FRESHMAN ENGLISH
Established Goals:
The course is designed to develop skills that will enable the students 1) to deepen their appreciation and
understanding of literature in a variety of genres, 2) to begin a systematic approach to writing, and 3) to
master certain grammatical material that will aid them in achieving clarity in their writing and
discussing their writing. Toward those ends, the students will read and analyze short stories, novels,
plays, and poetry from different eras and varying cultures and explore specific elements that make for
good writing and practice those skills in descriptive, expository, narrative, and persuasive papers.
Students will work to develop their own voices and writing style.
Understandings:
Students will understand that
1) fiction relates truths of the human experience;
2) knowing how a poem works helps us to appreciate its message;
3) we can further comprehend the human condition and ourselves through reading, writing, and
discussion;
4) heroes are both valiant and flawed and reflect the culture from which they emerged;
5) our human tendency to sort ourselves by differences prevents us from creating community;
6) a systematic approach to writing will aid them in articulating their ideas;
7) using appropriate and correct grammar and punctuation improves effective communication.
Essential Questions:
1) How does literature express the values of society?
2) How does engagement with the text reinforce and refine critical reading, writing, and
thinking?
3) What makes a journey worthwhile?
4) How are individuals changed by a journey?
5) What is community? Who decides who belongs and who is excluded from community?
6) Why do people make distinctions between “us” and “them”?
7) How does an understanding of standard grammar benefit writing?
Core Units:
1) The Short Story
2) Mythology
3) A Raisin in the Sun
4) Shakespeare
5) Grammar
Core Literature:
Summer Reading:
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (Mark Haddon)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
Core Epic / Drama:
The Odyssey (Homer) or
Oedipus Rex (Sophocles)
Julius Caesar (William Shakespeare) or
Romeo and Juliet (William Shakespeare)
A Raisin in the Sun (Lorraine Hansberry)
Core Short Stories:
“Everyday Use” (Alice Walker)
“The Lesson” (Toni Cade Bambara)
“The Lottery” (Shirley Jackson)
“The Most Dangerous Game” (Richard Connell)
Core Poems:
“Ars Poetica” (Archibald MacLeish)
“The Road Not Taken” (Robert Frost)
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” (William Shakespeare)
“Still I Rise” (Maya Angelou)
“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” (Robert Frost)
To an Athlete Dying Young” (A. E. Housman)
Core Writing Modes:
Descriptive Paragraph
Expository Paragraph
Narrative Paragraph
Persuasive Paragraph
5 Paragraph Essay