Unit Map for Course: ____12th HIP________________________
GILPP
Fall
Department: ___English_______________
Unit # __ : AP Literature Genre Study – “A Survey of Traditional and Contemporary British and American Poetry”
Time Frame: 5 weeks
Number of lessons in this unit: _20___
Learning Outcomes
Common Core Learning Standards addressed in this Unit:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves
matters uncertain.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.2
Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce
a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.3
Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the
characters are introduced and developed).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning
and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.5
Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic
resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.6
Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.1a-e
Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.2a-f
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and
analysis of content.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.3a-e
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types
are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.10
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and
audiences.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1
Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11-12 topics, texts, and issues,
building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1.a
Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the
topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1.b
Work with peers to promote civil, democratic discussions and decision-making, set clear goals and deadlines, and establish individual roles as needed.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1.c
Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that probe reasoning and evidence; ensure a hearing for a full range of positions on a topic or issue; clarify, verify, or
challenge ideas and conclusions; and promote divergent and creative perspectives.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1.d
Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives; synthesize comments, claims, and evidence made on all sides of an issue; resolve contradictions when possible; and determine what
additional information or research is required to deepen the investigation or complete the task.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.2
Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) in order to make informed decisions and solve problems,
evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data.
Course Standards addressed in this Unit:
Math only: Standards for Mathematical Practice addressed in this Unit:
Enduring Understandings for this Unit:
1) Poetry is one of humankind’s oldest and most
inventive art forms.
2) Poetry at first was orally communicated, but
eventually was written down and given
complex forms over time.
3) Today, poetry remains a vibrant and profound
expression of human experience.
4) By learning to analyze and write about
poetry, students can gain experience
grappling with complex ideas and concepts
(metonymy, unity, voice, etc.)
5) Poets have expressed emotions, debated
intractable ideas, told stories, argued about
the nature of the universe, questioned the
meaning of life, considered the existence of
God – poetry encompasses all aspects of
human experience.
Essential Questions for this Unit:
1) What is the AP Literature Course/Exam? What is the format of the exam?
2) What is the design and philosophy of the exam, and how does it relate to college level
placement and credit?
3) How can poetry express human experience in ways that drama and fiction cannot?
4) What is truth? What is beauty? What is art? What are poetic forms?
5) How does form affect content in poetry?
6) How has poetry changed over the past five centuries? How does poetry reflect a society or a
culture?
7) How does poetry reflect and provoke essential questions about human experience?
Text Specific Questions (sample):
1) In Brooks’ “The Beat Eaters”, how does the poet use tone and imagery to communicate a central
theme?
2) How does Shakespeare use figurative language in Sonnet 130 to communicate a central idea?
3) In comparing Saar/Hunt’s expressions to Shakespeare and Brooks, can we create a definition of
what poetry is?
4) How does Milton’s use of iambic pentameter accentuate and expose the tension in Paradise
Lost?
5) How does Milton convey central conflicts about God, fate, and Satan’s rebellion in Paradise
Lost?
6) How does Sherman Alexie’s tone and attitude change over the course of the poem
“Taking the Amtrak . . .”
7) Debate Walcott’s conflicted attitude towards Europe’s colonial legacy—do you agree
with his belief in “the British tongue I love?”
8) How is the history of colonialism revealed in the Walcott’s poem, “A Far Cry from
Africa”?
Content of this Unit:
Sample of Poets/Works
1) Elizabethan poetry (Shakespearean and
Petrarchan Sonnets);
2) Epic poetry – (Milton)
3) Metaphysical Poetry/Religious Poetry
(William Blake – Songs of Innocence and
Experience; John Donne)
4) Poetry during the Age of Reason (Pope)
5) Restoration – (Marvell)
6) Romantic Poetry (Wordsworth, Keats, Byron,
Shelley, Browning)
7) American 19th century – (Dickinson,
Whitman)
8) 20th century poetry British and American
(Frost, Ginsburg, Williams, Dylan Thomas,
Pound, Eliot, Hughes, Walcott, Alexie,
Brooks)
Key Vocabulary & Language of this Unit:
Skills of this Unit:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Close reading
Annotation
Identifying and analyzing textual evidence
Making inferences and evaluations from textual evidence
Analytical/Argumentative Writing – short response, formative assessments,
summative assessments
Resources used in this Unit:

TBD

Copies of all readings.

Writing utensils including pencils, pens, markers, and highlighters

Methods for collecting student work: student folders, submissions (Exit Tickets, worksheets)

