American Literature
Textbooks and Supplemental Material
Daybook of Reading and Writing: American Literature
No Fear: U.S. Constitution and Other Important American Documents
Federalist Papers
United States Constitution (Graphic Adaptation)
George vs. George
Interactive Notebook: U.S. Constitution
The Crucible
Johnny Tremain
Unit 1
Week 1-3
Early American Writing (1600-1800): Native American Experience, Early Settlers, Puritan Tradition
Creation Myths and Trickster Tales
"The World on the Turtle's Back"
"Coyote and the Buffalo"
Puritans and Early Settlers
John Smith's Description of New England
William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation
Edwards's Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
Bradstreet's "Upon the Burning of Our House"
Bradstreet's "To My Dear and Loving Husband"
Edward Taylor's "Upon a Spider Catching a Fly"
Edward Taylor's "The Wrong Way Home"
Excerpts from "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano"
Skills:
- Understanding and identifying stereotypes
- Reading and using a timeline
Unit 2
Week 4-6
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Essay
Unit 3
Week 7-9
The Colonial Period and Revolution
Ben Franklin's Autobiography Excerpt
Link to Ben Franklin's Aphorisms from Poor Richard's Almanack
Declaration of Independence help--contains explanations behind each one of the charges against King George
Dictionary (for words you do not know)
Notes for Phillis Wheatley
Thomas Paine's The Crisis
Unit 4
Week 10-13
American Romanticism (1800-1855): The Transcendentalists, American Gothic
The Devil and Tom Walker
The Minister's Black Veil
The Masque of the Red Death and The Black Cat
Emerson's "Self-Reliance" and "Nature"
Thoreau's Walden
The Fall of the House of Usher
Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
Rip Van Winkle
Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Unit 5
Week 14-17
Science Fiction: Enders Game
Unit 6
Week 18-20
Civil War Realism and Naturalism (1860-1910): Regionalism, Naturalism, New Role for Women
Red Badge of Courage
Grapes of Wrath Movie
How the Other Half Lives (photojournalism)
Literary Texts:
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“The Yellow
Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
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Selected works by Kate Chopin,
-
Selected poetry by Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson
Unit 7
Week 21-24
Huck Fin or Tom Sawyer
Unit 8
Week 25-27
The Harlem Renaissance and Modernism (1910- 1940): The Harlem Renaissance, Poetry, The Modern Short Story
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Selected poetry by
Langston Hughes
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Selected poetry by
Robert Frost
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“How It Feels to be
Colored Me” by Zora
Neale Hurston
-
Selected poetry by T.S.
Eliot
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“A Rose for Emily” by
William Faulkner
Unit 9
Week 28-31
The Great Gatsby
Unit 10
Week 32-33
Of Mice and Men
Unit 11
Week 34-36 and into summer
Modern and Contemporary Literature (1940-Present): Responses to War, Civil Rights and Protest Literature
A Separate Peace
Animal Farm
1984
Fahrenheit 451
The Pearl
-
Excerpts from Our
Town
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Excerpts from The
Glass Menagerie
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“Adam” by Kurt Vonnegut
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Excerpt from Letter from Birmingham Jail
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Excerpt from Survival in Auschwitz
I CAN #1 Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same time period treat similar themes or topics.
- Standards Mastery Assessment : Essay on the Crucible
I CAN #2 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text in informational and fiction texts, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
- Standards Mastery Assessment : “The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night-time”
I CAN #3 Determine two or more central ideas of an informational and fiction text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
- Standards Mastery Assessment : “Genetically Modified Organisms”
I CAN #4 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
- Rhetorical Essay from Standards Mastery Assessment : “The Underdog Effect”
I CAN #5 Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and over reliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation.
- Research project/ Power-point : “How to Predict Success”
I CAN #6 Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.
- Choose Your Ride Research project
I CAN #7 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.
- Expository Text-Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
I CAN #8 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.)
- Author’s Purpose and Figurative Language Analysis Presentation using the “Yellow Wallpaper”
I CAN #9 Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness, or beauty of the text
- Author’s Purpose Analysis : “The Audacity of Hope” Speech
I CAN #10 Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging.
- Analyze the structure of 2 articles