General Course Information:

Grade level (s) offered: 11
1.0 credit (two semester course)

Prerequisites: Students must have taken English 9 and English 10. This course is for all 11th grade students not enrolled in Accelerated English 11.

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Brief Course Description:

This course is a survey of American Literature that stresses literary and cultural themes. This course includes a variety of genres. A chronological approach is used. There is a strong emphasis on writing, speaking, and discussion.

Curriculum Strands:

Thematic Lenses

Course Outcomes:

• Students will have a good overview of the chronological history of American Literature.

• Students will improve their skills as critical thinkers.

• Students will continue to develop their skills in writing, discussion, language, and technology skills.

Methods of Instruction:

Discussion is the primary way in which students come to understand a particular issue or work of fiction, drama, or poetry. Discussion is both large group and small group. Discussions are sometimes student led. Cooperative learning groups are also used in this class. There are projects and assignments done individually as well. Students can expect to read and complete other work outside of class.

Resources/Major Texts:

• Elements of Literature: Fifth Course. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc. (Note: Unfortunately, we do not own enough books for you to be issued your own. Links in this syllabus to literature online are provided to help with this problem).

• The Crucible, Arthur Miller

• Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck

• A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry or Our Town, Thornton Wilder

• Independent novel/play with lit circle group (semester

Various Web Resources

• American Authors on the Web
• Outline of American Literature
• An Outline of American Literature by Kathryn VanSpanckeren
• C-SPAN American Writers: A Journey Through History
• Authors Calendar (great source for biographies)
• Lit Online
• An excellent list of links from Carmel High School

Assessments/Major Assignments:

• Unit Tests (100 points each)

• Essays, 2 major essaper semester (100 points each)

• Response journal, turned in every four weeks (100 points each time)

• Seminar Presentation, one presentation per semester; participation ongoing (100 points)

• Independent group project (one per semester)

• Semester exam

Grading:

• Standard English Department Grading Scale

• Grades are calculated using total points.

• Semester exam is worth 10% of the semester grade

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Course Outline:

Page numbers refer to Elements of Literature text.

Semester 1

Overview of English 11/Semester 1

• Course Web
• Periods & Genres
• Grading and rubrics
• Essay overview
• Response journals
• Friday Seminar
• Independent Study Project Introduction

Unit One: Puritan/Colonial & Revolutionary Literature (7 weeks)

• Introduction

• Jamestown (Time article)

• Bradford: from Of Plymouth Plantation, 13 (Links to these early online texts are often to full text versions and do not necessarily match the selections in our text. These links are provided for your interest in further study).

• Bradford: from The First Thanksgiving, 22 (online at site above)

• Rowlandson: from A Narrative of Her Captivity, 24 & Bradstreet: selected poems

• Native American Myths and Culture

• Middle Passage

• Slave Narratives: web site University of Virginia

• The Crucible, Miller

• Franklin: from Autobiography, 74

• Jefferson: from The Autobiography: The Declaration of Independence, 101

• McCullough: from his biography of John Adams

• Unit Test

Unit Two: Romanticism & Transcendentalism (3 weeks)

• Introduction

• Irving: Rip Van Winkle, 125

• Hawthorne: Rappaccini's Daughter, 275

• Thoreau: from Walden, 207

• Influential American Poet: Whitman, 326

• Unit Test

Unit Three: Realism (5 weeks)

• Introduction

• How do you speak, eh?: a page about dialect and the richness of American English

• Twain: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, excerpts from

• Douglass: from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, 386

• Voices of the Civil War, 439

• Garland: Under the Lion's Paw (this story is online); Lion's Paw assignment

• Unit Test

Semester Project (1 week)

• Work on project and prepare presentation

Semester 2

Overview of English 11/Semester 2

• Course Web

• Independent Study Group Project Introduction

Unit Four: American Women: 1850-1950 (3 weeks)

Unit Five: Modernism (7 weeks)

• Introduction

• Steinbeck: Of Mice and Men

• Sea Biscuit (movie)

• Faulkner: A Rose for Emily, 592

• O'Connor: The Life You Save May Be Your Own, 603

• The Harlem Renaissance

• Hansberry: A Raisin in the Sun

• Unit Test

Unit Six: 1945-The Present (4 weeks)

• Introduction

• Creative Nonfiction
• American Language
  • Introduction, p. 1078
  • "Little Red Riding Hood Revisited," Russell Baker
  • "School vs. Education," Russell Baker, p.1001

• Two views on war:
  • "Speaking of Courage," Tim O'Brien, p. 934
  • from "Dispatches," Michael Herr, p. 105
• Apocalyptic literature
  • "A Noiseless Flash," Hersey, p. 1048
• Diverse voices
  • "What it Means to Say Phoenix, AZ" and Smoke Signals by Sherman Alexie
    • 350-400 reflection, typed
• Unit Test

Semester Project (2 weeks)

• Work on project and prepare presentation for exam

English 11 Main Page