Honors English 12
Curriculum Map
Unit: Writing
Duration: ongoing
Works studied: To be used with any unit
Skills: Essay format
Peer and self-editing
Research
MLA format and documentation standards
Embedded quotations
Works cited page
Vocabulary words
Sentence structure
Organization
Writing conventions
Writing a critical analysis paper
Writing a compare/contrast paper
Writing a timed writing
Using primary and secondary sources
Paraphrasing
Academic integrity
Varying sentences
Activities: Writing process
Reading about writing
Discussing writing strategies and techniques
Peer and self-editing
Teacher conference
Reading models of writing
Studying MLA format and documentation standards
Assessment: papers will be graded using assignment appropriate rubrics
Objectives: To formulate writing ideas, and identify a topic appropriate to purpose and
audience
To select and use an appropriate organizational structure to refine and
develop ideas for writing
To use a variety of strategies to revise content, organization, and style, and
to improve word choice, sentence variety, clarity and consistency
of writing
To apply editing strategies to eliminate slang and improve conventions
To demonstrate an understanding of correct spelling, punctuation and
grammatical conventions
To compile, organizes and synthesize information
To demonstrate an understanding of MLA format and documentation
To demonstrate an understanding of how to use embedded quotations
To demonstrate the ability to compose a critical analysis essay and a
compare/contrast essay
To demonstrate the ability to compose a coherent, organized, welldeveloped essay under a time restraint
1
Revised 2010
Unit: Independent Reading
Duration: one time per semester
Works studied: Student choice of British authors
Skills: Reading Comprehension
Research
Quotation responses
Presentation / Seminar
Writing skills
Activities: Students will choose a British author to read and study
Students will participate in a book talk presenting their book to the class
Students will write a brief biography of the author, a summary of the work,
and responses to quotations
Assessment: Presentation / Seminar
Written work
Objectives: To enhance students’ cultural literacy
To demonstrate an understanding of reading comprehension skills
To demonstrate the ability to talk about academic text
Unit: Summer Reading
Duration: 1-2 weeks
Works studied: This changes, but past works include Rebecca, Jane Eyre, Great
Expectations, Mansfield Park etc.
Skills: Reading Comprehension
Quotation responses
Presentation / Seminar
Writing skills
Analytical response to text
Activities: Students will read the selected novels
Students will keep a dual entry reader response journal
Students will write an analytical essay
Students will participate in a seminar
Assessment: Presentation / Seminar
Written work
Essay test on the works
Objectives: To introduce students to British culture and literature
To demonstrate an understanding of reading comprehension skills
To demonstrate the ability to talk about academic text
To demonstrate analytical writing abilities
Unit: Good and Evil
Duration: 2 weeks
Works studied: The Picture of Dorian Gray (Wilde)
Skills: Research skills
Close-line reading
2
Revised 2010
Identification of allusion and symbolism
Thematic identification
Reading comprehension
Quotation response
Vocabulary
Literary device recognition and purpose
Independent reading
Writing skills
Presentation skills
Activities: Students will complete and extensive study guide
Students will trace themes and character transformation
Students will complete a guide to literary allusion that includes extensive
research
Students will participate in an in-class discussion
Socratic Seminar
In-class writing
Assessment: Socratic Seminar
Presentation of allusion definitions and author’s purpose
Study guide
Writing
Objectives: To demonstrate an understanding of themes, psychological analysis, symbols
and allusions
To synthesizes primary and secondary information through discussion and
writing
To apply reading comprehension strategies and demonstrate comprehension
by responding to evaluative questions
To participate in a Socratic Seminar
To demonstrate an understanding of the work through verbal and written
responses that provide interpretation of the author’s use of stylistic
devices
Unit: Paradise Lost
Duration: 3 weeks
Works studied: Paradise Lost (Milton)
Skills: Historical context
Poetic structure and format
Close-line reading
Identification of allusion and symbolism
Thematic identification
Reading comprehension
Quotation response
Epic conventions
Vocabulary
Compare/contrast writing skills
Author approach
Biblical/theological connection
Time writing skills
Character analysis
3
Revised 2010
Reading appropriate selections from the Bible
Writing skills
Activities: Students will complete an in-depth analysis and reading of the work through
teacher-led discussion
Students will write a compare/contrast essay about Dante and Milton’s Satan
Students will watch What Dreams May Come to view cinematic
interpretations of heaven and hell
Assessment: Compare/contrast writing
Objectives: Through in-class discussion, students will analyze implicit and explicit
