Grade 12
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art credits
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Front Cover, Title Page: (tc) © Dalhousie University Department of Theatre. Halifax, Nova Scotia; (tr)
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FM2
Grade 12
Janet Allen
Judith A. Langer
Arthur N. Applebee
Robert J. Marzano
Jim Burke
Mary Lou McCloskey
Douglas Carnine
Donna M. Ogle
Yvette Jackson
Carol Booth Olson
Carol Jago
Lydia Stack
Robert T. Jiménez
Carol Ann Tomlinson
Special Contributor: Kylene Beers
senior program consultants
janet allen
Reading and Literacy Specialist; creator of the popular “It’s Never Too Late”/“Reading
for Life” Institutes. Dr. Allen is an internationally known consultant who specializes in literacy work with
at-risk students. Her publications include Tools for Content Literacy; It’s Never Too Late: Leading Adolescents
to Lifelong Learning; Yellow Brick Roads: Shared and Guided Paths to Independent Reading; Words, Words,
Words: Teaching Vocabulary in Grades 4–12; and Testing 1, 2, 3 . . . Bridging Best Practice and High-Stakes
Assessments. Dr. Allen was a high school reading and English teacher for more than 20 years.
arthur n. applebee
Leading Professor, School of Education at the University at Albany, State
University of New York; Director of the Center on English Learning and Achievement. During his varied
career, Dr. Applebee has been both a researcher and a teacher, working in institutional settings with
children with severe learning problems, in public schools, as a staff member of the National Council of
Teachers of English, and in professional education. He was elected to the International Reading Hall of
Fame and has received, among other honors, the David H. Russell Award for Distinguished Research in the
Teaching of English.
jim burke
Lecturer and Author; Teacher of English at Burlingame High School, Burlingame,
California. Mr. Burke is a popular presenter at educational conferences across the country and is the
author of numerous books for teachers, including School Smarts: The Four Cs of Academic Success; The
English Teacher’s Companion; Reading Reminders; Writing Reminders; and ACCESSing School: Teaching
Struggling Readers to Achieve Academic and Personal Success. He is the recipient of NCTE’s Exemplary
English Leadership Award and was inducted into the California Reading Association’s Hall of Fame.
douglas carnine
Professor of Education at the University of Oregon; Director of the Western
Region Reading First Technical Assistance Center. Dr. Carnine is nationally known for his focus on
research-based practices in education, especially curriculum designs that prepare instructors of K–12
students. He has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council for Exceptional Children
and the Ersted Award for outstanding teaching at the University of Oregon. Dr. Carnine frequently
consults on educational policy with government groups, businesses, communities, and teacher unions.
yvette jackson Executive Director of the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education. Nationally
recognized for her work in assessing the learning potential of underachieving urban students, Dr. Jackson
is also a presenter for the Harvard Principal Center and is a member of the Differentiation Faculty of the
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Dr. Jackson’s research focuses on literacy, gifted
education, and cognitive mediation theory. She designed the Comprehensive Education Plan for the New
York City Public Schools and has served as their Director of Gifted Programs.
carol jago Teacher of English with thirty-two years of experience at Santa Monica High School in
California; Author and nationally known Lecturer; and Past President of the National Council of Teachers of
English. With varied experience in standards assessment and secondary education, Ms. Jago is the author
of numerous books on education and is active with the California Association of Teachers of English,
editing its scholarly journal California English since 1996. Ms. Jago also served on the planning committee
for the 2009 NAEP Framework and the 2011 NAEP Writing Framework.
robert t. jiménez Professor of Language, Literacy, and Culture at Vanderbilt University.
Dr. Jiménez’s research focuses on the language and literacy practices of Latino students. A former
bilingual education teacher, he is now conducting research on how written language is thought about
and used in contemporary Mexico. Dr. Jiménez has received several research and teaching honors,
including two Fulbright awards from the Council for the International Exchange of Scholars and the
Albert J. Harris Award from the International Reading Association.
FM4
judith a. langer
Distinguished Professor at the University at Albany, State University of New
York; Director of the Center on English Learning and Achievement; Director of the Albany Institute
for Research in Education. An internationally known scholar in English language arts education,
Dr. Langer specializes in developing teaching approaches that can enrich and improve what gets done
on a daily basis in classrooms. Her publications include Getting to Excellent: How to Create Better Schools
and Effective Literacy Instruction: Building Successful Reading and Writing Programs.
robert j. marzano Senior Scholar at Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning
(McREL); Associate Professor at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; President of
Marzano & Associates. An internationally known researcher, trainer, and speaker, Dr. Marzano has
developed programs that translate research and theory into practical tools for K–12 teachers and
administrators. He has written extensively on such topics as reading and writing instruction, thinking
skills, school effectiveness, assessment, and standards implementation.
donna m. ogle Professor of Reading and Language at National-Louis University in Chicago,
Illinois; Past President of the International Reading Association. Creator of the well-known KWL strategy,
Dr. Ogle has directed many staff development projects translating theory and research into school
practice in middle and secondary schools throughout the United States and has served as a consultant
on literacy projects worldwide. Her extensive international experience includes coordinating the
Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking Project in Eastern Europe, developing integrated curriculum
for a USAID Afghan Education Project, and speaking and consulting on projects in several Latin American
countries and in Asia.
carol booth olson
Senior Lecturer in the Department of Education at the University of
California, Irvine; Director of the UCI site of the National Writing Project. Dr. Olson writes and lectures
extensively on the reading/writing connection, critical thinking through writing, interactive strategies
for teaching writing, and the use of multicultural literature with students of culturally diverse
backgrounds. She has received many awards, including the California Association of Teachers of English
Award of Merit, the Outstanding California Education Research Award, and the UC Irvine Excellence in
Teaching Award.
carol ann tomlinson
Professor of Educational Research, Foundations, and Policy at the
University of Virginia; Co-Director of the University’s Institutes on Academic Diversity. An internationally
known expert on differentiated instruction, Dr. Tomlinson helps teachers and administrators develop
effective methods of teaching academically diverse learners. She was a teacher of middle and high
school English for 22 years prior to teaching at the University of Virginia. Her books on differentiated
instruction have been translated into eight languages.
special contributor:
kylene beers Special Consultant; Former Middle School Teacher; nationally known Lecturer and
Author on reading and literacy; and former President of the National Council of Teachers of English. Dr.
Beers is the nationally known author of When Kids Can’t Read: What Teachers Can Do and co-editor of
Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise into Practice, as well as articles in the Journal of Adolescent and Adult
Literacy. Former editor of Voices from the Middle, she is the 2001 recipient of NCTE’s Richard W. Halley
Award, given for outstanding contributions to middle-school literacy.
FM5
english learner specialists
mary lou mCcloskey
Past President of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages
(TESOL); Director of Teacher Development and Curriculum Design for Educo in Atlanta, Georgia.
