D R A F T · E N G L I S H
English
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English 12 Overview
RATIONALE
T
he goal of the Secondary English Language Arts program is to create literate, thoughtful
communicators, capable of controlling language effectively as they negotiate an increasingly
complex and information-rich world. English 12 encourages students to consider multiple and
complex points of view on universal themes and global issues. Students continue to develop
21st century skills for using language to understand a world that is changing in terms of how
information is produced and shared. As college professor Larry Weinstein asserts in his book Writing
at the Threshold,
It is not tenable…to maintain that only some of our students have minds capable of
true inquiry when virtually all must inquire innumerable times between getting up in
the morning and going to bed at night….The foremost challenge facing us teachers of
writing is…not so much to sharpen students’ thinking skills as it is to let our students
know—and to demonstrate conclusively to them—that, for higher-order thinking,
they already largely “have what it takes” (4).
English 12 is the culmination of the years of study that have developed students’ nascent abilities to
think critically about the world around them. It offers rich opportunities for all students to wonder and
to question and to engage in real thinking of their own, since, no matter what their post-secondary
plans, students need these skills to be successful after high school.
The instructional guide is organized with an overarching theme, Global Perspectives in a Changing
World, which includes four thematic units: Searching for Meaning, Joining the Conversation,
Challenging Perspectives, and Commencement. With a focus on world literature,
both classic and contemporary, students study texts from different genres and
Students are
discuss why literature continues to matter. Students are encouraged to ask
encouraged to ask
themselves, “How can a poem or a novel or a film possibly make a difference?”
themselves, “How
can a poem or a novel They examine ways in which writers across cultures and throughout history have
posed difficult questions and have sought to use literary works to lend insights into
or a film possibly
how humanity grapples with those questions. Students experiment with new
make a difference?”
literacies that are changing the social dialogue by making the world smaller and
larger at the same time. They learn to value ambiguity in a world that often offers more questions than
answers, and they are pushed to believe that effective writers can make a difference if they imagine
ways to use language and literature to turn their ideas into reality.
Writer Alice Walker once questioned, “If art doesn’t make us better, then what on earth is it for?”
English 12 provides opportunities for students to examine how literature and the humanities have and
continue to frame issues and shape perspectives. Students are inspired to believe that if they are
diligent students of language and literature they can make valuable contributions to a world in need of
their imagination, creativity, and energy.
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D R A F T · E N G L I S H
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English 12: Global Perspectives in a Changing World
Unit 1—Searching for Meaning
Students examine how writers raise questions about the meaning of human existence, and they explore
the extent to which authors’ works provide answers to those questions. Students read a variety of types
of text to understand how other people search for meaning and then consider how others’ efforts are
relevant to their own attempts to make sense of the world. Through a Shared Inquiry discussion, a
personal essay, and an original work, the common tasks provide opportunities for students to
participate with others in inquiry, to write as a means of grappling with their own thoughts, and to use
composition to engage in thoughtful and reflective dialogue. This unit opens the course of study by
motivating students to pursue a continuing quest to answer the life-long question, “Why?”
Unit 2—Joining the Conversation
Students learn that they should educate themselves before, during, and after engaging in discourse, and
they experiment with ways to add their voices to global conversations. Students are asked to reserve
judgment about their own positions until after they have entered into dialogue with each author whose
works they read and with other students whose ideas can enrich the conversation. Considering the ways
in which technology is changing the way we communicate, students explore how the tone of a
discussion is affected by the medium in which people converse. After researching a topic that confronts
young adults, students write an informed response that synthesizes their research and suggests ways to
move forward in dealing with problems that have no clear solutions.
Unit 3—Challenging Perspectives
Students investigate what Aristotle called “the available means of persuasion” to challenge their own
and others’ thinking. They read texts that reveal a variety of viewpoints and consider how literature
frames issues and shapes global conversations. They study works—thoughtful, humorous, and
satirical—that have been used as vehicles for social and political commentary. By considering written
works and film in a range of tones, the students understand, analyze, and evaluate techniques authors
use to evoke change. Students compose a satirical piece and a speech, employing the techniques they
have learned to advocate change and to engage in civil discourse with others whose viewpoints may
differ.
Unit 4—Commencement
The word commence comes from the Old French commencier, to consecrate, and the Latin cominitiare,
to come together to begin. Commencement marks both an ending and a beginning, as students join with
others to honor their accomplishments and look toward the future. In this unit, students are mindful that
coming together in global conversations forces us to redefine and reshape our thinking as a result of
meaningful dialogue. They study a series of short works and at least one core text, considering why
literature continues to make a difference in a world filled with ambiguity. Teachers are encouraged to
choose from a range of common tasks that offer a variety of ways to intrigue and challenge seniors in
their last days of high school and the first days of their future.
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