philosophical assumptions presented by Dante and Milton
Through writing, students will synthesize Dante and Milton’s approach to
psychomachia (the internal struggle of good and evil)
Unit: Macbeth
Duration: 5 weeks
Works studied: Macbeth (Shakespeare)
Skills: Historical context
Dramatic technique
Close-line reading
Identification of allusion and symbolism
Thematic identification
Reading comprehension
Quotation response
Conventions of Tragedy
Vocabulary
Word tracing
Finding and using criticisms
Comparison of film to work
Poetic conventions
Activities: Students will trace the transformation of a word throughout the play
Students will participate in the performance of a scene
Students will write a paper analyzing the figurative use of the word they have
traced
Students will trace the transformation of the main characters
Students will participate in a reading of the play in class
Assessment: Writing
Quizzes per act
Word Journal
Objectives: To demonstrate an understanding of Tragedy
To hone close-line reading skills through analysis of Shakespeare’s use of
figurative language and metrical structure
To verbally explain the ways characters confront similar temptations
To demonstrate an understanding of the play and Shakespeare’s language
through accurate and thorough identification and response to
quotations
4
Revised 2010
Unit: Hamlet
Duration: 4 weeks
Works studied: Hamlet (Shakespeare)
Skills: Historical context
Dramatic technique
Performance technique
Performance style and format
Close-line reading
Identification of allusion and symbolism
Thematic identification
Reading comprehension
Quotation response
Conventions of Tragedy
Vocabulary
Word tracing
Finding and using criticisms
Comparison of film to work
Poetic conventions
Psychological analysis of characters
Socratic Seminar techniques
Activities: Students will perform a scene from the play
Students will participate in a timed writing
Students will participate in an in-class discussion
Students will participate in a criticism-driven seminar
Students will be required to independently read most of the play
Assessment: Quizzes
Socratic Seminar
Performance
In-class writing
Objectives: To demonstrate a fine-tuned knowledge of Shakespearean Tragedy and
language
To demonstrate the ability to perform a drama
To demonstrate an understanding of character transformation
To demonstrate an understanding of Shakespeare’s metrical structure and
rhyme scheme
To formulate appropriate ideas for written response
Unit: Renaissance Poetry
Duration: 2 weeks
Works studied: Various Renaissance poets
Skills: Historical context
Poetic structure and format
Close-line reading
Identification of allusion and symbolism
Thematic identification
Presentation format and style
Reading comprehension
5
Revised 2010
Sonnet form (Italian, Shakespearean, Spenserean)
Vocabulary
Literary devices
Finding and using criticisms
Activities: Students will participate in close-line reading of poetry
Students will research a particular poet’s work and criticism of that work
using a group format to discuss ideas
Students will teach the poem to the class, making modern thematic
connections (artistic, musical and poetic)
Assessment: Quiz
Presentation
Writing (synthesis, critique and thematic connection)
Objectives: To identify characteristics of Renaissance poetry
To find appropriate and useful criticisms
To effectively teach a poem to the class
To demonstrate an understanding of poetic structure and format
Unit: Romantic Poetry
Duration: 6 weeks
Works studied: Various poems by Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Byron and
Keats
Skills: Historical context
Poetic structure and format
Close-line reading
Identification of allusion and symbolism
Thematic identification
Seminar format and style
Reading comprehension
Quotation response
Finding and using criticism
Vocabulary
Connecting to earlier works
Activities: In-class reading and discussion
Written poetry analysis
Socratic Seminar
Cinematic interpretations
Assessment: Socratic Seminar
Written analysis
Test
Objectives: To demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics of the English
Romantic movement
To demonstrate an understanding of the individual author’s purpose and
style
To write responses to literature that provides interpretation, recognizes
ambiguities, nuances and complexities, and shows
understanding of the author’s use of stylistic devices
To compose reflective writings that balance reflections by using specific
personal experiences to draw conclusions about life
6
Revised 2010
Unit: The Canterbury Tales
Duration: 3 weeks
Works studied: The Canterbury Tales (Chaucer)
Skills: Historical context
Reading comprehension
Character analysis
Identifying types of characterization
Finding and using criticism
Presentation format and style
Vocabulary
Recitation
Activities: Students will participate in an in-class reading of tales and criticism
Students will participate in an in-class discussion
Students will recite individual tales
Students will participate in a pilgrimage
Assessment: Quizzes
Recitation
Objectives: To demonstrate an understanding of Chaucer’s writing style