Dr. McCloskey is a former teacher in multilingual and multicultural classrooms. She has worked with
teachers, teacher educators, and departments of education around the world on teaching English as a
second and foreign language. She is author of On Our Way to English, Voices in Literature, Integrating
English, and Visions: Language, Literature, Content. Her awards include the Le Moyne College Ignatian
Award for Professional Achievement and the TESOL D. Scott Enright Service Award.
lydia stack International ESL consultant. Her areas of expertise are English language teaching
strategies, ESL standards for students and teachers, and curriculum writing. Her teaching experience
includes 25 years as an elementary and high school ESL teacher. She is a past president of TESOL. Her
awards include the James E. Alatis Award for Service to TESOL (2003) and the San Francisco STAR Teacher
Award (1989). Her publications include On Our Way to English; Wordways: Games for Language Learning;
and Visions: Language, Literature, Content.
curriculum specialist
william l. mCbride Curriculum Specialist. Dr. McBride is a nationally known speaker, educator,
and author who now trains teachers in instructional methodologies. A former reading specialist,
English teacher, and social studies teacher, he holds a Masters in Reading and a Ph.D. in Curriculum
and Instruction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. McBride has contributed to
the development of textbook series in language arts, social studies, science, and vocabulary. He is
also known for his novel Entertaining an Elephant, which tells the story of a burned-out teacher who
becomes re-inspired with both his profession and his life.
media specialists
david m. considine
Professor of Instructional Technology and Media Studies at Appalachian State
University in North Carolina. Dr. Considine has served as a media literacy consultant to the U.S. government
and to the media industry, including Discovery Communications and Cable in the Classroom. He has also
conducted media literacy workshops and training for county and state health departments across the
United States. Among his many publications are Visual Messages: Integrating Imagery into Instruction, and
Imagine That: Developing Critical Viewing and Thinking Through Children’s Literature.
larkin pauluzzi Teacher and Media Specialist; trainer for the New Jersey Writing Project. Ms.
Pauluzzi puts her extensive classroom experience to use in developing teacher-friendly curriculum
materials and workshops in many different areas, including media literacy. She has led media literacy
training workshops in several districts throughout Texas, guiding teachers in the meaningful and
practical uses of media in the classroom. Ms. Pauluzzi has taught students at all levels, from Title I
Reading to AP English IV. She also spearheads a technology club at her school, working with students to
produce media and technology to serve both the school and the community.
lisa k. scheffler Teacher and Media Specialist. Ms. Scheffler has designed and taught media
literacy and video production curriculum, in addition to teaching language arts and speech. Using her
knowledge of mass communication theory, coupled with real classroom experience, she has developed
ready-to-use materials that help teachers incorporate media literacy into their curricula. She has taught
film and television studies at the University of North Texas and has served as a contributing writer for
the Texas Education Agency’s statewide viewing and representing curriculum.
FM6
teacher advisors
These are some of the many educators from across the country who played a crucial role in the
development of the tables of contents, the lesson design, and other key components of this program:
Delorse Cole-Stewart,
Milwaukee Public Schools,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Susan P. Kelly, Director of
Curriculum, Island Trees School
District, Levittown, New York
Cheryl E. Sullivan, Lisle
Community School District,
Lisle, Illinois
Kathy Dahlgren, Skokie,
Illinois
Beverley A. Lanier, Varina High
School, Richmond, Virginia
Dave T. Anderson, Hinsdale
South High School, Darien,
Illinois
Diana Dilger, Rosa Parks
Middle School, Dixmoor,
Illinois
Pat Laws, CharlotteMecklenburg Schools,
Charlotte, North Carolina
Anita Usmiani, Hamilton
Township Public Schools,
Hamilton Square, New Jersey
Kacy Colleen Anglim, Portland
Public Schools District, Portland,
Oregon
L. Calvin Dillon, Gaither High
School, Tampa, Florida
Diana R. Martinez, Treviño
School of Communications &
Fine Arts, Laredo, Texas
Virginia L. Alford, MacArthur
High School, San Antonio, Texas
Yvonne L. Allen, Shaker Heights
High School, Shaker Heights,
Ohio
Jordana Benone, North High
School, Torrance, California
Patricia Blood, Howell High
School, Farmingdale, New
Jersey
Marjorie Bloom, Eau Gallie High
School, Melbourne, Florida
Edward J. Blotzer, Wilkinsburg
Junior/Senior High School,
Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania
Stephen D. Bournes, Evanston
Township High School,
Evanston, Illinois
Dori Dolata, Rufus King High
School, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Jon Epstein, Marietta High
School, Marietta, Georgia
Helen Ervin, Fort Bend
Independent School District,
Sugar Land, Texas
Sue Friedman, Buffalo Grove
High School, Buffalo Grove,
Illinois
Chris Gee, Bel Air High School,
El Paso, Texas
Natalie Martinez, Stephen F.
Austin High School, Houston,
Texas
Elizabeth Matarazzo, Ysleta
High School, El Paso, Texas
Carol M. McDonald, J. Frank
Dobie High School, Houston,
Texas
Amy Millikan, Consultant,
Chicago, Illinois
Paula Grasel, The Horizon
Center, Gainesville, Georgia
Eileen Murphy, Walter Payton
Preparatory High School,
Chicago, Illinois
Rochelle L. Greene-Brady,
Kenwood Academy, Chicago,
Illinois
Lisa Omark, New Haven
Public Schools, New Haven,
Connecticut
Kiala Boykin-Givehand,
Duval County Public Schools,
Jacksonville, Florida
Christopher Guarraia,
Centreville High School,
Clifton, Virginia
Kaine Osburn, Wheeling High
School, Wheeling, Illinois
Laura L. Brown, Adlai Stevenson
High School, Lincolnshire,
Illinois
Michele M. Hettinger, Niles
West High School, Skokie,
Illinois
Cynthia Burke, Yavneh
Academy, Dallas, Texas
Elizabeth Holcomb, Forest
Hill High School, Jackson,
Mississippi
Barbara M. Bowling, Mt. Tabor
High School, Winston-Salem,
North Carolina
Hoppy Chandler, San Diego City
Schools, San Diego, California
Gary Chmielewski, St. Benedict
High School, Chicago, Illinois
Andrea J. Phillips, Terry Sanford
High School, Fayetteville, North
Carolina
Cathy Reilly, Sayreville Public
Schools, Sayreville, New Jersey
Mark D. Simon, Neuqua Valley
High School, Naperville, Illinois
Jim Horan, Hinsdale Central
High School, Hinsdale, Illinois
Scott Snow, Seguin High School,
Arlington, Texas
James Paul Hunter, Oak ParkRiver Forest High School, Oak
Park, Illinois
Jane W. Speidel, Brevard County
Schools, Viera, Florida
Linda Valdez, Oxnard Union
High School District, Oxnard,
California
Nancy Walker, Longview High
School, Longview, Texas
Kurt Weiler, New Trier High
School, Winnetka, Illinois
Elizabeth Whittaker, Larkin
High School, Elgin, Illinois
Linda S. Williams, Woodlawn
High School, Baltimore,
Maryland
John R. Williamson, Fort
Thomas Independent Schools,
Fort Thomas, Kentucky
Anna N. Winters, Simeon High
School, Chicago, Illinois
Tonora D. Wyckoff, North Shore
Senior High School, Houston,
Texas
Karen Zajac, Glenbard South
High School, Glen Ellyn, Illinois
Cynthia Zimmerman, Mose
Vines Preparatory High School,
Chicago, Illinois
Lynda Zimmerman, El Camino
High School, South San
Francisco, California
Ruth E. Zurich, Brown Deer
High School, Brown Deer,
Wisconsin
FM7
overview
table of contents
fm12
student guide to academic success
fm39
• Understanding the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards
• English Language Arts Common Core State Standards
• Spotlight on Common Core State Standards
lessons with embedded common core instruction
Look for the Common Core symbol throughout the book. It highlights
targeted objectives to help you succeed in mastering the knowledge
and skills you will need for college or for a career.
