http://mrsbonakdar.weebly.com/