Text Set:
(RE)DISCOVERING THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE:
Exploring Setting and Identity in Eleventh Grade English
Amanda Hamlett
TEDU 562
Introduction
The study of American Literature is an integral part of the English curriculum,
offering students new perspectives on American culture, history, and identity. The wealth
of literature available for educators in this field makes thematic instruction a useful tool
for covering a diversity of texts in the classroom. This text set strives to present students
with a variety of American literature produced throughout the twentieth century. Going
beyond traditional canonical works, students will explore the American landscape and
identity through the eyes of men, women, minorities, and non-American visitors.
The texts selected for this set are of varying genres and forms, many of which are
short stories. The short story is especially accessible for students, and provides them with
the opportunity to study multiple texts within the thematic unit. Ideally, this text set
would be presented as a comparative assignment. Students would select either two or
three short stories, or one novel and one short piece of art or poetry to examine
thoroughly. For additional analysis, student may also be divided into small groups based
on similar selections.
The ideal class to incorporate this text set would be an eleventh-grade English
class of various reading levels. The Virginia SOL standards for English (11.3) dictate that
the junior year of high school should heavily focus on the study of American literature.
The opportunity should be taken as this time to develop student consciousness of both the
literature and the elements of American culture, history, and identity surrounding it. Final
assessment of unit learning would incorporate SOL 11.1, making oral presentations, as
well as SOL 11.7-.8, which covers student writing.
Item 1: Jack London’s “To Build A Fire”
This riveting survival story takes students to the wild and dangerous Alaskan
wilderness during the early twentieth century. Following the protagonist along the
lengthy path to camp, we see a struggle between man and nature in the classic style. This
piece is versatile, as it can be regarded as allegorical or literal. Taken as a literal travel
narrative, this piece opens students to a region of America that may not often be seen in
student’s life or literature. Students may also explore history of Alaska, cultural traditions
in the region, and turn-of-the-century American history in the development of their
assessment piece.
Readability analysis using the Flesch-Kincaid formula shows this text at a
sixth-grade reading level. In an ideal class, this text would be at the independent reading
level, allowing students to explore it in-depth for their assessment. The language itself is
relatively plain and accessible. Little vocabulary or dialectic preparation would be
required for most students. Despite its readability score, the level of analysis desired
makes this text ideal for such junior-level students.
Item 2: Jack London’s “South of the Slot”
Continuing in the early twentieth century, London’s narrative “South of
the Slot” examines the two sides of life in bustling San Francisco. The story follows a
protagonist, a well-off intellectual, into the foreign world of the working class. This text
deals a lot with American and class identities, and also women’s issues. It is a rich
instructional text that students may find entertaining with its concept of a double-life.
Further study into the text may include history or San Francisco, this history of unions,
and research on classism.
The Flesch-Kincaid analysis describes this text as a high eighth-grade
level of difficulty. Qualitative analysis indicates that this text would still fall at an
independent reading level despite some content, such as use of non-standard dialects.
However, the overall language of the piece is standardized and accessible to the average
student. As stated before, the study of a text in the English classroom goes much deeper
than the written words. Likewise, this text would be more appropriate for higher-level
(junior/senior) students to encounter.
Item 3: Sarah Orne Jewett’s “A White Heron”
This coming-of-age story falls right at the end of the nineteenth-century,
making it our oldest text in the set. In the Realist tradition, Jewett details the value
conflicts between the maturing young girl and ornithologist who seeks the rare heron.
The series of internal and social conflicts experienced by the protagonist impel the
realizations of adulthood, which are traded for her innocence. The setting is rural and
natural, offering that aspect of the American landscape. Additional topics of research for
this text may include: American Realism, women in late nineteenth-century society, and
endangered species or bird-watching.
Readability analysis places this text at an eighth-grade reading level,
making it available for independent study. The nature of coming-of-age stories makes
them more thematically accessible to secondary students. This may be one of the more
simple stories to students to analyze on a critical level. The metaphors in the story are
clear-cut for students familiar with the element in general, which should be the case
according to SOL standards. Lastly, some problems with student interest may occur due
to dense language.
Item 4: Mary Wilkins Freeman’s “The Revolt of Mother”
Taking us to agricultural America, Freeman’s story gives us a strong
female protagonist who is tired of her abiding submissive role within the family. The text
relies heavily on the theme of communication, the lack of which spurs the fast-moving
plot. Family and gender roles should also be discussed, as they reflect both American and
religious identities within the story. Further study of the novel’s context could include
material on agricultural practices and developments in turn-of-the-century America,
history of the Great Plains, and agricultural architecture.
The Felsch-Kincaid analysis shows this text at a fourth-grade reading
level, despite the use of dialectical language which may frustrate student readers. This
story would be appropriate for independent reading by all students. Historical context
may or may not be beneficial to the understanding of the general plot. Dialectical
language included in the text may be treacherous for struggling readers; however, the use
of dialect would be generally easy to follow for the average student.
Item 5: Theodore Dreiser “The Curious Shifts of the Poor”
This Naturalist story by Dreiser documents the state of the urban poor at
the beginning of the twentieth century. Offering an accessible commentary on the
workings of class in America, this text examines a particular and peculiar case of one
“charity worker.” The text develops one extreme end of the spectrum of American
identity in terms of class. As readers finish the powerful concluding passage of text, they
are asked to reconsider the place of these ghosts, the poor of their civilization. The issue
of poverty across the century can be examined through this piece as well as the greater
text set unit. Additional research into American poverty, government policy, and
Naturalist literature would supplement the assessment task.