common core contents
Student Edition
© Getty Images
FM9
contents in brief
Exploring British Literature
Introductory Unit
1
text analysis workshop
academic vocabulary workshop
writing process workshop
1
The Origins of a Nation
the anglo-saxon and medieval periods
2
A Celebration of Human Achievement
the english renaissance
3
Tradition and Reason
the restoration and the 18th century
4
Emotion and Experimentation
the flowering of romanticism
unit
unit
unit
unit
FM10
18
449–1485
The Anglo-Saxon Epic
Reflections of Common Life
The Age of Chaucer
Medieval Romance
290
1485–1660
Pastoral Poems and Sonnets
Shakespearean Drama
The Rise of Humanism
Spiritual and Devotional Writings
The Metaphysical and Cavalier Poets
558
1660–1798
Social Observers
Satirical Voices
The Age of Johnson
The Rise of Women Writers
1798–1832
Revolt Against Neoclassicism
The Lake Poets
The Late Romantics
750
5
An Era of Rapid Change
the victorians
6
New Ideas, New Voices
modern and contemporary literature
7
Investigation and Discovery
the power of research
unit
unit
unit
910
1832–1901
The Influence of Romanticism
Realism in Fiction
Victorian Viewpoints
1096
1901–present
The Challenge of Modernism
The Irish Literary Renaissance
Responses to War and Colonialism
Postwar Writers
Legacy of Empire
1400
Online at
Log in to learn more at thinkcentral.com, where you can access
most program resources in one convenient location.
literature and
reading center
• Author Biographies
• PowerNotes Presentations
• Professional Audio Recordings
of Selections
• Graphic Organizers
• Analysis Frames
• NovelWise
writing and
grammar center
•
•
•
•
Interactive Student Models*
Interactive Graphic Organizers*
Interactive Revision Lessons*
GrammarNotes Presentations
and Practice
*also available on WriteSmart CD-ROM
vocabulary center
• WordSharp Interactive
Vocabulary Tutor
• Vocabulary Practice Copy
Masters
Assessment Center
• Program Assessments
• Level Up Online Tutorials
• Online Essay Scoring
media and
technology center
• MediaScope: Media Literacy
Instruction
• Digital Storytelling
• Speaking and Listening
Support
research center
• Writing and Research in a
Digital Age
• Citation Guide
more technology
Student One Stop
Access an electronic version of your
textbook, complete with selection
audio and worksheets.
Media Smart dvd-rom
Sharpen your critical viewing and
analysis skills with these in-depth
interactive media studies.
FM11
unit
1
The Origins of a Nation
the anglo-saxon and
medieval periods
449–1485
unit 1 introduction
18
• questions of the times • historical essay
• a changing language • timeline • the legacy of the era
standards focus
Characteristics of an Epic
The Anglo-Saxon Epic
text analysis workshop: the epic
38
epic poem
Characteristics of an Epic,
Reading Old English Poetry
from Beowulf
Grendel
Beowulf
The Battle with Grendel
Grendel’s Mother
The Battle with Grendel’s Mother
Beowulf’s Last Battle
The Death of Beowulf
Mourning Beowulf
The Beowulf Poet
translated by Burton Raffel
40
42
46
50
55
57
62
66
70
Reading for Information
A Collaboration Across 1,200 Years
FM12
performance review
74
standards focus
Simile and Epic Simile,
Classify Characters
Video link at
thinkcentral.com
themes across cultures: ancient greece
from the Iliad epic poem
Homer
76
wrap-up: writing to compare
The Epic in Translation
95
translated by Robert Fitzgerald
Reflections of Common Life
historical writing
Historical Writing,
Analyze Author’s Purpose
from A History of the English Church
and People
The Venerable Bede
96
poetry
Imagery, Monitor Your
Understanding
from the Exeter Book
Anonymous
translated by Burton Raffel
translated by Ann Stanford
102
104
108
112
from The Book of Margery Kempe
Margery Kempe
116
british masterpiece
from Piers Plowman allegory
William Langland
124
The Paston Family
126
The Seafarer
The Wanderer
The Wife’s Lament
autobiography
Autobiography,
Draw Conclusions
letters
Primary Sources,
Writer’s Purpose
from The Paston Letters
wrap-up: writing to compare
Literature and the Common Life
139
The Age of Chaucer
Medieval Narrative Forms,
Chaucer’s Style
text analysis workshop: medieval narratives
140
poetry
from The Canterbury Tales
Characterization, Paraphrase
Exemplum, Predict
Narrator, Analyze Structure
The Prologue
from The Pardoner’s Tale
The Wife of Bath’s Tale
Geoffrey Chaucer
translated by Nevill Coghill
142
144
169
183
Barbara Tuchman
201
202
204
Reading for Information
Synthesize, Draw Conclusions
from A Distant Mirror book excerpt
In the Footsteps of the Faithful magazine article
Pilgrimage Sites map and illustrations
FM13
standards focus
Plot Elements,
Analyze Cause and Effect
themes across cultures: italy
from The Decameron
Federigo’s Falcon: Fifth Day,
Ninth Story tale
Giovanni Boccaccio
206
Anonymous
216
220
224
ballads
Ballad, Understand Dialect
Barbara Allan
Robin Hood and the Three Squires
Get Up and Bar the Door
wrap-up: writing to analyze
Medieval Life and Times
227
Medieval Romance
romance
Medieval Romance,
Make Inferences
from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
The Gawain Poet
translated by John Gardner
228
Sir Thomas Malory
retold by Keith Baines
246
William Caxton
262
romance
Conflict, Summarize
Video link at
thinkcentral.com
from Le Morte d’Arthur
Reading for Information
from Preface to the First Edition
of Le Morte d’Arthur
essay
wrap-up: writing to persuade
The Legacy of Medieval Romance
265
Media
Images in Mass Media
media study
Legends in Film: King Arthur
Literary Interpretation
writing workshop: analysis of a poem
Smart dvd-rom
266
film clips
270
grammar in context Excerpting Poetry, Punctuating Quotations
Epic, Old English Poetry,
Characterization,
Character Traits, Irony
speaking and listening workshop: presenting an analysis
280
assessment practice
from Beowulf epic poem
from The Canterbury Tales
282
poem
The Beowulf Poet
Geoffrey Chaucer
great reads: ideas for independent reading
Vocabulary Strategies
The Anglo-Saxon suffix -some, p. 72
Dictionary etymologies, p. 94
Words from French, p. 168
The Latin prefix mal-, p. 182
FM14
The Latin root temp, p. 198
Nuanced meanings in a thesaurus, p. 215
Multiple-meaning words, p. 264
288
2
standards focus
unit
A Celebration of Human Achievement
the english renaissance
1485–1660
unit 2 introduction
290
• questions of the times • historical essay
• a changing language • timeline • the legacy of the era
standards focus
Sonnet Structures
