American Lit. Syllabus

ENGLISH 11B
American Lit. Mr. C-D
Rm. 229

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course is a progressive study of American literature through reading works of recognized literary merit. Writing assignments include literary analysis, narrative, descriptive, and persuasive essays.


POWER STANDARDS:

Reading and Literature:

--Listen to, read, and understand a wide variety of classic and contemporary literature.
--Understand and draw upon a variety of comprehension strategies as needed—re-reading, self-correcting, summarizing, class and group discussions, generating and responding to essential questions, making predictions, and comparing information from several sources.

and most importantly:

--Develop an interpretation that exhibits personal engagement, originality, careful reading, understanding, and insight.

Writing:

--Use the writing process: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.
--Review, evaluate, and revise writing to improve coherent development of the thesis, logic of organization, depth of information, and clarity.
--Apply conventions of grammar correctly.
--Apply conventions of punctuation and capitalization correctly.
--Apply conventions of spelling correctly.
--Use words precisely and with variety.



ELEMENTS OF THE CLASS:

Course Theme: How I interact with society

Unit One: American Gothic Literature (McDougal-Littell Textbook)
3 weeks instruction

Theme: “The Fear that Consumes Us” Discuss the elements of Gothic Literature

“Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe (survival and the fear of infection, conversion or annihilation)
(Group storyboard assignment +Written reflection: “A Plague hits Prineville”)

“Danse Macabre” by Stephen King (The fear of the unknown)

Short Films, “Two Hours Ago” and Mt. Bachelor Galactica”
(Written Reflection: What is xenophobia and how is it manifested in both literature and our lives?)

A Study of Christopher Nolan’s “Batman Begins”
(Written Reflection: analyze and describe the several American Gothic literary elements in this contemporary film. How is Batman a Gothic Hero?)
Characterization study, How fear both motivates and cripples a literary character, and how it affects the overall plot of a gothic story. How does Bruce Wayne transform his greatest fears into his greatest strengths?

Unit Two: To Kill A Mockingbird, An Independent Reading Layered Curriculum (Concurrently with:)

American Cinema Curriculum 2 weeks, three films (Casablanca, Citizen Kane and August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson) with discussions and reflections on the craft of story in the visual medium.

American Author Studies 1 week research one American author make a colorful poster with their picture, bio info, bibliography, selection of their writing, and a 1 page assessment of a piece of their writing.

3 weeks instruction total.

Unit Three: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”
3 weeks instruction Layered Curriculum


Unit Four: Oral Interpretation of Literature Curriculum
2.5 weeks instruction


ASSESSMENT (With Grade Percentages)

American Gothic Portfolio (25%)
F. Scott Fitzgerald Unit “The Great Gatsby” (25%)
Oral Interpretation of Literature Unit (15%)
To Kill A Mockingbird, Independent Layered Curriculum (10%)
American Cinema Curriculum (10%)
American Author Study (5%)
Attendance, Class Discussion and Participation (10%)