American Literature (Course)

Description of Course

Enduring Understandings

• Accomplished readers comprehend texts by reading fluently, strategically, and critically.
• Speakers and writers control or personalize messages through word choices, voice, and style.
• Writers choose to spend time ensuring all grammar and punctuation is accurate to show respect for readers.
• Critical readers question the text, consider various perspectives, and look for author’s bias in order to think, live, and act differently.
• Accomplished researchers employ strategies to help them research information.
• Literature can reflect, clarify, criticize, and satirize the time, ideas, and cultures it depicts.
• American literature explores the conflicts that shape our nation.
• Writers’ choices of words reflect their membership in various social, regional, and cultural groups.

Essential Questions for Course

1. What does it mean to be an American?
2. How has the United States lived up to its original promise?
3. How do history, culture, and literature inform and influence one another?

Teaching Resources

• American Passages: A Literary Survey from the Annenberg Foundation
• Perspectives in American Literature
• Native American Authors from ipl2
• Useful Resources in American Literature and Culture from Columbia University
• American Literature Resources
  • Literary Movements in America
• Online Guide to American Literature for High School and College

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Unit 1: Encounters and Adventures (1607-1765)

The Colonial Period to the Stamp Act

The colonial period begins in 1607 with the founding of the Jamestown colony in Virginia and ends with the passage of the Stamp Act by the British Parliament.

Standards and I Can Statements

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.9
Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.6
Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness or beauty of the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1
Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11–12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.3
Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.

Literary Resources

Bradstreet, Anne (1617-1672)
Selections from The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America (1650)

• "Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House"
• "A Love Letter to Her Husband"
• "Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House"
• "To my Dear and Loving Husband"

A list of her poems, along with links to their texts, can be found here.

Rowlandson, Mary (c. 1636 - c. 1711)

• Selections from A Narrative of the Captivity, Sufferings, and Removes of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson (1682)

Edwards, Jonathan (1703-1758)

• Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

Bradford, William (1590-1657)

• Selections from Of Plymouth Plantation (1620)

Taylor, Edward (1642?-1729)

• "Huswifery"

Byrd, William (1674-1744)

• Selections from The History of the Dividing Line (c. 1728)

Dekanawida

• Selections from The Iroquois Constitution

Teaching Resources

Background Reading

• Hofstadter, Richard. America at 1750: A Social Portrait. New York: Vintage-Random, 1971.

Especially useful chapters include chapter 2 ("White Servitude"), chapter 4 ("Black Slavery"), and chapter 7 ("The Awakeners").

Academic Language

Tier 2

• allusion
• analogy
• analyze
• anecdote
• arguments
• audience
• characterization
• chronological order
• claim
• collaboration
• compare/contrast
• connotation
• denotation
• description/express
• dialogue
• emotional appeals
• evaluate
• evidence
• historical context
• imagery
• inference
• interpretations
• logical appeals
• metaphor
• narrative
• pacing
• purpose
• reflection
• rhetorical question
• satire
• summarize
• synonyms
• theme

Tier 3

• alliteration
• archetype
• Deism
• conceit
• extended metaphor
• parallelism
• personification
• plot line
• Rationalism
• syntax
• The Great Awakening
• tone

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Unit 2: Nation Building (1765-1828)

The Revolutionary and Early National Periods

The Revolutionary Period in American literature begins in 1765 with the passage of the Stamp Act by the British parliament, and ends in 1789, with the ratification of the United States Constitution. The Early National Period begins in 1789 and ends in 1828 with the election of Andrew Jackson to the presidency.

Essential Questions

1. What could cause a people to fight for their independence?
2. How do you create a new national identity?

Standards and I Can Statements

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.5
Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.8
Delineate and evaluate the reasoning in seminal U.S. texts, including the application of constitutional principles and use of legal reasoning (e.g., in U.S. Supreme Court majority opinions and dissents) and the premises, purposes, and arguments in works of public advocacy (e.g., The Federalist, presidential addresses).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.9
Analyze seventeenth-, eighteenth-, and nineteenth-century foundational U.S. documents of historical and literary significance (including The Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address) for their themes, purposes, and rhetorical features.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.1
Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.4
Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.1
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

Literacy Resources

Wheatley, Phyllis (1753-1784)

Equiano, Olaudah (c. 1745-1797)

• Selections from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789)

Franklin, Benjamin (1706-1790)

• Selections from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
• Selections from Poor Richard's Almanack

Henry, Patrick (1736-1799)

• "Speech to the Virginia Convention" (1765)
• "Liberty or Death" speech (1775)

Paine, Thomas (1737-1809)

• Selections from The Rights of Man (1791)
• Selections from Common Sense (1776)
• Selections from Notes on the State of Virginia
• Selections from The Age of Reason (1794, 1796)
• Selections from The Crisis

Jefferson, Thomas (1743-18260)

• Selections from A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774)
• Selections from Notes on the State of Virginia
• Selections from The Autobiography
• Selections from "The Declaration of Independence"

Teaching Resources

Background Reading

• Wood, Gordon S. The American Revolution: A History. New York: Modern Library, 2002.

