Summer Reading Into the
Wild
Composition/Generative
Strategies/2500 Word Journal
Essential Questions:
1. How do I know what I think until I see what I say? (Forster)
2. What events and experiences have shaped who I am?
3. How can I understand the way these events and experiences have shaped me through writing about them?
4. What is the relationship between idea and expression?
5. How does the personal essay differ from the traditional high school analytical essay?
Expectations:
1. Students will experiment with the elasticity of the essay as a form of personal expression.
2. Students will refine and strengthen their own authentic “voice.”
3. Students will more fully embrace the concept of writing as a process.
4. Students will be introduced to a variety of strategies for generating ideas.
5. Students will be asked to pursue membership in a wider community of writers and will expand their notion of audience beyond the limited scope of their English teacher.
6. Students will learn to read, annotate and respond with a greater level of specificity to texts generated both by professional writers and by their peers.
7. Students will increase the range of vocabulary available to them.
8. Students will be asked to write a great deal.
Major Assignments:
· 2,500 word inquiry exercise.
On-going Assessment:
· Regular reading quizzes
· In-class and take-home writing prompts
Resources:
· A variety of professional essays whose titles may include (but are not limited to): “Owls” (Nordan), “The Allegory of the Cave” (Plato), “Singing with the Fundamentalists” (Dillard), “Why I Write” (Didion), “Say Anything” (Holt), “On Bullshit” (Frankfurt), “Think About It” (Conroy), “Shooting an Elephant”, Why I Write” (Orwell)
Standards: 1, 2, 4 & 6
Vocabulary:
Vocabulary lists generated from texts reviewed and from Wordly Wise.
Regular quizzes.
Grammar:
No specific focus on grammar & mechanics in these first two weeks.
Privacy
Essential Questions:
1. What is privacy? To what extent is it can it be considered a right?
2. What have other writers written about privacy?
3. Whose views make sense to me?
4. How can I position my own views on privacy relative to other writers’ views?
5. How do I include other writers’ words in my own writing?
6. How does the personal essay differ from the traditional literary/analytical essay?
Expectations:
1. Students will be reintroduced to a range of strategies for generating, drafting and revising their work.
2. Students will learn to read, annotate and respond with a greater level of specificity to texts generated both by professional writers and by their peers.
3. Students will learn to identify author’s purpose and evaluate potential bias.
4. Students will improve their ability to integrate another writer’s language within their own texts.
5. Students will become familiar with the conventions of MLA in-text citation and documentation.
6. Students will recognize the value conventions of grammar and usage provide them in pursuing a greater syntactical variety in their writing.
7. Students will be given the opportunity to read and respond to each other’s work in a supportive workshop environment.
8. Students will increase the range of vocabulary available to them.
Major Assignments:
· Informed essay on Privacy
On-going Assessment:
· Reading Logs
· Regular reading quizzes
· In-class and take-home writing prompts
Resources:
· A variety of professional essays whose titles may include (but are not limited to): “Imperial Bedroom” (Franzen), “Psst: Your Car is Watching You” (Roosevelt), The Bill of Rights, “Rewards of a Solitary Life” (Sarton), “Some Comments on Privacy” (Bettelheim), “Protection from the Prying Camera” (Goodman), “On Touching by Accident” (Mairs), “Transparency, Security and Privacy” (Brin), Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (website), “Is Privacy Overrated?” (Plotz)
Standards: 1, 2, 4, 5 & 6
Vocabulary:
Vocabulary lists generated from texts reviewed and from Wordly Wise.
Regular quizzes.
Grammar:
Increase syntactical variety and control of prose at the sentence level.
Conventions of usage and punctuation; strategies for coordination and subordination; advantages of parallel, cumulative and periodic sentence structures all taught as much as possible in the context of the students’ own work.
Standards for Grammar: 3
Transcendentalism in a
Contemporary Context
Essential Questions:
1. What role has Nature played historically in shaping the American psyche? What role does it play in our current lives?
2. What relevance do the precepts of Transcendentalism have in our lives today?
3. What is the intersection between Transcendentalism and Puritanism?
Expectations:
1. Students will experiment with the elasticity of the essay as a form of personal expression.
2. Students will refine and strengthen their own authentic “voice.”
3. Students will more fully embrace the concept of writing as a process.
4. Students will continue to refine their ability to use a range of strategies for generating, drafting and revising their work.
5. Students will begin to recognize the different strategies available to writers who approach “ideas” in fictional as opposed to non-fiction texts.