Pastoral Poems and Sonnets
text analysis workshop: the sonnet form
310
poetry
Pastoral, Compare Speakers
The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd
Christopher Marlowe
Sir Walter Raleigh
312
316
Edmund Spenser
318
321
William Shakespeare
324
328
329
330
Francesco Petrarch
334
337
poetry
Spenserian Sonnet, Summarize
Central Ideas in Poetry
Sonnet 30
Sonnet 75
poetry
Shakespearean Sonnet,
Analyze Imagery
Petrarchan Sonnet,
Analyze Metaphor
Sonnet 18
Sonnet 29
Sonnet 116
Sonnet 130
themes across cultures: italy
Sonnet 90 poem
Sonnet 292 poem
FM15
unit 2 continued
wrap-up: writing to compare
Universal Themes in Love Poetry
339
Shakespearean Drama
standards focus
History and Conventions of
Shakespearean Tragedy
Macbeth and Shakespeare’s Theater
340
text analysis workshop: shakespearean tragedy
342
drama
Shakespearean Tragedy,
Reading Shakespearean Drama
The Tragedy of Macbeth
Act 1
Act 2
Act 3
Act 4
Act 5
William Shakespeare
346
350
368
382
400
418
Reading for Information
Take Notes, Synthesize
from Holinshed’s
Chronicles historical account
Raphael Holinshed
Out, Damn Slander, Out newspaper article
Mood in Film
media study
from Macbeth
Media
435
437
Smart dvd-rom
440
film clips
Reading for Information
“Bloody, Bold, and Resolute”
442
film review
wrap-up: writing to analyze
The Influence of Lady Macbeth
443
The Rise of Humanism
fiction
Rhetorical Devices,
Draw Conclusions
Video link at
thinkcentral.com
Argument,
Analyze Author’s Perspective
FM16
from Utopia
Sir Thomas More
444
Speech Before the Spanish
Armada Invasion
Queen Elizabeth I
448
themes across cultures: italy
from The Prince treatise
Niccolò Machiavelli
452
speech
standards focus
Essay, Evaluate Opinions
essays
from Essays
Sir Francis Bacon
462
464
467
Margaret Cavendish
470
Amelia Lanier
476
Of Studies
Of Marriage and Single Life
debate
Historical Context,
Reading a Debate
Female Orations
Connect
from Eve’s Apology in Defense
of Women
poem
wrap-up: writing to evaluate
Persuasive Techniques in Humanist Literature
479
Spiritual and Devotional Writings
scripture
Scriptural Writing,
Make Inferences
from Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3
The King James Bible
480
484
485
John Milton
488
491
Psalm 23
The Parable of the Prodigal Son
poetry
Figurative Language,
Clarify Meaning
Video link at
thinkcentral.com
Allusion, Reading Difficult Texts
How Soon Hath Time
When I Consider How My Light Is Spent
epic poem
from Paradise Lost
493
allegory
Allegory,
Understand Author’s Purpose
from The Pilgrim’s Progress
John Bunyan
wrap-up: writing to synthesize
Spiritual and Moral Beliefs
504
513
The Metaphysical and Cavalier Poets
Characteristics of
Metaphysical Poetry
text analysis workshop: metaphysical poetry
514
poetry
Metaphysical Conceit,
Interpret Ideas
A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning
Holy Sonnet 10
John Donne
516
521
nonfiction
from Meditation 17
522
FM17
unit 2 continued
standards focus
Epitaph, Rhyme,
Compare Speakers
poetry
On My First Son
Song: To Celia
Ben Jonson
524
528
Andrew Marvell
Robert Herrick
Richard Lovelace
530
534
535
poetry
Theme,
Interpret Figurative Language
Claims, Counterclaims,
Reasons, Evidence
Sonnet Form, Rhyme Scheme,
Imagery, Metaphysical Conceit
To His Coy Mistress
To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time
To Althea, from Prison
wrap-up: writing to evaluate
Metaphysical Conceits
537
writing workshop: critical review
538
grammar in context Use Varied Transitions, Vary Your Syntax
technology workshop: creating a critics’ blog
548
assessment practice
Sonnet 97 poem
A Valediction: Of Weeping
550
poem
William Shakespeare
John Donne
great reads: ideas for independent reading
Vocabulary Strategies
Analogies and connotations, p. 450
Using context clues, p. 460
The Latin prefix trans-, p. 512
FM18
556
3
standards focus
unit
Tradition and Reason
the restoration and
the 18th century
1660–1798
unit 3 introduction
558
• questions of the times • historical essay
• a changing language • timeline • the legacy of the era
standards focus
Forms of Nonfiction
Social Observers
text analysis workshop: nonfiction in the 18th century
576
diary
Diary, Connect to History
Video link at
thinkcentral.com
Verisimilitude, Draw Conclusions
from The Diary of Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
578
british masterpiece
from Robinson Crusoe
Daniel Defoe
590
Daniel Defoe
592
Joseph Addison
600
novel
fiction
from A Journal of the Plague Year
essays
Neoclassicism,
Analyze Author’s Purpose
from The Spectator
wrap-up: writing to analyze
An Eye for Social Behavior
607
FM19
unit 3 continued
Satirical Voices
standards focus
Characteristics of Satire
text analysis workshop: satire
608
poem
Mock Epic, Heroic Couplet,
Understand Elevated Language
from The Rape of the Lock
Alexander Pope
610
Jonathan Swift
620
Jonathan Swift
635
636
647
Jonathan Swift
654
essay
Satire, Identify
Proposition and Support
A Modest Proposal
fiction
Fantasy, Understand Satire
in Historical Context
Gulliver’s Travels
from Part 1. A Voyage to Lilliput
from Part 2. A Voyage to Brobdingnag
Reading for Information
Letter to Alexander Pope
Fantasy in Film
Humor, Draw Conclusions
About Characters
media study
from Gulliver’s Travels
letter
Media
Smart dvd-rom
658
film clip
themes across cultures: france
from Candide fiction
Voltaire
wrap-up: writing to evaluate
The Golden Age of Satire
660
669
The Age of Johnson
dictionary
Voice, Analyze Author’s Purpose
A Dictionary of the English Language
from The Preface
Selected Entries
Samuel Johnson
670
672
676
James Boswell
680
Thomas Gray
690
biography
Biography,
Analyze Author’s Perspective
from The Life of Samuel Johnson
poem
Elegy, Make Inferences
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
wrap-up: writing to analyze
A Man of Letters
FM20
699
The Rise of Women Writers
standards focus
Speaker, Analyze Poetic Structure
poetry
On Her Loving Two Equally
Written at the Close of Spring
Aphra Behn
Charlotte Smith
700
704
Fanny Burney
706
diary
Description in Nonfiction,
Draw Conclusions
from The Journal and Letters of Fanny Burney
An Encounter with King George III
Reading for Information
Madness of King George Tied to Arsenic
newspaper article
717
essay
Counterarguments,
Use Historical Context
Claims, Counterclaims,
Reasons, Evidence
Author’s Purpose, Proposition
and Support, Counterargument
from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Mary Wollstonecraft
