Unit 1: Myths, Narratives, and Counternarratives (9/16-10/31)

Weekly tasks

• Task #1: Write down all lexicon words and definition in your notebook. Be sure to number them (i.e., Lexicon #1, Lexicon #2, etc.).

• Task #2: Read, annotate, and discuss Jonathan Bignell's "Myth."

• Task #3: Read either Adam and Eve or the story of Prometheus and Pandora's Box. 

• Task #4: Read both versions of Medusa (Ovid's telling and Carol Ann Duffy's counternarrative poem).

• Task #5: Read both versions of Orpheus and Eurydice (both the original telling and Margaret Atwood's counternarrative poem).

• Task #6: Complete Notebook entry #1.

Weekly tasks

• Task #1: Write down all lexicon words and definition in your notebook. Be sure to number them (i.e., Lexicon #1, Lexicon #2, etc.).

• Task #2: Read, annotate, and discuss Maury's "Manual of Geography."

• Task #3: Examine images of "The White Man's Burden," then read and discuss Rudyard Kipling's "The White Man's Burden."

• Task #4: Read, annotate, and discuss James Baldwin's "The White Man's Guilt."

• Task #5: Read and discuss Junji Ito's "The Enigma of Amigara Fault."

• Task #6: Complete Notebook entry #2.

Weekly tasks

• Task #1: Write down all lexicon words and definition in your notebook. Be sure to number them (i.e., Lexicon #1, Lexicon #2, etc.).

• Task #2: Read, annotate, and discuss The Declaration of Independence. especially how this document inspired the ideas and ideals of the American Dream.

• Task #3: Read and compare James Truslow Adam's version of the American dream to our modern perspective of it.

• Task #4: Watch the video on the American Dream over the decades, also known as "Redefining the American Dream" from The New York Times.

• Task #5: Read, annotate, and discuss Sarah Churchwell's "A Brief History of American Dream" in order to understand the two conflicting narratives of the American Dream and how it has evolved.

• Task #6: What is the middle class, social mobility, and the myth of meritocracy? Watch the videos and see what it takes to be apart of Boston's middle class.

• Task #7: Complete Common Assessment #1 (both the multiple choice and writing portion).

Week Breakdown

• Monday the 28th

  • Take notes on Walt Whitman, the People's Poet.

  • Write down lexicon #11: theme, thematic analysis.

  • Read, annotate, and discuss "O Me, O Life!" by Walt Whitman, taking note on what ideas or themes are found in the poem.

  • Watch Dead Poet Society clip.

  • Write a short reflection: What will your verse be?

• Tuesday the 29th

  • Continue to take notes on Whitman.

  • Read, annotate, and discuss "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman, paying attention to the patterns or ideas. 

  • Take notes on Langston Hughes, Poet Laureate of Harlem.

  • Read, annotate, and discuss "I, Too" by Langston Hughes, a response to Walt Whitman's "I Hear America Singing."

  • Grade my previous students' analysis of both poems, looking for ways they could improve and how we can take lessons from their writing. 

• Wednesday the 30th

  • Write down lexicon #12: The American Dream.

  • Explore modern examples of the American Dream in music.

  • Introduce the final assessment: (Re)defining the Dream.

  • Either begin drafting your introduction paragraph or start gathering resources!

• Thursday the 31st: Happy Halloween!

  • Develop your perspective of the American Dream.

  • Finish your introduction paragraph for your final assessment.

  • Begin drafting one or two of your body paragraphs.

• Friday the 1st

  • Mini-lesson on contextualizing and introducing quotes.

  • Mini-lesson on developing analysis through The Three Questions of Analysis.

  • Finish final assessment.

  • Peer edit and revision if time permits.

  • Make up any work missing from this quarter.