Copies of the Short Response and Argumentative Essay Rubric and Checklist
Assessments
On-going and Formative Assessments:
Mid-Unit and Summative Assessments, including Performance
Tasks:
1) Standards Assessed:
1) Standards Assessed: RL 12.1-3,6; W12.1-4, 10
Students participate in reading and discussion, write informally in response
to text-based prompts, present information in an organized and logical
manner, and participate in evidence-based, collaborative discussion.
Summative Unit: Analyze a poem by describing the poet’s use of a
literary technique or concept? Describe the central theme and how
it appears in the poem? (Poem selected from AP Workbook).
2) Quizzes for reading comprehension.
3) Timed mini-essays for AP practice.
Instructional Pathway
Learning Activities & Teaching Strategies Used in This Unit
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Grouping Structures
(I) = individual
(P) = with a partner
(G) = in a student group
(C) = whole class
Small group discussion and written responses (G)
Quick Writes (I)
Gallery Walk exercise/activity (G)
Whole class discussion, review terms, “think aloud” (C)
Jigsaw scenes/lines (G)
Independent Reading is facilitated through Literature Circle Discussions on Friday classes.
Standards Aim
RL12.1
1. To read the poem “The
Lesson Content
Activities & Strategies
1) EQ: What is a poem?
Bean Eaters” by
“The Bean Eaters” by Gwendolyn Brooks.
Gwendolyn Brooks and
complete a reflective
response about
assumptions on poetry.
RL12.1-3
2. To compare three
different poems and
derive a definition of
poetry.
1) Saar/Hunt woodcuts
2) Shakespeare sonnet
3) “The Bean Eaters”
2) What assumptions do we have about poetry, and
does Brooks’s poem reflect or contradict those
assumptions?