718
wrap-up: writing to reflect
Differing Roles for Women
729
writing workshop: persuasive essay
730
grammar in context Correlative Conjunctions,
Commas After Introductory Elements
speaking and listening workshop: giving a persuasive speech
740
assessment practice
from The Poor and Their Betters
742
essay
Henry Fielding
great reads: ideas for independent reading
748
Vocabulary Strategies
Language references, p. 633
Analogies, p. 656
Synonyms as context clues, p. 668
Using a dictionary, p. 678
Specialized dictionaries, p. 689
Analogies, p. 728
FM21
unit
4
Emotion and Experimentation
the flowering of
romanticism
1798–1832
unit 4 introduction
750
• questions of the times • historical essay
• a changing language • timeline • the legacy of the era
Revolt Against Neoclassicism
standards focus
Symbol,
Compare and Contrast Poems
Art Elements in Illustration
poetry
from Songs of Innocence
William Blake
The Lamb
The Chimney Sweeper
The Little Boy Lost
The Little Boy Found
from Songs of Experience
The Tyger
The Chimney Sweeper
The Sick Rose
media study
The Art of William Blake
Media
768
770
772
773
773
774
774
776
776
Smart dvd-rom
778
image collection
poetry
Dialect, Clarify Meaning
FM22
To a Mouse
To a Louse
Robert Burns
782
787
standards focus
Lyric Poetry, Visualize
themes across cultures: germany
The Lorelei poem
Heinrich Heine
wrap-up: writing to evaluate
Romantic Mavericks
790
795
The Lake Poets
Characteristics of Romanticism
text analysis workshop: romanticism
796
poetry
Romantic Poetry,
Analyze Stylistic Elements
Lines Composed a Few Miles Above
Tintern Abbey
Composed upon Westminster Bridge,
September 3, 1802
The World Is Too Much with Us
I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud
William Wordsworth
798
806
807
808
Reading for Information
from the Grasmere Journals journal
Dorothy Wordsworth
809
poem
Literary Ballad,
Reading Narrative Poetry
Analyze Literary Criticism,
Compare Your Reactions
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
812
Reading for Information
from Coleridge’s Dreamscape: “The Rime
of the Ancient Mariner”
literary criticism
836
poem
Sound Devices, Visualize Images
Kubla Khan
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
wrap-up: writing to analyze
Two Faces of Romanticism
840
845
The Late Romantics
Form and Meaning, Traditional
and Organic Forms, Stanzas
text analysis workshop: form and meaning in poetry
846
poetry
Figurative Language,
Understand Stanza Structure
She Walks in Beauty
When We Two Parted
from Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage
George Gordon, Lord Byron
848
852
854
FM23
unit 4 continued
Video link at
thinkcentral.com
standards focus
Rhythmic Patterns,
Understand Historical Context
british masterpiece
from Frankenstein novel
Mary Shelley
858
Percy Bysshe Shelley
860
864
867
871
William Wordsworth
Percy Bysshe Shelley
875
876
poetry
Ozymandias
Ode to the West Wind
To a Skylark
Sonnet: England in 1819
Reading for Information
from Preface to Lyrical Ballads preface
from A Defense of Poetry essay
poetry
Ode, Imagery, Paraphrase
When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be John Keats
To Autumn
Ode on a Grecian Urn
Ode to a Nightingale
878
882
884
886
Reading for Information
Letter to Fanny Brawne
Text Features, Multimedia, Links
John Keats
letter
889
wrap-up: writing to synthesize
Romantic Ideals
891
writing workshop: online feature article
892
grammar in context Incorporating Quotations, Hyphens
and Compound Adjectives
technology workshop: updating an online
feature article
Figurative Language, Sound
Devices, Imagery, Romanticism
assessment practice
from The Prelude, Book VI poem
from Hymn to Intellectual Beauty
902
poem
William Wordsworth
Percy Bysshe Shelley
great reads: ideas for independent reading
FM24
900
908
5
standards focus
unit
An Era of Rapid Change
the victorians
1832–1901
unit 5 introduction
910
• questions of the times • historical essay
• a changing language • timeline • the legacy of the era
The Influence of Romanticism
standards focus
Mood, Analyze Speaker
poetry
The Lady of Shalott
Ulysses
from In Memoriam
Crossing the Bar
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
928
936
938
941
Robert Browning
944
949
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Emily Brontë
952
956
Robert Browning
958
poetry
Dramatic Monologue, Make
Inferences About Speakers
My Last Duchess
Porphyria’s Lover
poetry
Figurative Language,
Compare Themes
Sonnet 43
Remembrance
Reading for Information
Letter to Elizabeth Barrett
letter
FM25
unit 5 continued
british masterpiece
from Jane Eyre novel
standards focus
Sprung Rhythm,
Infer Meaning
Charlotte Brontë
960
Gerard Manley Hopkins
962
965
poetry
Pied Beauty
Spring and Fall: To a Young Child
wrap-up: writing to compare
Romantic Influence
967
Realism in Fiction
The Novel, Realism
text analysis workshop:
the growth and development of fiction
968
short story
Realism, Predict
Malachi’s Cove
Anthony Trollope
970
Christmas Storms and Sunshine
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
994
british masterpieces
The Novels of Charles Dickens
from Great Expectations novel
The Novels of George Eliot
from Middlemarch novel
Charles Dickens
1010
George Eliot
1012
Anton Chekhov
1014
short story
Omniscient Point of View,
Identify Mood
Video link at
thinkcentral.com
Naturalism,
Analyze Plot Structure
themes across cultures: russia
The Darling short story
wrap-up: writing to reflect
Fiction as Social Teaching
1029
Victorian Viewpoints
critical commentary
Persuasion, Recognize Ideas
Evidence of Progress
The Condition of England
Thomas Babington Macaulay 1030
Thomas Carlyle
1036
Reading for Information
Distinguish Fact and Opinion,
Synthesize and Compare
FM26
Good News About Poverty editorial
The White-Collar Blues editorial
David Brooks
Bob Herbert
1045
1047
standards focus
Documentary Techniques
media study
from A History of Britain
Media
Smart dvd-rom
1050
documentary
poetry
Theme, Analyze Speaker
Dover Beach
To Marguerite—Continued
Matthew Arnold
1054
1058
A. E. Housman
1060
1064
Oscar Wilde
1066
Thomas Hardy
1068
1072
poetry
Rhyme Scheme, Make Inferences
To an Athlete Dying Young
When I Was One-and-Twenty
british masterpiece
from The Importance of Being
Earnest drama
poetry
Tone, Draw Conclusions
About Social Context
Analytical Techniques
The Darkling Thrush
Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?