Academic Language

Tier 2

• ambiguity
• atmosphere
• autobiography
• beliefs
• biases
• coda
• cohesion
• connotation
• counterclaim
• denotation
• diction
• elliptical construction
• etymology
• foreshadow
• hyperbole
• Idealism
• Individualism
• irony
• oratory
• parable
• paradox
• purpose
• refrain
• satire
• symbol
• tone
• transitions

Tier 3

• allegory
• alliteration
• aphorism
• assonance
• cadence
• exact rhyme
• free verse
• Gothic short story
• internal rhyme
• lyric poetry
• mood
• Naturalism
• onomatopoeia
• primary source
• Realism
• Regionalism
• Romanticism
• slant rhyme
• slave narrative
• Transcendentalism

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Unit 3: Dreams and Nightmares (1828-1865)

The Romantic Period through the Civil War

The Romantic Period in American literature begins in 1828 with the election of Andrew Jackson to the presidency, and ends in 1865 with the conclusion of the Civil War.

Standards and I Can Statements

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.2
Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.9
Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.5
Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.4
Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.4
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grades 11–12 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.

Literary Resources

Stanton, Elizabeth Cady (1815-1902)

• Selections from Declaration of Sentiments of the Seneca Falls Women's Rights Convention

Irving, Washington (1783-1859)
Novels

• A History of New York
• The Sketch Book (1819-20)
• Tales of a Traveller (1824)

Short Stories

• "The Devil and Tom Walker"

Bryant, William Cullen (1794-1878)

• "Thanatopsis"

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth (1807-1882)

• Evangeline (1847)
• The Song of Hiawatha (1855)
• "The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls"
• "The Cross of Snow"

Emerson, Ralph Waldo (1803-1882)

• "Nature"
• "Self-Reliance"

Thoreau, Henry David (1817-1862)

• Walden (1854)
• "Resistance to Civil Government" (1849)

Hawthorne, Nathaniel (1804-1864)
Novels

• Selections from Twice-Told Tales (1837)
• The Scarlet Letter (1850)
• The House of the Seven Gables (1851)

Short Stories

• "Young Goodman Brown"
• "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment"
• "The Minister's Black Veil"

Poe, Edgar Allan (1809-1849)

• Tamerlane (1827)
• Al Aaraaf (1829)
• The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym
• "The Gold Bug"
• "The Purloined Letter"
• "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"
• "The Tell-Tale Heart"
• "The Cask of Amontillado"
• "The Pit and the Pendulum"
• "The Raven" (1845)

Academic Language

Tier 2

• abolition
• ambiguity
• atmosphere
• beliefs
• biases
• cohesion
• connotation
• counterclaim
• denotation
• dialect
• diction
• etymology
• foreshadow
• hyperbole
• Idealism
• Individualism
• irony
• oratory
• parable
• paradox
• purpose
• refrain
• satire
• symbol
• tone
• transitions

Tier 3

• cadence
• catalog
• coda
• elliptical construction
• exact rhyme
• free verse
• Gothic short story
• internal rhyme
• lyric poetry
• mood
• primary source
• Romanticism
• slant rhyme
• Transcendentalism

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Unit 4: New Frontiers (1865-1914)

Realism, Regionalism, and Naturalism

The Realistic Period in American literature began in 1865 with the conclusion of the Civil War and ended around 1900. The Naturalistic Period in American literature began at the close of the Realistic Period and ended in 1914 with the outbreak of World War I. Regionalism is a trend in literature to focus on the characters, dialect, customs, geography, and other features particular to a specific region.

Standards and I Can Statements

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.3
Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.3
Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.5
Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.5
Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.2
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Literary Resources

Stowe, Harriet Beecher (1811-1896)
New England

Freeman, Mary E. Wilkins (1852-1930)
New England

Jewett, Sarah Orne (1849-1909)
New England

Chopin, Kate (1850-1904)
Southern

Harris, Joel Chandler (1848-1908)
Southern

Harte, Bret (1839-1902)
Western

Twain, Mark (1835-1910)
Western

Zitkala-Sa (1876-1938)
Great Plains

Academic Language

Tier 3

• Naturalism
• Realism
• Regionalism

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Unit 5: Stepping Onto the Stage (1914-1945)

Modernism

The Modern Period in American literature begins with the start of World War I and ends with the conclusion of World War II.

