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Honors English 11 American Literature Syllabus
Course overview
Because the grade 11 English curriculum is largely a chronological study of American
literature, it is helpful if students have a historical perspective about each of the literary time
periods. Such knowledge enables them to place the literature in the context of its time period, thus
affording them a deeper understanding of the literature. At appropriate times, literature from other
Anglophone countries (and across several centuries) is also included.
Quarter One
Controlling Question: How does the secular and religious literature of Colonial America
reflect the tensions of the time (1600-1760)?
For example, in both The Crucible and Puritan poetry, tension exists between the need for
social order and safety in a theocracy and the individual need for personal conscience and
expression.
Quarter One Texts:
 In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (summer reading)
 Poetry by Anne Bradstreet and Phyllis Wheatley
 The Crucible by Arthur Miller
 Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford
 Excerpts from The Salem Witch Trials by Cotton Mather
 Voice Lessons by Nancy Dean
 Sadlier-Oxford Vocabulary Workshop Level G
Since students need to write in informal contexts, students will be completing a "Follow
the Columnist" assignment in the first quarter which will require them to choose from a list of
prominent columnists, to complete a précis on each column, complete a SOAPSTone on the
column, and to write a response to the column based on a specific question. The questions focus
on tone, subject, purpose, etc. and students are limited to a three paragraph response. This project
will last 6 weeks. At the end of the quarter, students will write an expository essay which
analyzes the columnist's voice by examining his/her stylistic choices. Students will engage in a
conversation with the columnist through the analysis. This reflects the PARCC research
simulation PBA.
Each class will begin with an exercise from Nancy Dean's Voice Lessons. This will begin
examination of a variety of sentence structures. Analyzing style is a difficult task for students, so
we will focus on different aspects of writing in order to prepare for the PARCC exam and the
SAT.
Students will complete weekly vocabulary packets in preparation for the SAT and for the
PARCC text using the Sadlier-Oxford Vocabulary Workshop Level G books. These words will
be tested as well.
Students will begin the year designing their own governance document as Puritans did
when they signed the Mayflower Compact. They will read and analyze an excerpt from William
Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation. We will discuss the historical aspects of the time period and
students will begin a list of Puritan characteristics. Then we will study poetry by Anne Bradstreet
and Phyllis Wheatley to compare the styles and thematic elements in the poems. Student will
then complete a close reading of Anne Bradstreet's "The Author to Her Book" and write a
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narrative poem based on this mentor text. Students will also do a close reading of Joan Didion's
essay "Why I Write" in order to compare Didion’s concept of writing with Bradstreet’s (as it is
revealed in her poetry). Students will complete a personal reflection on why they write. Students
will revisit Anne Bradstreet's poetry when we study Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of
an Angry God."
The study of Puritanism continues with a reading of Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible.
(Students continue to add to their list of Puritan characteristics). Included is a focus on
McCarthyism which the students will have also studied in US History. Students compile a list of
current examples of issues that generate mass hysteria. They read an article written by Arthur
Miller for the New Yorker entitled “Why I Wrote The Crucible” in addition to articles from the
New York Times and the Baltimore Sun on modern day witch hunts and McCarthyism and write a
personal response to them.
Students participate in a class discussion about the incompatibility of science and
religion, knowledge and faith, religion and psychology (Freud), ignorance and superstition,
concepts generated from both the play and the articles. This discussion will be reference again
during the study of Jonathan Edwards' work.
To continue their study of the effects of language, students analyze Miller’s use of
archaic / colloquial diction as it contributes to the realistic dialogue in The Crucible.
While males were not exempt from the temptation of the Devil, the vast majority of those
accused of witchcraft in Salem were female. Using the feminist approach, students will look for
evidence in The Crucible to support this interpretation.
As a culminating writing activity on The Crucible, students read a commentary, “The odd
remnants of our old, outmoded Puritan past,” by columnist Cal Thomas. Then they compose an
in-class timed SAT style essay in which they analyze how Thomas uses rhetorical techniques
(such as satiric tone, rhetorical questions, and parallel structure) to convey his opinion of
America’s attitude toward morality. Student will complete a revision process on this piece of
writing.