wrap-up: writing to synthesize
Changing Times, Changing Views
1075
writing workshop: analysis of literary nonfiction
1076
grammar in context Transitional Expressions, Comma Splices
Realism, Tone, Speaker
technology workshop: creating a power presentation
1086
assessment practice
Neutral Tones poem
from Adam Bede novel
1088
Thomas Hardy
George Eliot
great reads: ideas for independent reading
1094
Vocabulary Strategies
Using context clues, p. 992
The development of English, p. 1008
Contrasts as context clues, p. 1028
Using a dictionary, p. 1042
FM27
unit
6
New Ideas, New Voices
modern and
contemporary literature
1901–present
unit 6 introduction
1096
• questions of the times • historical essay
• a changing language • timeline • the legacy of the era
standards focus
Characteristics of Modernism,
Irony
The Challenge of Modernism
text analysis workshop: modernism
1114
poetry
Style, Reading Modern Verse
Preludes
The Hollow Men
The Naming of Cats
T. S. Eliot
1116
1120
1123
Katherine Mansfield
1126
Virginia Woolf
1138
E. M. Forster
1148
D. H. Lawrence
1152
short story
Third-Person Limited Point
of View, Make Inferences
A Cup of Tea
short story
Psychological Fiction,
Analyze Diction
The Duchess and the Jeweller
Reading for Information
from Virginia Woolf essay
short story
Theme, Draw Conclusions
FM28
The Rocking-Horse Winner
british masterpiece
from Heart of Darkness
standards focus
Irony, Interpret Ideas
novel
Joseph Conrad
1172
W. H. Auden
1174
1178
Dylan Thomas
1182
1186
poetry
Musée des Beaux Arts
The Unknown Citizen
poetry
Villanelle, Consonance and
Assonance, Analyze Imagery
Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night
Fern Hill
wrap-up: writing to analyze
Modernist Detachment
1189
The Irish Literary Renaissance
poetry
Symbol,
Clarify Meaning in Poetry
Sailing to Byzantium
The Second Coming
When You Are Old
William Butler Yeats
1190
1195
1196
Araby
James Joyce
1198
irish masterpiece
from A Portrait of the Artist
as a Young Man novel
James Joyce
1210
J. M. Synge
1212
short story
First-Person Point of View,
Analyze Descriptive Details
drama
Dialogue,
Understand Cultural Context
Riders to the Sea
Reading for Information
For Men of Seaside Village, Lonely and
Unfamiliar Roles newspaper article
Video link at
thinkcentral.com
irish masterpiece
from Pygmalion drama
1225
George Bernard Shaw
1226
Elizabeth Bowen
1228
short story
Foreshadowing and Flashback,
Analyze Ambiguity
The Demon Lover
wrap-up: writing to compare
The Flowering of Irish Letters
1239
FM29
unit 6 continued
Responses to War and Colonialism
standards focus
Theme and Social Criticism
text analysis workshop: literature as social criticism
1240
poetry
Tone, Make Inferences in Poetry
An Irish Airman Foresees His Death
The Soldier
Dreamers
William Butler Yeats
Rupert Brooke
Siegfried Sassoon
1242
1246
1247
Shooting an Elephant
George Orwell
1250
british masterpiece
from 1984 novel
George Orwell
1262
Words and Behavior
Aldous Huxley
1264
themes across cultures: romania
from Night memoir
Elie Wiesel
1280
Winston Churchill
1288
essay
Reflective Essay, Analyze
Cause-and-Effect Relationships
essay
Deductive Reasoning,
Analyze an Argument
Video link at
thinkcentral.com
Tone, Reading a Memoir
Video link at
thinkcentral.com
Speech, Identify Main Ideas
speech
from The Speeches, May 19, 1940
wrap-up: writing to persuade
Wartime Perspectives
Messages in Media
media study
Wartime Propaganda
1297
Media
Smart dvd-rom
1298
image collection
Postwar Writers
poetry
Free Verse, Imagery,
Analyze Word Choice
Digging
The Horses
Seamus Heaney
Ted Hughes
1302
1307
Stevie Smith
1310
1314
Samuel Beckett
1316
William Trevor
1318
poetry
Voice, Interpret Ideas in Poetry
The Frog Prince
Not Waving but Drowning
irish masterpiece
from Waiting for Godot
drama
short story
Setting, Analyze
Character Relationships
FM30
The Distant Past
wrap-up: writing to evaluate
The Diversity of Postwar Writing
1331
Legacy of Empire
standards focus
Tone in Satire, Understand
Author’s Background
poem
Telephone Conversation
Wole Soyinka
1332
legacy masterpiece
from Things Fall Apart
Chinua Achebe
1338
Nadine Gordimer
1340
novel
short story
Cultural Conflict, Predict
Six Feet of the Country
Reading for Information
Identify Perspectives,
Clarify and React to an Opinion
from No More Strangers Now:
Young Voices from a New South Africa
interviews
1356
Anita Desai
1362
short story
Irony, Evaluate
Characters’ Actions
A Devoted Son
wrap-up: writing to reflect
Writing in the Wake of Colonialism
Historical Perspectives in the
News
Narrative Techniques
media study
Perceptions Shaped by the News
1375
Media
Smart dvd-rom
news features
writing workshop: personal narrative
1376
1380
grammar in context Using Italics for Effect, Prepositions and Usage
Theme, Setting,
Point of View
speaking and listening workshop: job interviews
1390
assessment practice
from Testament of Youth memoir
from The Ghost Road novel
British World War I Poster visual media
1392
Vera Brittain
Pat Barker
great reads: ideas for independent reading
1398
Vocabulary Strategies
Figurative language, p. 1150
Analogies, p. 1170
Using a thesaurus, p. 1208
The Latin prefix circum-, p. 1238
Using electronic resources, p. 1261
Using context clues to find
nuance, p. 1278
Idioms, p. 1296
Greek roots and affixes, p. 1330
The Latin root terr, p. 1354
FM31
unit
7
Investigation and Discovery
the power of research
research strategies workshop
1400
Use Reference Materials and
Technology, Evaluate Sources
Developing Your Research Focus
Finding Relevant Sources
Evaluating and Choosing Sources
Note Taking and Plagiarism
Becoming a Critical Researcher
1404
1406
1410
1414
1417
Use Reference Materials and
Technology, Evaluate Sources
writing workshop: research paper
1420
standards focus
FM32
grammar in context Using Parenthetical Citations,
Punctuating Quotations
Planning/Prewriting
Researching
Drafting
Revising
Editing and Publishing
MLA Citation Guidelines
1421
1423
1426
1428
1436
1438
technology workshop: creating a web site
1440
Student Resource Bank
Reading Handbook
Reading Literary and Nonfiction Texts
Reading Informational Texts: Text Features
Reading Informational Texts: Patterns
of Organization
Reading Informational Texts: Formats
Reading Persuasive Texts
Adjusting Reading Rate to Purpose
Writing Handbook
The Writing Process
Building Blocks of Good Writing
Writing Description
Writing Narratives
Writing Informative Texts
Writing Arguments
Writing Functional Texts
Research Handbook
Finding Sources
Collecting Information
Sharing Your Research
Grammar Handbook
Quick Reference: Parts of Speech
Quick Reference: The Sentence and Its Parts
Quick Reference: Punctuation
Quick Reference: Capitalization
Nouns
Pronouns
Verbs
Modifiers
Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections
The Sentence and Its Parts
Phrases
Verbals and Verbal Phrases
Clauses
The Structure of Sentences
Writing Complete Sentences
Subject-Verb Agreement
Vocabulary and Spelling Handbook
Using Context Clues
Analyzing Word Structure
Understanding Word Origins
Synonyms and Antonyms
R2
R2
R3
R8
R13
R19
R25
R26
R26
R28
R32
R34
R35
R38
R40
R44
R44
R48
R49
R50
R50
R52
R53
R55
R56
R56
R59
R61
R63
R64
R65
R65
R66
R67
R68
R69
R72
R72
R73
R74
R75
Denotation and Connotation
Analogies
Homonyms and Homophones
Words with Multiple Meanings
Specialized Vocabulary
Using Reference Sources
Spelling Rules
Commonly Confused Words
Speaking and Listening Handbook
Speech
Different Types of Oral Presentations
Other Types of Communication
Active Listening
Media Handbook
Five Core Concepts in Media Literacy
Media Basics
Film and TV
News
Advertising
Elements of Design
Evaluating Media Messages
Test-Taking Handbook
General Test-Taking Strategies
Critical Reading
Writing
Essay
Glossary of Literary &
Nonfiction Terms
Glossary of Reading &
Informational Terms
Glossary of Academic Vocabulary
in English & Spanish
Glossary of Vocabulary
in English & Spanish
Pronunciation Key
Index of Fine Art
Index of Skills
Index of Titles & Authors
Acknowledgments
Art Credits
R75
R75
R75
R76
R76
R76
R76
R79
R80
R80
R82
R85
R86
R88
R88
R88
R90
R91
R93
R94
R95
R96
R96
R97
R102
R103
R104
R125
R131
R133
R140
R141
R144
R166
R169
R172
FM33
Selections by Genre
epic
The Ghost Road Pat Barker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1393
Beowulf The Beowulf Poet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40, 282
Gulliver’s Travels Jonathan Swift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635
the Iliad Homer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1172
Paradise Lost John Milton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493
Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 960
Great Expectations Charles Dickens . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1010
A Journal of the Plague Year Daniel Defoe . . . . . . . . . . 592
romance
Middlemarch George Eliot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1012
Le Morte d’Arthur Sir Thomas Malory . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
1984 George Orwell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1262
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight The Gawain Poet . . . . 228
A Portrait of the Artist
as a Young Man James Joyce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1210
scripture
the King James Bible
Robinson Crusoe Daniel Defoe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590
Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1338
Utopia Sir Thomas More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444
Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480
The Parable of the Prodigal Son . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485
Psalm 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484
allegory
Piers Plowman William Langland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
poetry
Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave? Thomas Hardy . . . . 1072