Readability analysis indicates this story is on a seventh-grade reading
level, making it ideal for exploration beyond plot events. Information on historical
context and the development of public and private agencies to aid the poor may also aid
student understanding. Qualitative analysis indicates that although the language may
seem formal to today’s students it is both appropriate and controlled, and should not
present a problem to the average reader. Such a text could easily be assigned as
independent reading for average students.
Item 6: Upton Sinclair excerpts from The Jungle
One of the most celebrated and canonized works of American literature,
Sinclair’s The Jungle reveals the dangerous world of the Chicago meat-packing industry.
At times graphic and gripping, this urban working-class story provides a look at
industrializing America. The immigrants it follows give a fresh perspective on culture
and society of the time as they integrate into city life. Using just a few excerpts, students
will still get the feel of the life and times of America in that moment. Peripheral materials
could be included for readers on topics such as industrialization in America, the impact of
this work on policy and opinion, and immigrant life in the early twentieth century.
Flesch-Kincaid analysis describes this text as a high third-grade difficulty
level. However, the value of this piece does not lie in its difficultly on this level.
Historical context instruction is nearly essential to the study of this work due to its
immense impact on American policy and culture. Certain features, such as the explicit
depictions of certain tragic events, that Sinclair employs make this more appropriate for
higher-level students. Except readings of this novel allow for more guided reading within
the text, as well as offering a more accessible length of reading.
Item 7: Toni Morrison’s Sula
This brilliant novel by Toni Morrison is also a coming of age piece. It
follows two girls who grow up in 1920s black suburban Ohio. At the end of the novel,
circa 1965, you see the same landscape as it has been molded by time and culture. The
community, in a town called The Bottom, is constantly struggling to come out on top.
Issues of racial, national, and regional identity are intertwined within the novel, offering
much to explore.
Readability scores for this novel show its language at a seventh-grade
difficulty level. This novel could readily be assigned as independent reading, but it’s
length would require it to be paired with the shortest pieces for the assessment. This
would mean either the poem or photo-book would be used for study and comparison.
This novel would be ideal for the most advanced student because of the need for faster
reading than those students reading short stories. Group work for this novel would
potentially function a more like a traditional reading group. Mature content, such as drugs
and sexuality, make this text more appropriate for older students. Written in 1973, this
text is also valuable as experience with historical fiction of the twentieth century.
Item 8: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Beautiful and Damned
The grandeur and decadence of the Roaring Twenties are wholly
documented in Fitzgerald’s novel The Beautiful and Damned. The characters live the
good life, seeking fortunes and fame in New York City. Part of the novel also takes place
in the rural outskirts of the city, providing an idyllic foil to city life. As wealth continues
to have limited influence in the realm of true happiness, we see the characters break
down. This novel shows another end of the spectrum of American identity, the upper
classes, during the 1920s. Supplementary research topics might include: 1920s history,
cultural movements of the time, and New York City in the 1920s, and the post-war
generation.
Analysis of this text places it at an eighth-grade readability level, making
it independent reading for the average junior. Like the other novels in the set, it would be
paired with a short piece for the assessment task. It would also be best for highly
motivated readers who are prepared to complete an entire novel. The social commentary
occurring throughout the novel would also require some foreknowledge of the era. This
could be provided in supplementary materials for students choosing this text.
Item 9: Robert Frank’s The Americans
This interesting photo-book was taken by Robert Frank as he traveled
through America in 1955-1956. His depiction of the post-war landscape shows
Americans from all walks of life, with the distance of the foreign visitor. Though not
celebrated for its photographic technique, The Americans still became an influential work
in the post-war period. There are several visual motifs throughout the book. Students will
be expected to recognize visual motifs and themes in the photographs, as well as analyze
the short introduction written by contemporary author Jack Kerouac. Further topics of
exploration for this text might include post-WWII/1950s America, the post-war
generation, and additional literature by Kerouac.
Though only the short introduction to the photo-book can be assessed
customarily with the Flesch-Kincaid formula, this text can be described as having a sixthgrade difficultly level. Students electing to use this piece for study and assessment must
be prepared to analyze a non-literary, visual text. This book may also work well with
struggling readers because of the length of prose included. For the assessment students
would be asked to select five photographs to use for comparison to their other selected
text..
Item 10: Langston Hughes’ poem “Let America Be America Again”
Hughes’ poem, published in 2005, is the most current piece of literature in
the text set. It discusses ideas of class in America and how this has prevented lowerclasses from the American Dream. This text serves as a great comparison to many of the
early twentieth-century stories that deal with similar issue of race and class in America. It
touches on many classic references to American landscapes from “plains” to “seas.”
Additional research for this text could include: contemporary writings on class in
America, Langston Hughes as an author, or influence of current events on this piece.
Flesch-Kincaid analysis of this piece places it at a third-grade difficulty
level. Poetry is definitely one of the worst types of writing to interpret through
quantitative analysis. Qualitative analysis shows that this piece would not be appropriate
for readers below the middle school level, but is independently readable for the average
eleventh grade class. Vocabulary is not difficult, and employs many familiar stock
expressions. Students are often more hesitant to approach poetry for critical analysis,
which may discourage this piece from being chosen by students. The SOLs specifically
subscribe the study of poetry, and this more recent piece may better engage students.