American Literature
Description:This course will address the major themes and time periods of American Literature, from the country's earliest beginnings to the post-war era. Lesson plans include North Carolina Standard Course of Study objectives for English III and are based on best practices learned during a Master's of Arts in Teaching Secondary English curriculum at the University of South Carolina. Projects, internet hunts and other multimedia assignments, and action strategies developed by Jeffrey Wilhelm comprise the core of these units and lessons. Vocabulary and study guides are available where applicable.
Last Updated:Dec-05-2009
Subject(s):- Language Arts
- Social Studies
- Grades 11-12 / Ages 16-18
- high
- 11th
- 12th
- secondary
- senior
- teen
- Curriculum: Full Course
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- Contributed By: Emily Boyle
American Literature Course Overview
Description:The following is an overview of this American Literature course with suggested readings. Lesson plans, standards and resources are included in each lesson.
Last Updated:Aug-24-2010
Subject(s):- Arts
- Arts > Film
- ...
- Grades 11-12 / Ages 16-18
- high
- 11th
- 12th
- secondary
- senior
- teen
- Curriculum: Syllabus
Unit 1: Beginnings
Two weeks for classes that meet 90-minutes daily; one month for classes that meet 50-minutes daily.
Lesson 1 - Introducing Origin Myths of Native American Literature, one 90-minute class period or two 50-minute class periods Lesson 2 - Virtual Museum Indians by Susan Power, one 90-minute class period or two 50-minute class periods Lesson 3 - Explorer's Logs, three 90-minute class periods or six 50-minute class periods
- From The Diario of Christopher Columbus's First Voyage to America
- From A Description of New England by John Smith
Lesson 5 - Argumentation and Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God by Jonathan Edwards, one 90-minute class period or two 50-minute class periods Lesson 6 - Unmasking Textual Analysis in The Minister's Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne, one 90-minute class period or two 50-minute class periods Lesson 7 - Pop Music and the Poetry of Anne Bradstreet, one 90-minute class period or two 50-minute class periods Unit 2: The Crucible
Two weeks for classes that meet daily for 90-minutes; one month for classes that meet 50-minutes daily. Lesson 1 - Overview, one 90-minute class period or two 50-minute class periods Lesson 2- Act I, two 90-minute class periods or four 50-minute class periods Lesson 3 - Act II, two 90-minute class periods or four 50-minute class periods Lesson 4- Act III, two 90-minute class periods or four 50-minute class periods Lesson 5- Act IV, two 90-minute class periods or four 50-minute class periods Lesson 6 - "Reporting on the Crucible," ten 90-minute class or twenty 50-minute class periods (can be done during the reading of the text) Unit 3: Revolution and Expansion
Two weeks for classes that meet daily for 90-minutes; one month for classes that meet 50-minutes daily. Lesson 1 - Socratic Seminar with From Two Treatises on Government by John Locke; two 90-minute class periods or two 50-minute class periods Lesson 2- The Power of Propaganda, from Common Sense and The Crisis, No. 1 by Thomas Paine; three 90-minute class periods or six 50-minute class periods Lesson 3 - Playing the Devil's Advocate with The Declaration of Independence, one 90-minute class period or two 50-minute class periods Lesson 4 - Found Poetry with Phillis Wheatley and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; one 90-minute class period or one 50-minute class period. Lesson 5 - Reader's Response to excerpts from The Journals of Lewis and Clark (online); one to two 90-minute class periods or two to three 50-minute class periods
Lesson 6 - Heading West by Miriam Davis Colt, one 90-minute class period or two 50-minute class periods. Lesson 7 - Mixing Media with Outcasts of Poker Flat by Bret Harte, one 90-minute class period or two 50-minute class periods Unit 4: A Growing Nation
Four weeks for classes that meet 90-minutes a day; eight weeks for classes that meet 50-minutes a day. Lesson 1 - Building Suspense with The Fall of the House of Usher and The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe, two 90-minute class periods or four 50-minute class periods Lesson 2 - Storyboarding An Episode of War by Stephen Crane, one 90-minute class period or two 50-minute class periods
Lesson 3 - Changing Point of View in An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce; one 90-minute class period or two 50-minute class periods Lesson 4 - Thematic Connections in Transcendental Literature; five 90-minute class periods or ten 50-minute class periods
- From Nature and Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
- "Song of Myself," "I Hear America Singing" and from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
- "Success is counted sweetest," "There's a certain Slant of light" "I heard a Fly buzz-when I died," and "Because I could not stop for Death" by Emily Dickinson