Barbara Allan Anonymous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer . . . . . . . . . 142, 283
The Pilgrim’s Progress John Bunyan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504
Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage George Gordon,
Lord Byron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 854
fiction
Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802
William Wordsworth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 806
Crossing the Bar Alfred, Lord Tennyson . . . . . . . . . . . . 941
short stories
The Darkling Thrush Thomas Hardy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1068
Araby James Joyce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1198
Digging Seamus Heaney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1302
Christmas Storms and Sunshine
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 994
Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night Dylan Thomas . . 1182
A Cup of Tea Katherine Mansfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1126
The Darling Anton Chekhov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1014
The Decameron Giovanni Boccaccio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Federigo’s Falcon: Fifth Day, Ninth Story
The Demon Lover Elizabeth Bowen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1228
A Devoted Son Anita Desai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1362
The Distant Past William Trevor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1318
The Duchess and the Jeweller Virginia Woolf . . . . . . . . 1138
Malachi’s Cove Anthony Trollope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 970
The Rocking-Horse Winner D. H. Lawrence . . . . . . . . . . 1152
Six Feet of the Country Nadine Gordimer . . . . . . . . . . 1340
novel excerpts
Adam Bede George Eliot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1089
Candide Voltaire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660
Frankenstein Mary Shelley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 858
FM34
Dover Beach Matthew Arnold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1054
Dreamers Siegfried Sassoon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1247
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard Thomas Gray . . . 690
Eve’s Apology in Defense of Women Amelia Lanier . . . . 476
Fern Hill Dylan Thomas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1186
The Frog Prince Stevie Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1310
Get Up and Bar the Door Anonymous . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
The Hollow Men T. S. Eliot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1120
Holy Sonnet 10 John Donne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521
The Horses Ted Hughes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1307
How Soon Hath Time John Milton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488
Hymn to Intellectual Beauty Percy Bysshe Shelley . . . . . 903
I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud William Wordsworth . . . . 808
In Memoriam Alfred, Lord Tennyson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 938
An Irish Airman Foresees His Death William Butler Yeats . 1242
Kubla Khan Samuel Taylor Coleridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 840
The Lady of Shalott Alfred, Lord Tennyson . . . . . . . . . . 928
Sonnet 29 William Shakespeare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey
William Wordsworth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 798
Sonnet 30 Edmund Spenser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
The Lorelei Heinrich Heine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 790
Sonnet 75 Edmund Spenser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
Musée des Beaux Arts W. H. Auden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1174
Sonnet 90 Francesco Petrarch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
My Last Duchess Robert Browning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 944
Sonnet 97 William Shakespeare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550
The Naming of Cats T. S. Eliot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1123
Sonnet 116 William Shakespeare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
Neutral Tones Thomas Hardy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1088
Sonnet 130 William Shakespeare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
Not Waving but Drowning Stevie Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . 1314
Sonnet 292 Francesco Petrarch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd Sir Walter Raleigh . . 316
Sonnet: England in 1819 Percy Bysshe Shelley . . . . . . . . 871
Ode on a Grecian Urn John Keats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 884
Spring and Fall: To a Young Child Gerard Manley Hopkins 965
Ode to a Nightingale John Keats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 886
Telephone Conversation Wole Soyinka . . . . . . . . . . . 1332
Ode to the West Wind Percy Bysshe Shelley . . . . . . . . . 864
To a Louse Robert Burns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 787
On Her Loving Two Equally Aphra Behn . . . . . . . . . . . . 700
To a Mouse Robert Burns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 782
On My First Son Ben Jonson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524
To a Skylark Percy Bysshe Shelley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 867
Ozymandias Percy Bysshe Shelley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 860
To Althea, from Prison Richard Lovelace . . . . . . . . . . . . 535
The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
Christopher Marlowe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
To an Athlete Dying Young A. E. Housman . . . . . . . . . 1060
Pied Beauty Gerard Manley Hopkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 962
Porphyria’s Lover Robert Browning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 949
The Prelude, Book VI William Wordsworth . . . . . . . . . . 902
Preludes T. S. Eliot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1116
The Rape of the Lock Alexander Pope . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610
Remembrance Emily Brontë . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 956
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Samuel Taylor Coleridge 812
Robin Hood and the Three Squires Anonymous . . . . . . . 220
Sailing to Byzantium William Butler Yeats . . . . . . . . . 1190
The Seafarer Anonymous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
The Second Coming William Butler Yeats . . . . . . . . . . . 1195
She Walks in Beauty George Gordon, Lord Byron . . . . . . 848
The Soldier Rupert Brooke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1246
Song: To Celia Ben Jonson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528
Songs of Experience William Blake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 774
The Tyger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 774
The Chimney Sweeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 776
The Sick Rose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 776
Songs of Innocence William Blake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 768
Sonnet 43 Elizabeth Barrett Browning . . . . . . . . . . . . . 952
To Autumn John Keats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 882
To His Coy Mistress Andrew Marvell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530
To Marguerite—Continued Matthew Arnold . . . . . . . 1058
To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time Robert Herrick . . . 534
Ulysses Alfred, Lord Tennyson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 936
The Unknown Citizen W. H. Auden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1178
A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning John Donne . . . . . . 516
A Valediction: Of Weeping John Donne . . . . . . . . . . . . 551
The Wanderer Anonymous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
When I Consider How My Light Is Spent John Milton . . . 491
When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be John Keats . . . 878
When I Was One-and-Twenty A. E. Housman . . . . . . . . 1064
When We Two Parted George Gordon, Lord Byron . . . . . 852
When You Are Old William Butler Yeats . . . . . . . . . . . 1196
The Wife’s Lament Anonymous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
The World Is Too Much with Us William Wordsworth . . . 807
Written at the Close of Spring Charlotte Smith . . . . . . . 704
drama
The Lamb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 770
from The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde . . . 1066
The Chimney Sweeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 772
from Pygmalion George Bernard Shaw . . . . . . . . . . . 1226
The Little Boy Lost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 773
Riders to the Sea J. M. Synge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1212
The Little Boy Found . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 773
The Tragedy of Macbeth William Shakespeare . . . . . . . 346
Sonnet 18 William Shakespeare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
from Waiting for Godot Samuel Beckett . . . . . . . . . . . 1316
FM35
Selections by Genre
nonfiction
explanatory/functional texts
biography/autobiography/memoir
For Men of Seaside Village, Lonely and Unfamiliar
Roles Newspaper Article . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1225
The Book of Margery Kempe Margery Kempe . . . . . . . . .116
In the Footsteps of the Faithful Magazine Article . . . . . . 202
The Life of Samuel Johnson James Boswell . . . . . . . . . . 680
Madness of King George Tied to Arsenic
Newspaper Article . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 717