6. Students will improve their ability to understand and discuss such literary devices as metaphor, irony and narrative structure.
7. Students will be able to recognize and discuss literature in an historical context.
8. Students will better understand the influence writers have upon each other.
9. Students will begin to understand the distinction between writing in response to literature from a subordinate (critical) stance and using the ideas encountered in readings to trigger their own writing.
10. Students will be given the opportunity to explore, in writing, their own response to questions seminal in American intellectual history (the balance relationship between the individual and society, the role and function of Nature in our lives, etc.).
11. Students will be given the opportunity to read and respond to each other’s work in a supportive workshop environment.
Major Assignments:
· “Divinity School” response
· “Self-Reliance” aphorism exercise
· Transcendentalist essay.
On-going Assessment:
· Regular reading quizzes
· In-class and take-home writing prompts
· Reading logs
Resources:
Standards: 1, 2, 4, 5 & 6
Vocabulary:
Vocabulary lists generated from texts reviewed and from Wordly Wise.
Regular quizzes.
Grammar:
Increase syntactical variety and control of prose at the sentence level.
Conventions of usage and punctuation; strategies for coordination and subordination; advantages of parallel, cumulative and periodic sentence structures all taught as much as possible in the context of the students’ own work.
Standards for Grammar: 3
Essential Questions:
1. What are the dynamics of shame? Of hypocrisy?
2. What counterparts does Boston’s theocracy have in the contemporary world?
3. Can Hester Prynne be considered a “proto”-feminist? Can Hawthorne?
4. What role does Nature play historically in shaping the American psyche? What role does it play in our current lives?
5. What influence did the Transcendentalist movement have on Hawthorne’s novel?
Expectations:
1. Students will better understand the influence writers have upon each other.
2. Students will re-familiarize themselves with basic literary tropes and begin to see how they can be viewed as rhetorical strategies.
3. Students will refine their understanding of the distinction between writing in response to literature from a subordinate (critical) stance and using the ideas encountered in readings to trigger their own writing.
4. Students will be given the opportunity to explore, in writing, their own response to questions of gender relations, the role of religion in America, and the dynamics of shame.
5. Students will recognize the value conventions of grammar and usage provide them in pursuing a greater syntactical variety in their writing.
6. Students will be given the opportunity to read and respond to each other’s work in a supportive workshop environment.
7. Students will increase the range of vocabulary available to them.
Major Assignments:
· Chapter summaries and presentations
· Discussion leader assignment
· Shame Essay
On-going Assessment:
· Reading Logs
· Regular reading quizzes
· In-class and take-home writing prompts
Resources:
· The Scarlet Letter (Hawthorne), ancillary critical readings (Norton Critical Edition)
Standards: 1, 2, 4, 5 & 6
Vocabulary:
Vocabulary lists generated from texts reviewed and from Wordly Wise.
Regular quizzes.
Grammar:
Increase syntactical variety and control of prose at the sentence level.
Conventions of usage and punctuation; strategies for coordination and subordination; advantages of parallel, cumulative and periodic sentence structures all taught as much as possible in the context of the students’ own work.
Standards for Grammar: 3
Essential Questions:
1. What role does religion play in our society?
2. What is the state of gender relations in contemporary America?
3. What is the effect of marginalization on voice? Who can speak? Who can’t?
4. How far-fetched is Atwood’s dystopia?
5. What
is the relationship between parody and satire?
Expectations:
1. Students will explore the relationship between form and authorial intent.
2. Students will re-familiarize themselves with basic literary tropes and begin to see how they can be viewed as rhetorical strategies.
3. Students will refine their understanding of the distinction between writing in response to literature from a subordinate (critical) stance and using the ideas encountered in readings to trigger their own writing.
4. Students will be invited to explore connections between literature and contemporary issues of fundamentalism in a variety of guises.
5. Students will recognize the value conventions of grammar and usage provide them in pursuing a greater syntactical variety in their writing.
6. Students will be given the opportunity to read and respond to each other’s work in a supportive workshop environment.
7. Students will increase the range of vocabulary available to them.
Major Assignments:
· Chapter summaries and presentations
· Discussion leader assignment
· Fundamentalism/Gender Relations essay
On-going Assessment:
· Reading Logs
· Regular reading quizzes
· AP-like practice prompts and in-class essays
Resources:
· The Handmaid’s Tale (Atwood), “When God was a Woman” (Stone), “The Christian Paradox” (McKibben), Genesis
Standards: 1, 2, 4, & 6
Vocabulary:
Vocabulary lists generated from texts reviewed and from Wordly Wise.