Standards and I Can Statements

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.6
Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.5
Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.6
Acquire and use accurately general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.

Literary Resources

Fitzgerald, F. Scott
Novels

• The Great Gatsby

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Unit 6: The Center Cannot Hold (1945-?)

Postmodernism

The Postmodern Period in American literature begins with the conclusion of World War II. Scholars debate its end point.

Standards and I Can Statements

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.5
Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.7
Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.)

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.2
Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.3
Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone used.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.5
Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

Literary Resources

A good list of postmodern novels is available from the L.A. Times.

Drama

• Hansberry, Lorraine: A Raisin in the Sun (1959)
• Miller, Arthur: Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953)
• Williams, Tennessee: The Glass Menagerie (1944), A Streetcar Named Desire (1948)

Novels

• Alexie, Sherman: Reservation Blues (1995)
• Baldwin, James: Got Tell It on the Mountain (1953)
• Banks, Russell: Rule of the Bone (1995)
• Barth, John: Giles Goat Boy (1966), Lost in the Funhouse (1968)
• Bellow, Saul: Seize the Day ()
• Bradbury, Ray: Fahrenheit 451 (1953)
• Burroughs, William: Naked Lunch (1959)
• DeLillo, Don: White Noise (1985)
• Dick, Phillip K: The Man in the High Castle (1962)
• Eggers, Dave: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius ()
• Ellis, Bret Easton: Less Than Zero (1985)
• Ellison, Ralph: Invisible Man ()
• Erdrich, Louise: Love Medicine ()
• Fowles, John: The French Lieutenant's Woman (1969)
• Heller, Joseph: Catch-22 (1961)
• Hersey, John: Hiroshima (1946)
• Krakauer, Jon: Into the Wild ()
• Lee, Harper: To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)
• McCarthy, Cormac: All the Pretty Horses (), The Road ()
• McInerney, Jay: Bright Lights, Big City (1984)
• Momaday, N. Scott: House Made of Dawn (1968)
• Moore, Alan, and Dave Gibbons: Watchmen (1984)
• Morrison, Toni: Beloved (1987), Song of Solomon ()
• Pynchon, Thomas: V (1963), Gravity's Rainbow (1973)
• Robbins, Tom: Still Life with Woodpecker (1980)
• Roth, Philip: Goodbye, Columbus (1959)
• Salinger, J.D.: The Catcher in the Rye (1951)
• Tan, Amy: The Joy Luck Club ()
• Thompson, Hunter S.: "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971)
• Vonnegut, Kurt: Cat's Cradle (1963), Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), Breakfast of Champions (1973)
• Walker, Alice: The Color Purple (1982)
• Wallace, David Foster: Infinite Jest (1996)
• Wright, Richard: Native Son ()

Poetry

• Bishop, Elizabeth: "The Fish" (), One Art (), "Sestina" ()
• Brooks, Gwendolyn: "The Bean Eaters" ()
• Carver, Raymond: "Happiness" (), "The Current" ()
• Forche, Carolyn: "The Visitor" ()
• Ginsberg, Allen: "America" ()
• Jarrell, Randall: "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" ()
• Kleinzahler, August: "The Tartar Swept" ()
• Lowell, Robert: "Skunk Hour" (), "Memories of West Street and Lepke" ()
• Merrill, James: "The Black Swan" (), "The Octopus" (), "Days of 1964" ()
• Merwin, W.S.: "My Friends" ()
• Plath, Sylvia: "Mirror" (), "Mushrooms" (), "Tulips" ()
• Sexton, Anne: "The Bells" (), "Young" ()
• Wilbur, Richard: "The Beautiful Changes" (), "Boy at the Window" (), "The Writer" (), "Love Calls Us to the Things of This World" (), "Advice to a Prophet"

Short Stories (and collections)

• Barthelme, Donald: Sixty Stories (1981); "Game" (1968)
• Carver, Raymond: What We Talk About When We Talk About Love (1981), Cathedral (1983); "Everything Stuck to Him" 90
• Jackson, Shirley: "The Lottery" (1948)
• Kaplan, David Michael: "Doe Season" (2005)
• LeGuin, Ursula K: "She Unnames Them" (1985)
• O'Brien, Tim: The Things They Carried (1990)
• O'Connor, Flannery: "A Good Man is Hard to Find" (1955)
• Olsen, Tillie: "I Stand Here Ironing" (1961)
• Tan, Amy: The Joy Luck Club (1989)
• Updike, John: "Pigeon Feathers" (1962), "A&P" (1962), "How to Love America and Leave It at the Same Time" (), "Son" (),