Whole class, individual, and group reading.
EQ: 1) What can we learn about the concept of “form” in
comparing there different poems?
2) What makes defining poetry so challenging?
Small group discussion, analysis, and share out.
EQ: 1) Does the history of colonialism still affect us
today?
SL1,2
RL12.1-3
RL12.1-4
W12.4
3. To debate the history
of colonialism using
different written forms
– poem, essay, and
encyclopedic entry.
Students explore and debate the way meaning
is communicated in three different expressions
on the history of colonialism.
Students participate in a debate-style activity;
philosophical chair.
Students produce an idea map to record their
thinking during the debate.
4. To create an
inventory of
observations about
Derek Walcott’s “A
Far Cry from Africa”
5. To practice close
reading analysis in
order to answer
complex, textdependent questions.
Use WS/Graphic Organizer to develop a theme
for “A Far Cry from Africa”
6. To identify examples
Gallery Walk
Close reading and annotating.
EQ: How does Walcott’s poem reflect his conflicted
reality about his past?
1) Students are working in small groups to
develop a theme for the poem.
Students work as a class, small group, and then
individually to answer text-dependent questions.
1) How does the title’s meaning connect to
the central idea about the legacy of
colonialism?
2) What does Walcott mean in line XXXX?
3) How do the graphic images in the second
stanza reinforce the central theme in the
final stanza?
4) What textual evidence supports the idea
that Walcott is conflicted about his
heritage?
EQ: How can figurative language effectively
of figurative language
and explain their
meaning in Walcott’s
poem.
communicate complex ideas about history?
SL12.1
7. Literature Circles
Students meet in small groups, organized by
books.
SL12.1
8. To rewrite the
figurative language
examples in everyday
language.
Gallery Walk activity – Part II;
transform/rewrite examples.
9. To analyze Sherman
Alexie’s “On the
Amtrak . . .”
Sherman Alexie’s “On the Amtrak . . .”
RL12.1-3
1) In small groups, students are traveling from
station to station, each one with a different
stanza.
2) Students at the stations are posting their analysis
of an example of figurative language.
Mini-lessons vary by topic/week. See collections
resource for lessons. Samples include: accountable book
talk, crafting rules and guidelines for groups, asking
higher-level thinking questions, making text-to-self
connections; visualizing texts.
EQ: Why is figurative language often times more
effective at communicating complex ideas than “everyday” language?
1) Teacher models gallery walk – post-it,
transformation/rewrites.
2) Students travel around to stations and rewrite
the examples from yesterday in normal,
everyday prose.
3) Complete a reflective Exit Ticket.
EQ: Can racial injustice ever be remedied? What
accounts for Alexie’s tone in his poem “On the
Amtrak from Boston . . .”?
1) Small group and individual practice
answering discussion questions.
Students write in-class essay – mid-unit assessment:
Prompt: Read and analyze the poem XXXYY (taken
from the Barron’s AP workbook). Describe two
examples of a literary technique, concept, or idea.
Describe the poem’s central theme.
W12.1-3
10. Students demonstrate
mastery of unit texts
and ideas.
Mid-Unit Assessment
RL12.5-6
11. To begin learning and
analyzing concepts for
prosody.
Concepts related to prosody – rhyme and meter. EQ: How can learning about poetic rhyme and
meter allow us to further our understanding of
Text: Shakespearean Sonnet
poetry?
1) Close reading practice. Text-dependent
questions and small group discussion.
SL12.1
12. Literature Circle
Students meet in small groups, organized by
books.
Mini-lessons vary by topic/week. See collections
resource for lessons. Samples include: accountable book
RL12.5-6
13. To read and analyze
the central theme in
Donne’s “Holy Sonnet
XIV” and discuss such
ideas with peers.
Text: Holy Sonnet XIV by John Donne
talk, crafting rules and guidelines for groups, asking
higher-level thinking questions, making text-to-self
connections; visualizing texts.
EQ: How does Donne create tension and paradox in Holy
Sonnet XIV?
Text Dependent Questions for Small-Group Work:
1) How does Donne’s language communicate the
theme of the poem?
2) What is the dominant metaphor in the poem?
RL12.5-6
W12.1-4
SL12.1-3
SL12.1
W12.1
W12.1
14. To practice using
textual evidence to
analyze the meter and
rhyme scheme in
Donne’s poetry.
“Holy Sonnet XIV”
15. To develop a deep
understanding of
prosody by physically
modeling concepts of
“stress” and
“unstressed” syllables.
Socratic Seminar activity
To learn about iambic
pentameter.
16. Literature Circle
EQ: What is the meter and rhyme scheme of Donne’s
Holy Sonnet XIV?
1) Students are working in groups on the
introductory material on prosody in Donne’s
work.
EQ: Why does practicing prosody concepts help us to
better learn Donne’s poetic techniques?
1) Students form lines and model the iambic
pentameter pattern by stomping feet and sliding
with each syllable.
Mini-lessons vary by topic/week. See collections
resource for lessons. Samples include: accountable
book talk, crafting rules and guidelines for groups,
asking higher-level thinking questions, making textto-self connections; visualizing texts.
17. To develop an
approach and practice
for reading Milton’s
Paradise Lost.
Resume Literature Log activity from prose
fiction unit.
Mini-lessons vary by topic/week. See collections
resource for lessons. Samples include: accountable book
talk, crafting rules and guidelines for groups, asking
higher-level thinking questions, making text-to-self
connections; visualizing texts.
EQ: How does historical information help us to
understand the context for Milton’s epic poem?
18. Develop drafts for
Writing Workshop
1) Students work in small groups to complete their
logs.
2) “What is Milton’s purpose in writing Paradise
Lost?”
EQ: How can we write provocative and effective thesis
statements?
performance task.
RL 12.1-3
RL 12.1-3
SL12.1-3
W12.1
NA
19. To make an analogy of
the purpose behind
Paradise Lost – a court
case against Satan.
Small group and Whole Class Discussion on
“The Case Against Satan” preliminary work for
Socratic Seminar.
20. To closely read
Paradise Lost and
answer text dependent
questions.
21. To participate in
Socratic Seminar on
Satan’s guilt.
Modified Philosophical Chair Activity
22. To complete KWL
chart on Paradise Lost
– for review.
KWL chart
23. Begin reviewing for the Exam Review
unit assessment exam
1) Students practice developing thesis statements.
EQ: What is the case against Satan?
Supporting Questions:
1) What is the crime?
2) Who is the prosecutor?
3) Who are the defendants?
4) Who is the judge/jury?
5) Who are the victims?
6) What is at stake?
EQ: What lines reveal how Beelzebub wishes to go
against God?
1) Students are doing close reading activities:
whole class discussion, small – group discussion,
individual practice.
2) WS on close reading.
EQ: Is Satan guilty? Why do we disobey authority
figures?
1) Students take sides in a debate about the case
against Satan.
2) ET – Why did Satan disobey, and how should he
be punished?
EQ: How can a KWL chart help to organize and
reinforce knowledge?
1) Teacher models KWL chart creation.
2) Students work in small groups to complete their
own KWL charts in preparation for exam review.
Jeopardy-style game on reviewing key ideas from stories.
Differentiation strategies used in this unit & modifications embedded within this unit to provide access for all learners
Previewing Discussion Questions
Scene Synopsis
Audio and Visual supplementary material
Graphic Organizers for writing
Idea Maps for developing Thesis Statements
Outlines with sentence starters.
Development of Academic & Personal Behaviors and 21st Century Skills
NA
Evidence of Common Core Instructional Shifts
Where in this unit is there evidence of the Common Core Instructional Shifts in ELA/Literacy and/or Math? (Instructional Shifts)
Informational texts and media (Shift 1):
1) Scholarly articles – Aimee Cesarie’s Discourse on Colonialism, Franz Fanon’s “Wretched of the Earth”
2) NYTimes article on state of poetry today / U.S. Poet Laureate reading and analysis
Text Dependent Questions (Shift 4):
1) See lessons and EQ’s.
2) Close reading incorporated into daily lessons.
Unit Performance Task with Rubric
Mid-Unit Performance Task:
Analyze Sonnet 116 and answer the following questions:
1) In what meter and rhyme scheme is the poem written?
2. What does Shakespeare mean by “marriage” in line 1?
3. Briefly describe the meaning of “love is not love / Which alters when it alteration finds”.
4. What kind of figurative language does Shakespeare use in lines 5-6?
5. What is the role of the “star” in line 7?
6. Explain how Shakespeare uses metaphor in lines 9-10.
7. What is the idea of love expressed in line 12?
8. What does “If this be error” refer to in line 13?
9. How would you describe the tone of the last two lines of the poem?
10. Is this a love poem or something else? Briefly explain your reasoning.
Summative Performance Task:
Write a literary analysis on the following prompt:
How does Walcott in this poem use figurative language to develop the central theme--his conflicted identity and attitude toward African
liberation movements against European colonialists? In your response, make sure to include specific examples of figurative language and
explain the meaning of those examples.