The following texts and media will be taught in English I this semester. It is possible that not all of these texts or media will be used this semester. It is also possible that a piece of media will be moved to a different unit to meet the needs of the students and the content. However, no text nor media will be used that is not cited here. The text and media are chosen for their interest levels and ability to raise questions about important social, political, and personal issues. Please review this list carefully. I am more than happy to provide the text or media in advance for you to peruse. Please email or call me in advance if you have any concerns or questions about the content covered in this class.
This list does not include the Weekly Current Event covered in class. The Weekly Current Event consists of articles published in one of the following: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Guardian. The Weekly Current Event can be provided to you a week in advance upon request.
Unit One: Dystopia and the Nature of Humanity
Essential Question: How does a group shape an individual?
Fiction:
Ender’s Game (summer reading) by Orson Scott Card
Anthem by Ayn Rand
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
A Separate Peace by John Knowles Animal Farm by George Orwell
Poetry:
“The Unknown Citizen” by WH Auden
“The Dirty Word” by Karl Shapiro
“The Street” by Octavio Paz
“Brotherhood” by Octavio Paz
“The History Teacher” by Billy Collins
“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
“As I Grew Older” by Langston Hughes
“Identity” by Julio Noboa Polanco
“Who Am I Really?” by Zenzii X
“We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar
Supplemental Nonfiction:
“The Only Path to Tomorrow” by Ayn Rand
“The Paradox of Choice” RSA animate of Renata Salecl
“What is to Be Done?” by Vladimir Lenin (excerpt)
“History Will Absolve Me” by Fidel Castro (excerpt)
“Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (excerpt)
“Civilization and its Discontents” by Sigmund Freud (excerpt)
William Golding’s Nobel Prize Speech
“Baby Bigots” on Sixty Minutes
“The Bystander Effect” documentary headed by Dr. Zimbardo (excerpt)
“Asch Conformity Experiment” (documentary excerpt)
“Moral Behavior Paradigm” (illustration)
“Lenin: Revolutionary” excerpts from the documentary
“Daily Life in North Korea” excerpts from the documentary
Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes (overview)
Major Assignments
Ender’s Game assignment
Utopian Society Project
Claim Analysis essay for Anthem
Character Analysis essay for The Lord of the Flies
Allegory analysis for Animal Farm
Unit Two: Race and Poverty
Essential Question: How does our environment shape who we are?
Fiction:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
“Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin
“Blues Ain’t No Mockingbird” by Toni Cade Bambara
Snow Falling on Cedars movie adapted from the novel by David Guterson
Poetry:
“Yet Do I Marvel” by Countee Cullen
“I, Too, Sing America” by Langston Hughes
“I Dream of All Things Free!” by Felicia Hermans
“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou
“Blink of an Eye” by Sekou Sundiata
“We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks
“I am Nobody (Who are You?)” by Emily Dickinson
Supplemental Nonfiction:
“Atlanta Compromise” speech by Booker T. Washington
“Letter from Birmingham Jail” OR “I Have a Dream” by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Lina Yiang’s documentary on Favoritepoem.org for “I am Nobody (Who are You)?”
John Ulrich’s documentary on Favoritepoem.org for “We Real Cool”
Todd Hellem’s documentray on Favoritepoem.org for “Yet I Do Marvel”
“Poverty is Poison” by Paul Krugman
“Cul-de-Sac Poverty” by Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube
“Poverty as a Childhood Disease” by Dr. Perri Klass
“US Income Gap Rose; Sign of Uneven Recovery” by Sabrina Tavernise
“The Loving Family” an HBO documentary (excerpt)
MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS
To Kill a Mockingbird Research Project and Presentation
Web Quest of Race and Identity for short stories
Compare and Contrast thematic essay
Unit Three: Family Ties
Essential Question: How does family influence our lives?
Fiction
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (excerpt) by Mark Twain
Poetry
Shakespearian and Plutarchian sonnets
Nonfiction
“Is There Something Wrong with the Human Condition?” Forum from TED Talks
William Ury “The Walk From ‘No’ to ‘Yes’” TED talk
“Watching New Love as it Sears the Brain” Benedict Carey
“Suicide and Suicidal Behavior” by A.D.A.M. published in The New York Times
“Romeo and Juliet in Bosnia” by Bob Herbert
“The Visual Artistry of Romeo and Juliet” (excerpt) by James Black
Major Assignments
Romeo and Juliet Project
Literary Analysis essay
Unit Four: The Journey
Poetry
The Odyssey by Homer
Fiction
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Major Assignments
The Odyssey presentations
A Separate Peace presentations