Regular quizzes.
Grammar:
Increase syntactical variety and control of prose at the sentence level.
Conventions of usage and punctuation; strategies for coordination and subordination; advantages of parallel, cumulative and periodic sentence structures all taught as much as possible in the context of the students’ own work.
Standards for Grammar: 3
Essential
Questions:
1.
What is satire?
How and when is it most effective?
2.
How does an author signal satirical intent?
3.
What is the relationship between satire and parody?
Expectations:
1. Students will become familiar with the rhetorics of satire.
2. Students will be given the opportunity to practice their own hand at satire.
3. Students will learn to distinguish between voice and intent.
4. Students will become familiar with strategies specific to writing about satire.
5. Students will recognize the value conventions of grammar and usage provide them in pursuing a greater syntactical variety in their writing.
6. Students will increase the range of vocabulary available to them.
Major Assignments:
· Satirical essay
Ongoing Assessment:
· Reading logs
· Routine reading quizzes
· In-class writing prompts
Resources:
· The Handmaid’s Tale (Atwood), “A Modest Proposal” (Swift), “Coyote versus Acme” (Frazier), “Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain” (Mitford), “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” (Miner), “Tooth Imprints on a Corndog” (Leyner), “Youth in Asia” (Sedaris)
Standards: 1, 2, 4, & 6
Vocabulary:
Vocabulary lists generated from texts reviewed and from Wordly Wise.
Regular quizzes.
Grammar:
Increase syntactical variety and control of prose at the sentence level.
Conventions of usage and punctuation; strategies for coordination and subordination; advantages of parallel, cumulative and periodic sentence structures all taught as much as possible in the context of the students’ own work.
Standards for Grammar: 3
The Book Review
Essential Questions:
1.
How can I apply strategies I’ve learned to date to
my independent reading?
2.
What are the differences between a book report and a
book review?
3.
How can I find out what others though about a book I
read?
4.
How can I position my own views relative to theirs?
Expectations:
1. Students will be given a modicum of agency in their own education.
2. Students will experience reading independently and for pleasure.
3. Students will become more familiar with strategies for researching authors’ biographies and critical reception.
4. Students will become familiar with the rhetorics of an informed literary review.
5. Students will cultivate their public speaking skills through prepared oral presentations.
6. Students will recognize the value conventions of grammar and usage provide them in pursuing a greater syntactical variety in their writing.
Major Assignments:
· Book Review
· Oral Presentation
Resources:
· Recommended reading list, sample book reviews
Standards: 1, 2, 4, 5 & 6
Grammar:
Increase syntactical variety and control of prose at the sentence level.
Conventions of usage and punctuation; strategies for coordination and subordination; advantages of parallel, cumulative and periodic sentence structures all taught as much as possible in the context of the students’ own work.
Standards for Grammar: 3
Essential Questions:
1.
How does Fitzgerald portray the American Dream?
2.
Is this portrayal still relevant in contemporary
America?
3.
Can Gatsby be considered a (the) Great
American Novel?
4.
How can literary criticism be transformed into a
creative act?
Expectations:
1. Students will reacquaint themselves with the conventions of literary criticism.
2. Students will be given the opportunity to explore the intersections between an
exegetical and rhetorical response to literary texts.
3. Students will continue to master the conventions of MLA documentation.
4. Students will explore differing perspectives on the American Dream.
5. Students will recognize the value conventions of grammar and usage provide them in pursuing a greater syntactical variety in their writing.
6. Students will be given the opportunity to read and respond to each other’s work in a supportive workshop environment.
7. Students will increase the range of vocabulary available to them.
Major Assignments:
· Gatsby exegesis
· Reading-by-numbers” assignment
On-going Assessment:
· Routine reading quizzes
· In-class writing prompts
Resources:
Standards: 1, 2, 4, & 6
Vocabulary:
Vocabulary lists generated from texts reviewed and from Wordly Wise.
Regular quizzes.
Grammar:
Increase syntactical variety and control of prose at the sentence level.
Conventions of usage and punctuation; strategies for coordination and subordination; advantages of parallel, cumulative and periodic sentence structures all taught as much as possible in the context of the students’ own work.
Standards for Grammar: 3
Essential Questions:
1.
How should we define and measure poverty?
2.
What are the causes of poverty?
3.
What are its effects on individuals and societies?
4.
What values does poverty undermine?
5.