- "Psalm 123" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- "The Road Not Taken," "Birches," "Fire and Ice," "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" and "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost
Unit 5: The New Century
Four weeks for classes that meet 90-minutes a day; eight weeks for classes that meet 50-minutes daily. Lesson 1 - Reflections on the Ellis Island Immigration Experience; one 90-minute class period or two 50-minute class periods Lesson 2 - Imagining the Rise of Cities; one 90-minute class period or two 50-minute class periods
- From Here is New York by E.B. White
- "Chicago" by Carl Sandburg
- Speech to Woman's Rights Convention, Akron, Ohio by Sojourner Truth
- "The Waste Land" by T.S. Eliot
- "In Another Country" by Ernest Hemingway
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Inaugural Address
- "In a Station of the Metro," and "The River Merchant's Wife" by Ezra Pound
- "anyone lived in a pretty how town" by e.e. cummings
- "The Red Wheelbarrow" and "This Is Just to Say" by William Carlos Williams
- others found by students
Unit 6: Post War America
Four weeks for for classes that meet 90-minutes a day, eight weeks for classes that meet for 50-minutes a day Lesson 1: In Cold Blood By Truman Capote, The First Non-Fiction Novel, Introduction, one 90-minute class period or two 50-minute class periods Lesson 2: Part I, two 90-minute class periods or four 50-minute class periods Lesson 3: Part II, two 90-minute class periods or four 50-minute class periods Lesson 4: Part III, two 90-minute class periods or four 50-minute class periods Lesson 5: Part IV, two 90-minute class periods or four 50-minute class periods Lesson 6: Introducing the Great American I-Search Paper, one 90-minute class or two 50-minute classes (In Cold Blood and The Great American I-Search will overlap) Final Project: The Great American I-Search Paper, two weeks for classes that meet for 90-minutes and up to a month for classes that meet for 50-minutes, depending on how much work is done in class
North Carolina Standard Course of Study for English III
Description:Links to the goals and objectives for English III, as referenced throughout the semester.
Last Updated:Dec-14-2009
Subject(s):- Language Arts
- Grades 11-12 / Ages 16-18
- high
- 11th
- 12th
- secondary
- senior
- teen
- Other
Links to the goals and objectives for English III, as referenced throughout the semester.
Navigate to This External Web Link:
http://http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/curriculum/languagearts/scos/2004/29english3
Unit 1: Beginnings
Description:This unit will cover early writings of America and reflections on early cultures. Vocabulary lists, analysis questions, and other resources are included in each lesson.
Last Updated:Jul-29-2010
Subject(s):- Language Arts
- Language Arts > Listening & Speaking
- ...
- Grades 11-12 / Ages 16-18
- high
- 11th
- 12th
- secondary
- senior
- teen
- Curriculum: Unit
Unit 2: The Crucible
Description:This unit focuses on The Crucible by Arthur Miller. It includes detailed lesson plans, classroom activities, and links to study guides and other resources. This unit also includes a final journalism-based project in which students reflect on the time period and the issues surrounding the text.
Last Updated:Nov-03-2009
Subject(s):- Arts
- Arts > Film
- ...
- Grades 11-12 / Ages 16-18
- high
- 11th
- 12th
- secondary
- senior
- teen
- Curriculum: Unit
Unit 3: Revolution and Expansion
Description:This unit includes literature surrounding the American Revolution and westward expansion.
Last Updated:Dec-14-2009
Subject(s):- Information & Media Literacy
- Information & Media Literacy > Research Methods
- ...
- Grades 11-12 / Ages 16-18
- high
- 11th
- 12th
- secondary
- senior
- teen
- Curriculum: Unit
Unit 4: A Growing Nation
Description:Unit Four encompasses much of the 19th Century, from American legends, through Civil War literature and to Transcendentalism and its influences. Students will study the elements of fiction from suspense and point-of-view to theme. They will create a multi-genre project based on their understanding of theme.
Last Updated:Dec-14-2009
Subject(s):- Information & Media Literacy
- Information & Media Literacy > Research Methods
- ...
- Grades 11-12 / Ages 16-18
- high
- 11th
- 12th
- secondary
- senior
- teen
- Curriculum: Unit
Unit 5: The New Century
Description:Unit 5 covers literature from the turn of the 20th Century through World War II. Students will explore immigration stories, documents about the rise of American cities, poetry and short stories about World War I and World War II, and Modernist poetry.
Last Updated:Dec-14-2009
Subject(s):- Language Arts
- Social Studies
- Grades 11-12 / Ages 16-18
- high
- 11th
- 12th
- secondary
- senior
- teen
- Curriculum: Unit
Unit 6: Post War America
Description:In this unit, students will study the rise of the non-fiction novel by reading and exploring Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. A final I-Search project caps off the course.
Last Updated:Dec-14-2009
Subject(s):- Language Arts
- Social Studies
- Grades 11-12 / Ages 16-18
- high
- 11th
- 12th
- secondary
- senior
- teen
- Curriculum: Unit