To demonstrate a recognition of characteristics of Medieval literature
To demonstrate an understanding of literary critique
To demonstrate an understanding of characterization
To demonstrate an understanding of the role and purpose of the individual
tales
Unit: Aruthurian Unit
Duration: 3 weeks
Works studied: Le Morte Darthur (Malory), Idylls of the King (Tennyson), Candle in
the Wind (T.H. White), and “On King Arthur’s Death” (Lisa Cicero)
Skills: Historical context
Close-line reading
Identification of allusion and symbolism
Thematic identification
Reading comprehension
Quotation response
Vocabulary
Poetic conventions
Multiple approaches to one topic
Writing skills
Activities: Students will participate in an in-class reading and discussion
Students will write a paper
Students will experience modern allusions
Assessment: Writing
Quiz
Objectives: To synthesize approaches on a single topic, Arthurian legend
To demonstrate an understanding of historical connections
To determine audience and purpose for self-selected writing topics
7
Revised 2010
Unit: Atonement
Duration: 3 weeks
Works studied: Atonement (Ian McEwan)
Skills: Historical context
Close-line reading
Identification of allusion and symbolism
Thematic identification
Reading comprehension
Quotation response
Vocabulary
Independent reading comprehension
Classical writing style
Narrative Voice and strucure
Activities: Students will participate in an in-class discussion
Students will participate in independent reading
Students will evaluate effectiveness of varying narrative structures through
discussion and writing
Assessment: Writing
Objectives: To demonstrate an understanding of connection to previous works
To demonstrate an understanding of the concepts of dystopias and utopias
To demonstrate an understanding of Classical writing conventions
To demonstrate an understanding of author’s purpose and historical context
To demonstrate reading comprehension skills
Unit: Wuthering Heights
Duration: 4 weeks
Works studied: Wuthering Heights
Skills: Critical reading
Historical context
Close-line reading
Identification of allusion and symbolism
Thematic identification
Reading comprehension
Quotation response
Vocabulary
Independent reading comprehension
Classical writing style
Activities: Students will participate in an in-class discussion
Students will participate in independent reading
Students will write an analytical essay about the novel
Assessment: Writing
Test
Objectives: To demonstrate an understanding of Bronte’s writing style
To demonstrate a recognition of characteristics of Gothic / Romantic
literature
To demonstrate an understanding of literary critique
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Revised 2010
To demonstrate an understanding of characterization
Unit: Gothic Literature
Duration: 3 weeks
Works studied: Rebecca (du Maruier)
Skills: Research skills
Close-line reading
Identification of allusion and symbolism
Thematic identification
Reading comprehension
Quotation response
Vocabulary
Literary device recognition and purpose
Independent reading
Writing skills
Presentation skills
Activities: Students will complete and extensive study guide
Students will trace themes and character transformation
Students will complete a guide to literary allusion that includes extensive
research
Students will participate in an in-class discussion
Socratic Seminar
In-class writing
Assessment: Socratic Seminar
Presentation of allusion definitions and author’s purpose
Study guide
Writing
Objectives: To demonstrate an understanding of themes, psychological analysis, symbols
and allusions
To synthesizes primary and secondary information through discussion and
writing
To apply reading comprehension strategies and demonstrate comprehension
by responding to evaluative questions
To participate in a Socratic Seminar
To demonstrate an understanding of the work through verbal and written
responses that provide interpretation of the author’s use of stylistic
devices
Unit: Victorian Lit
Duration: 4 weeks
Works studied: Great Expectations (Dickens)
Skills: Research skills
Close-line reading
Identification of allusion and symbolism
Thematic identification
Reading comprehension
Quotation response
Vocabulary
9
Revised 2010
Literary device recognition and purpose
Independent reading
Writing skills
Presentation skills
Activities: Students will complete and extensive study guide
Students will trace themes and character transformation
Students will complete a guide to literary allusion that includes extensive
research
Students will participate in an in-class discussion
Socratic Seminar
In-class writing
Assessment: Socratic Seminar
Presentation of allusion definitions and author’s purpose
Study guide
Writing
Objectives: To demonstrate an understanding of themes, psychological analysis, symbols
and allusions
To synthesizes primary and secondary information through discussion and
writing
To apply reading comprehension strategies and demonstrate comprehension
by responding to evaluative questions
To participate in a Socratic Seminar
To demonstrate an understanding of the work through verbal and written
responses that provide interpretation of the author’s use of stylistic
devices
10
Revised 2010