What moral and legal rights do the poor have and
what obligations do society and individuals have toward the poor?
6.
What plausible remedies exist for the negative
aspects of poverty?
Expectations:
1. Students will review a range of interdisciplinary texts drawing on psychology, political philosophy, ethics, developmental studies and professional social work and health care.
2. Students will learn to critically evaluate diverse approaches to, arguments about and judgments regarding a central issue.
3. Students will encounter and learn to evaluate a range of media (graphs, video, caricatures, etc.).
4. Students will be asked to locate their own opinions and responses among the wide range of those encountered and to do so while directly citing others’ views appropriately for both support and refutation.
5. Students will become increasingly familiar with the rhetorics of persuasion.
6. Students will recognize the value conventions of grammar and usage provide them in pursuing a greater syntactical variety in their writing.
7. Students will be given the opportunity to read and respond to each other’s work in a supportive workshop environment.
8. Students will increase the range of vocabulary available to them.
Resources, Major Assignments, Etc.:
[Note: this unit is still under
construction and may be moved to follow, rather than precede, the Fight Club
unit. I’ll be drawing heavily on a
course taught by Harlan Beckley through Washington & Lee’s Shepherd Program. I’ll add the relevant information into this
curriculum map just as soon as I’ve compiled it.]
Essential Questions:
1.
What are the historical roots of existentialism and
nihilism?
2.
How are they similar? How do they differ?
3.
What is the meaning of the “absurd”?
4.
Whom do I admire more: Dr. Rieux or Tyler Durden?
Expectations:
1. Students will become more familiar with organizational strategies suitable to “compare & contrast” essays.
2. Students will become more conversant in issues central to 20th century philosophy.
3. Students will be better able to how philosophical concerns manifest themselves in literature.
4. Students will be further introduced to the sort of writing expected from them on the AP exam.
5. Students will recognize the value conventions of grammar and usage provide them in pursuing a greater syntactical variety in their writing.
6. Students will be given the opportunity to read and respond to each other’s work in a supportive workshop environment.
7. Students will increase the range of vocabulary available to them.
Major Assignment:
On-going assessment:
Resources:
· The Plague (excerpted), “The Myth of Sisyphus” (Camus), Fight Club (Palahniuk).
Standards: 1, 2, 4 & 6
Vocabulary:
Vocabulary lists generated from texts reviewed and from Wordly Wise.
Regular quizzes.
Grammar:
Increase syntactical variety and control of prose at the sentence level.
Conventions of usage and punctuation; strategies for coordination and subordination; advantages of parallel, cumulative and periodic sentence structures all taught as much as possible in the context of the students’ own work.
Standards for Grammar: 3
Essential Questions:
1.
What will be asked of me on the AP exam?
2.
What strategies are useful for responding to
multiple-choice questions?
3.
What types of essays will I be asked to write?
4.
How can I transfer the strategies useful in taking a
text through multiple drafts to a timed writing situation?
5.
What can I learn from reviewing my own and others’
practice essays?
Expectations:
1. Students will become thoroughly familiar with the AP exam format.
2. Students will learn strategies specific to approaching multiple-choice questions.
3. Students will review vocabulary specific to rhetorical analysis.
4. Students will learn strategies specific to timed writing tasks.
5. Students will be familiarized with scoring rubrics and expectations.
6. Students will be given the opportunity practice writing timed essays in response to a range of AP prompts.
7. Students will be given the opportunity to practice scoring their own and each other’s essays.
8. Students will feel well prepared for the exam on May 16th.
Major Assignments and On-going assessment:
· Multiple practice exams and individual exam questions
Resources:
· Previous years’ sample exams (College Board)
Standards: 1, 2, 4, 5 & 6
Vocabulary:
A review of rhetorical and literary terms specific to the AP exam.
Essential Questions:
1.
Why should I worry about my college application
essay now?
2.
What makes for a good application essay?
3.
What are some of the pitfalls of a bad application
essay?
4.
What are possible topics I could write about in
order to present myself in the most appealing way possible?
5.
What can I do over the summer to get started on the
college application process?
Expectations:
1. Students will be informed on the place and importance of the college essay in the college application process.
2. Students will review the hallmarks of a successful college essay.
3. Students will become familiar with some of the most common mistakes made in less successful college essays
4. Students will receive a range of generative prompts in an effort to get them started on their own essays.
Major Assignments:
·
Post-exam, students will attend one informative
workshop, complete self-assessment exercise and meet to conference on at least
one draft of a college essay.