Students annotate an essay by John Steinbeck written in 1956 defending Arthur Miller in
which he uses patriotic rhetoric to counter the rhetoric of McCarthy and the House on UnAmerican Activities Committee. They will discuss his use of rhetoric on the class wiki.
The discussion of Puritanism is concluded with a consideration of Hell and Satan. When
asked to specifically describe Hell and Satan, most students default to the stereotypical details of
fire, and an ugly demon with horns and a tail. In fact, most admit to the belief that there is no
Devil in Hell. To impress upon them how real these beliefs once were, they are shown numerous
pictures of etchings depicting the horrors of eternal damnation in Hell ruled by Satan, a grotesque
monster. Much of this 14-17th Century art is taken from a 1995 Walters Art Gallery monthly
bulletin advertising its show, To Hell and Back: Medieval Images of the Afterworld. By analyzing
these images, students come to recognize the real fear of Satan and life after death that dominated
people’s lives for centuries and the role that art played in communicating and preserving this
preoccupation. Clearly these images served as powerful “texts” for the life of fear to which the
Puritans were subjected.
One of the clearest examples of the power of stylistic choices can be seen in Jonathan
Edwards’ sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” After reading an excerpt, students
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compile a list of verbs, nouns, and adjectives in three separate columns. Using this list, students
are to select a pair of tone words that best applies to this selection. They then reread the excerpt to
identify various examples of repetition such as anaphora, alliteration, diction, and parallel
structure. In addition, syntax and extended metaphor are examined and discussed, particularly in
terms of tone and structure.
After a class discussion, students write an essay in which they examine some passages
from Edwards’ sermon in order to define and discuss the effect that Edwards intended his words
to have on his congregation (reader). Students are directed to pay particular attention to how he
used syntax, diction, tone and rhetorical devices to produce the effect. This reflects the standards
of the PARCC test and the new SAT.
Students will discuss their summer reading, In Cold Blood. They will turn in their
assignment for the reading and complete an in-class essay on Capote’s use of rhetorical devices in
the novel and their effect on the perception of the murderers. A close examination of the
influence of point of view on text will lead to a yearlong study of narrative voice.
The focus on developing and strengthening reading and writings skills continues the next
three quarters, building confidence in the students throughout the year.
Second Quarter
How does the literature of the Revolutionary Era reflect the tensions of the time (17601800)? How are the tensions between the individual and society reflected in the writings of
the times (1800-1860)?
The many speeches, pamphlets and documents from the Revolutionary Period reflect the
desire for independence from an absent monarchy. Argumentation in the texts of this period is so
prevalent that students will unavoidably enhance their knowledge of it in the second quarter.
After the Revolution, both Emerson and Thoreau strongly advocated for the rejection of, if not a
revolt against, the past as represented by European standards, values, and policies (Puritanism)
and strongly advocated for the creation of a new and American voice – American intellectual
independence (Transcendentalism). This is especially evident in Emerson’s Phi Beta Kappa
speech, “The American Scholar.” Thoreau went so far as to insist that the individual had no need
of a government. Frederick Douglass enumerates the problems of slavery and the tensions
between the North and the South. Martin Luther King epitomizes what can happen when an
individual acts on Thoreau’s principle of civil disobedience.
Quarter 2 Texts (Options):
 The Declaration of Independence
 "Crisis No. 1" by Thomas Paine
 "Speech to the Virginia Convention" by Patrick Henry
 The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
 "Gettysburg Address" and "Second Inaugural Address" by Abraham Lincoln (2002
Free Response Prompt Question 1)
 “Self-Reliance” and "Nature" by Ralph Waldo Emerson
 Excerpts of essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson and critical essays on them
 An excerpt from “The American Scholar” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
 “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau
 Magazine and newspaper articles and commentaries on modern day examples of civil
disobedience
 “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and "I Have a Dream" by Martin Luther King
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Magazine and newspaper articles and commentaries on modern day examples of the
value of “simple living.”
