Madison Memorial High School
English
English 3
Course Number: ENG 1070
1 Credit
Prerequisites: Passing grades in English 1 and 2
Course Description (from Course Curriculum Guide):
Aligned to the Common Core State Standards, English 3 places a focus on American Literature and
contemporary social and constitutional issues with research and writing in a variety of genres, including the
personal essay, informative/explanatory writing, persuasive writing, and biography/memoir. In this course
students read a wide range of text, from poetry and plays, to seminal and foundational American documents, to
novels. Texts include selections from Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, Into the Wild, Macbeth,
The Crucible, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and The Great Gatsby. Woven throughout instruction, language
study—both vocabulary and grammar—places an emphasis on understanding Latin and Greek word roots,
prefixes and suffixes through our Word within the Word curriculum, and in-context attention to the writing of
conventional English. In English 3, students learn and reinforce foundational elements of English: literary terms
and concepts, structured writing, using the MEL-Con paragraph format, sentence patterns and close reading of
text.
Required Reading:
See below
Units or Topics of Instruction:
Year-long Elements:
• Word within the Word—Students will learn 100 word stems over the course of the year in order to build
their access to academic vocabulary.
• Independent Reading—Students will select a book to read on their own, about one book per month.
Twenty minutes of class time will be given on both Mondays and Thursdays. Reading several books
during the year can help students develop a larger vocabulary and a better awareness of language.
• Sentence Patterns—Students will learn to integrate various types of phrases and clauses into their writing,
to increase their awareness of language choices.
• ACT Preparation—Since each student will take the ACT Exam (with writing) in the Spring, we will spend
time familiarizing students with the Reading, English, and Writing sections.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quarter 1: The overarching purpose of this quarter, in addition to setting classroom routines and
structures, is to explore the notion of American Identity—how Americans have viewed life and how views
have changed over time. Through analysis, students can build on their own sense of identity.
o Contemporary views––David Foster Wallace’s “This is Water” commencement speech and other
contemporary pieces
o
Historical perspectives
o

Puritans

Declaration of Independence

Benjamin Banneker’s letter to Thomas Jefferson

“Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Transcendentalism
•
Ralph Waldo Emerson—excerpts of “Self-Reliance”
•
Henry David Thoreau—excerpts of Walden
•
Into the Wild—excerpts from the book and related articles, and the full film
This I Believe

History of the program and samples

Students reflect on Quarter 1 readings and discussions to write own This I Believe essay
(an excellent precursor to college application essays)
Quarter 2: This quarter’s unifying theme to analyze: compromising one’s convictions for personal gain.
What does this mean? What are our convictions? How can one compromise them? Is there a gain for
those who compromise? Does that gain last?
o The Crucible
• Analysis of witch hunts and their contemporary counterparts
o
Modernists

o
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Promoting social awareness of contemporary issues

Where do we see this theme in contemporary life? Possible topic: plagiarism (both in
the classroom and in adult life)
Quarter 3: This quarter builds its focus to eventually delve into the issue of censorship in American
Literature. First, in analyzing Hurston’s novel, we’ll explore how an author’s life impacts his or her
work. Along with this, we’ll discuss various reactions to the novel. We’ll introduce students to literary
criticism and analyze excerpts. The censorship unit will incorporate lessons from the previous one and
allow students to become experts on one novel and its censorship history, as well as its literary merit.
 Constitutional Issues in Literature: Censorship
o
o
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Author’s biography and its connections to the novel

Analysis of excerpts of literary criticism

Censorship of work within a community
Censorship and the First Amendment of the Constitution

Choice novels

Research into the Constitution
Quarter 4: To start the quarter, students will read and analyze various pieces by Ernest Hemingway. In
addition, we will work to read and analyze articles about current events using the rhetorical précis
format. This analysis will aid students as they choose a non-fiction text to read and a topic to research.
Their work will culminate in a synthesis essay and an opportunity to share what they’ve learned from
their books with each other.
 Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea and potentially some short stories

Weekly articles and the rhetorical précis

Fictionalized Memoir / Biography
o
Choice reading
o
Research associated with reading
o
Synthesis essay with embedded research
Course Activities and Assessment:
Estimated values, totaling 100%
Quarter Grades:
50% of grade = Formative Assessments
 Most daily assignments and activities, checks for understanding, quick writes, other monitors
of student understanding
50% of grade = Summative Assessments
 Evaluations of student learning, such as formal writings, presentations, projects, exams, and
some quizzes and assignments
Semester Grade: 1st Quarter of the semester
42.5 %
nd
2 Quarter of the semester
42.5%
Semester Exam
15 %
____________________________________________________________________________