English II:  American Literature        

This course is designed to familiarize students with the development of American literature from the Colonial Period through the 20th century. Students will focus on the study of all genres of American literature by analyzing, discussing and writing about what they have read. Students will be required to master and use new vocabulary encountered in the literature studied.  Students will expand upon their knowledge of the writing process learned in English I as they learn to compose more sophisticated writings such as the formal literary essay and a three- to five-page research paper.

Reading List: 

  • Short Stories
    Students will read a minimum of 5 short stories by Edgar Allan Poe.  Students will study elements of gothic literature, horror, and the macabre.
  • Novels
    Students will study the use of sarcasm and dramatic irony in Mark Twain’s The Adventure’s of Huckleberry Finn.  Student will also read and analyze Willa Cather’s novel, My Antonia.
  • Drama
    Students will make connections between history and literature in their reading of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.
  • Non-Fiction
    Students will study the philosophy of transcendentalism through their reading of Henry David Thoreau’s Walden as well as selections from Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman.  Students will read an autobiographical work, Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.  Students will read appropriate literary criticism to supplement their reading and understanding of the course material.
  • Poetry
    Students will read a variety of selections from Emily Dickinson as well as selections from African American poets such as Phillis Wheatley Peters, James Weldon Johnson, Claude McKay, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and Langston Hughes.

Writing:
American Literature will continue to strengthen the fundamentals of writing while introducing a variety of writing styles. Students will be given opportunities to develop their own voice and explore new ideas and styles through individual portfolios.

Fundamentals: 

  • Students will work to develop their writing moving from basic five-paragraph essays to more advance formal literary essays..
  • Students will use a process of writing that includes peer editing and revising.
  • Fundamental research skills will be developed through research activities and library orientations. Research will include a basic introduction to the incorporation of literary criticism.  They will demonstrate competent citations bibliographies according to the Modern Language Association’s guidelines.

Portfolio Products:
Students will have one finished product for each of the following styles of writing: persuasive essay, compare and contrast essay, reading journal, poetry, cause & effect and formal literary essay.

COMPETENCY GOAL 1: Language—Students will demonstrate the ability to recognize effective oral communication used by authors and to use effective oral communication skills in the classroom.
Objectives:

  • Students will use agreed upon rules for informal and formal discussions in small and large groups.
  • Students will pose questions, listen to the ideas of others, and contribute their own information and ideas in-group discussions or interviews in order to acquire new knowledge.
  • Students will deliver formal oral presentations using appropriate gestures, tone, vocabulary, and organization.
  • Students will recognize and analyze how the English language has developed through history.
  • Students will demonstrate how oral dialects differ from each other in English, how they differ from written Standard English, and what role standard American English plays in informal and formal communication. They will analyze when these dialects is a source of positive or negative stereotypes among social groups.

COMPETENCY GOAL 2: Literature—Students will demonstrate an understanding of the mechanisms of the short story, drama, epic poetry, and the novel.
Objectives:

  • Students will decode accurately and understand new words encountered in their reading material, drawing on a variety strategies as needed and then use these words accurately in speaking and writing.
  • Students will demonstrate an understanding of the basic facts and essential ideas in what they have read, heard or viewed, drawing on focusing, planning, monitoring, and assessing strategies as needed.
  • Students will demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics of different genres.
  • Students will compare, contrast, and evaluate the different styles of various authors
  • Students will use their knowledge of literary allusions to capture the full flavor and resonance when used in other literary works.
  • Students will recognize and analyze themes in literature and provide evidence to support their understanding.
  • Students will apply themes across time and texts.
  • Students will analyze the moral and philosophical arguments presented in novels, films plays, or poems. They will interpret an author’s political ideology and its relevance to society.
  • Students will identify and analyze the ways in which historical and cultural contexts influence literature.
  • Students will interpret the meaning of literary works, non-fiction, films, and media by using different critical perspectives and analytical techniques.
  • Students will recognize and understand how an author’s choice of words appeals to the senses, creates imagery, suggests mood, and sets tone.
  • Students will analyze and compare figurative language, imagery, suggests mood and sets tone.
  • Students will locate and interpret character development in literature, supporting their ideas with evidence from the text.
  • Students will demonstrate an understanding of the structure and elements of fiction by supporting their ideas with evidence from the text. Specifically, students will locate and analyze point of view, foreshadowing, and irony.
  • Students will demonstrate an understanding of the structure, elements, and meaning of non-fiction or information material, including speeches and literary criticism.
  • Students will demonstrate an understanding of the structure, elements and theme of poetry. 
  • Students will plan and present effective dramatic readings, recitations, and presentations.
  • Students will demonstrate an understanding of the function of playwrights, directors, and actors by writing, directing or acting in a play.

COMPETENCY GOAL 3: Composition—Students will demonstrate the ability to construct well written paragraphs and essays. Objectives:

  • Students will develop their own voice in writing.
  • Students will be able to write in a variety of forms.
  • Students will write coherent compositions with a clear controlling idea and adequate detail, drawing on focusing and planning strategies as needed to generate and organize their ideas.
  • Students will select and use appropriate genres, modes of reasoning, and speaking styles when writing for different audiences and rhetorical purposes.
  • Students will improve organization, content, paragraph development, level of detail, style, tone, and word choice in their compositions.
  • Students will develop their writing through a process of multiple drafts, conferences, revision, and editing.
  • Students will demonstrate an understanding of English Grammar and Standard English conventions for sentence structure, usage, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling and use their knowledge to edit their writing.
  • Students will demonstrate an understanding of theme through formal essay writing.
  • Students will demonstrate an understanding of character development through formal essay writing.
  • Students will use self-generated questions, note-taking, summarizing, precis writing, and outlining in their learning activities. 
  • Students will use open-ended research questions, different sources of information, and appropriate research methods to gather information for their research products.
  • Students will evaluate the utility and credibility of information resources.
  • Students will understand the definition and consequences of plagiarism and cite their sources according to MLA guidelines.

COMPETENCY GOAL 4: Media – Students will demonstrate to use media to aid in their studies and the ability to be critical interpreters of media. Objectives:

  • Students will select appropriate technology to enhance their efficiency in selecting pertinent or appropriate information and use it effectively to carry out research.
  • Students will identify the aesthetic effects of a media presentation and identify and evaluate the techniques used to create them.
  • Students will use media to demonstrate an understanding of the social or political philosophy of a literary unit or a particular issue.

TECHNOLOGY LEARNING OUTCOMES
The student can

  • Identify elements of the word processing window toolbars.
  • Open a new document and enter letters and numbers.
  • Create and print a guided writing assignment.
  • Highlight text and apply different fonts.
  • Insert clip art images into documents.
  • Create a new document and enter sentences and paragraphs.
  • Use the editing features to copy, cut, and paste.
  • Change page orientation.
  • Identify word processing window elements.
  • Copy and paste from the clipboard.
  • Set margins.
  • Insert correct date and time.
  • Use Thesaurus.
  • Add headers and footers to a document.
  • Create and enter text into a text box.
  • Edit a text box.
  • Use the desktop publishing features to produce a product such as a newsletter or a tri-fold brochure.
  • Select choices for paragraph formatting (justification, indenting, etc.) adding bullets or numbering.
  • Insert a page break.
  • Use a grammar check.
  • Create and use tabs.
  • Enter a main idea and at least three subtopics into a graphic organizer.
  • Develop an organization tree of a main idea, topics, and sub-topics.
  • Enter a teacher-provided key word to locate information on the Internet using a designated web search engine.
  • Develop an outline using a graphic organizer.