Quarterly outside reading: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Major Composing Assignments:
 Students compose an SAT and PARCC style close reading essay which analyzes how
Douglass uses rhetorical strategies to achieve his purpose in a given passage.
 Students write a research simulation essay (PARCC) on locavores after discussions about
living a simple life.
 Students will be responsible for outside readings each quarter. In the second quarter, they
will read and annotate The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison and complete a Socratic Seminar
on this book as well. Students will participate in online discussions about the novel
throughout the quarter.
Third Quarter
How does the literature of the time reflect the tensions of a divided and changing America
(1840-1914)?
Mark Twain's writings deal directly with the tensions between blacks and whites after
emancipation in the South. Kate Chopin’s writings advance the growing feminist movement.
Quarter Three Texts (Options):
 “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin
 The Awakening by Kate Chopin
 Selected essays and stories by Mark Twain
 "Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson
 Selected Emily Dickinson poems
 Selected speeches
 Quarterly outside reading: Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams or Death of a
Salesman by Arthur Miller
Major Composing Assignments:
 Students will compose a literary analysis based on John Barry's essay on the Mississippi
River.
 After poetry analysis, students will complete a close reading of a selected poem and write
a detailed analysis of the poem’s meaning and style.
 In small groups, students will compose their own research simulation question based on
one of four topics: the struggle for racial equality, education in America, class structure
in America, or environmental concerns (global warming) by finding six sources which
offer different sides to the issue and include a visual source. Student groups will
exchange their prompts and write a complete response to another student’s prompt.
PARCC research simulation essay.
 Students will respond to a literary analysis question about their outside reading choice for
the third quarter.
Fourth Quarter
How does modern literature reflect the tensions of the 20th and 21st centuries (1915present)?
While people were beginning to feel disenchanted prior to this time period, WWI
cemented this disenchantment, and brought with it feelings of anxiety and insecurity. Social,
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economic and psychological problems led to the fragmentation of society. Individuals felt
isolated as traditional standards of conduct and the structure of society weakened. People became
overwhelmed by forces over which they had little or no control (Fences). Even the wealthy were
not exempt from these feelings of emptiness (The Great Gatsby). Speaking to this moral and
spiritual void, contemporary American writers began to express “the separateness of the self and
the modern sense of isolation and alienation, yet also struggle to find a common ground in a
shared humanity” (Adventures in American Literature). Students will have opportunities
throughout the reading of these works to write argumentative, narrative, and analysis essays
based on the aforementioned topics of discussion.
Quarter Four Texts (Options):
 The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
 Fences by August Wilson
 Selected short stories and/or A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
 Outside reading: Their Eyes Were watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Major composing assignments:
 Based on the last few pages of Chapter IX in Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, students
will write an essay that analyses the narrator’s attitude toward the American Dream,
considering stylistic elements as they contribute to tone.
 Rooted in the primes at Carver, students will complete a creative project tied to The Great
Gatsby
 Students will examine Fences by writing a literary analysis of how Troy's storytelling reveals
his ideas about life. In the analysis, students will include his conversations with and stories
about talking with Death, his story about dealing with the devil, and at least one other story.
At the end of the year, students will receive information on the college essay, college search
process and the common application. This will lead to their summer writing assignment prior to
senior year.
Please note: Attendance is crucial to success in this course. I follow the BCPS attendance
policy. I also make every effort to keep BCPS One updates at all times with grades and
assignments. Please review your grades and missing work regularly. If you are absent, find
someone who will catch you up on what you missed. I provide agendas for the work so you
have no excuse for incomplete or late assignments. Junior year is the most important year
for your transcript for college. This will be a challenging yet rewarding year if you come to
class prepared, participatory, and positive.
Please sign below indicating that you have read and agree with the syllabus. Note: a parental
signature below indicates that you are aware that we may discuss and read mature topics and
language. As a junior in high school, you give consent that your students may view clips from
movies that may be rated higher than PG.
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