Night Elie Wiesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1280
Testament of Youth Vera Brittain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1392
criticism
“Bloody, Bold, and Resolute” Film Review . . . . . . . . . . . 442
Out, Damn Slander, Out Newspaper Article . . . . . . . . . . 437
Pilgrimage Sites Map and Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
letters/diaries
The Diary of Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys . . . . . . . . . . . 578
Coleridge’s Dreamscape: “The Rime of the Ancient
Mariner” Literary Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 836
Grasmere Journals Dorothy Wordsworth . . . . . . . . . . . 809
A Collaboration Across 1,200 Years Performance Review . . . . 74
The Journal and Letters of Fanny Burney
essays
The Condition of England Thomas Carlyle . . . . . . . . . 1036
A Defense of Poetry Percy Bysshe Shelley . . . . . . . . . . . 876
A Dictionary of the English Language
Samuel Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 670
An Encounter with King George III Fanny Burney . . . . 706
Letter to Alexander Pope Jonathan Swift . . . . . . . . . . . 654
Letter to Elizabeth Barrett Robert Browning . . . . . . . . . 958
Letter to Fanny Brawne John Keats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 889
The Paston Letters The Paston Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Evidence of Progress Thomas Babington Macaulay . . . 1030
speeches/sermons/interviews
Good News About Poverty David Brooks . . . . . . . . . . 1045
Female Orations Margaret Cavendish . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470
A Modest Proposal Jonathan Swift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620
Meditation 17 John Donne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522
Of Marriage and Single Life Sir Francis Bacon . . . . . . . . 467
No More Strangers Now: Young Voices from
a New South Africa Interviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1356
Of Studies Sir Francis Bacon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462
The Poor and Their Betters Henry Fielding . . . . . . . . . . 742
Preface to Lyrical Ballads William Wordsworth . . . . . . . 874
Preface to the First Edition of Le Morte d’Arthur
William Caxton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
The Prince Niccolò Machiavelli . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452
Shooting an Elephant George Orwell . . . . . . . . . . . . 1250
Speech Before the Spanish Armada Invasion
Queen Elizabeth I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448
The Speeches, May 19, 1940 Winston Churchill . . . . . . 1288
Features
The Spectator Joseph Addison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600
text analysis workshops
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Mary Wollstonecraft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 718
The Epic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Virginia Woolf E. M. Forster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1148
The White-Collar Blues Bob Herbert . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1047
Words and Behavior Aldous Huxley . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1264
Medieval Narratives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
The Sonnet Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
Shakespearean Tragedy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
Metaphysical Poetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514
historical narratives
Nonfiction in the 18th Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576
A Distant Mirror Barbara Tuchman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Satire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608
A History of the English Church and People
The Venerable Bede . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Romanticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 796
Holinshed’s Chronicles Raphael Holinshed . . . . . . . . . . 435
Form and Meaning in Poetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 846
The Growth and Development of Fiction . . . . . . . . . . . 968
Modernism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1114
Literature as Social Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1240
FM36
writing workshops
Two Faces of Romanticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 845
Modernist Detachment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1189
Analysis of a Poem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Critical Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538
Persuasive Essay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 730
Online Feature Article . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 892
Analysis of Nonfiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1076
Personal Narrative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1380
Research Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1420
WriteSmart cd-rom
speaking and listening workshops
writing to persuade
The Legacy of Medieval Romance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Wartime Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1297
writing to reflect
Differing Roles for Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 729
Fiction as Social Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1029
Writing in the Wake of Colonialism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1375
writing to compare
The Epic in Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Literature and the Common Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Presenting an Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Universal Themes in Love Poetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
Giving a Persuasive Speech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 740
Romantic Influence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 967
Participating in Job Interviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1390
The Flowering of Irish Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1239
technology workshops
media studies
Creating a Critics’ Blog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548
Legends in Film: King Arthur Film Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Updating an Online Feature Article . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 900
Macbeth Film Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440
Creating a Power Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1086
Gulliver’s Travels Film Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 658
Creating a Web Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1440
The Art of William Blake Image Collection . . . . . . . . . . 778
A History of Britain Documentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1050
wrap-ups
Wartime Propaganda Image Collection . . . . . . . . . . . 1298
writing to synthesize
Perceptions Shaped by the News News Features . . . . . 1376
Spiritual and Moral Beliefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513
Media Smart dvd-rom
Romantic Ideals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 891
Changing Times, Changing Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1075
vocabulary strategies
writing to evaluate
pages 72, 94, 168, 182, 198, 215, 264, 450, 460, 512, 633, 656, 668,
678, 689, 728, 992, 1008, 1028, 1042, 1150, 1170, 1208, 1238,
1261, 1278, 1296, 1330, 1354
Persuasive Techniques in Humanist Literature . . . . . . . . . 479
Metaphysical Conceits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537
The Golden Age of Satire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669
Romantic Mavericks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 795
grammar and style
The Diversity of Postwar Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1331
pages 73, 123, 199, 245, 323, 333, 433, 451, 461, 589, 634, 657, 679,
811, 873, 943, 993, 1009, 1043, 1125, 1151, 1171, 1181, 1209, 1224,
1249, 1279, 1355
writing to analyze
Medieval Life and Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
The Influence of Lady Macbeth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443
An Eye for Social Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607
A Man of Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699
FM37
student guide to
academic success
the common core for uncommon achievement
by carol jago
fm40
understanding the common core state standards
fm42
• What are the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards?
english language arts common core state standards
fm44
spotlight on common core state standards
• Reading Literature: Citing Textual Evidence
FM46
• Reading Literature: Analyzing Two or More Themes
FM48
• Reading Informational Text: Analyzing Structure
FM51
• Writing: Maintaining Clarity and Coherence
FM56
• Speaking and Listening: Interacting Constructively in Discussions
FM60
• Language: Understanding Usage
FM64
• Language: Varying Syntax for Effect
FM66
student guide
• How do I learn the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards?
© Age Fotostock America, Inc.
FM39
The Common Core
for Uncommon Achievement
Carol Jago
“If you don’t know where you are going,
any road will get you there.” – Lewis Carroll
The Common Core State Standards make clear where students
are going. They describe what today’s children need to know
and be able to do to thrive in post-secondary education and the
workplace. By focusing on results — the destination — rather
than on the how — the means of transportation — the Common
Core allows for a variety of teaching methods and many different
classroom approaches. The challenge for teachers is to turn the daily
journey towards this destination into an intellectual adventure.
One way to think about the Common Core is as a kind of GPS device to situate
curriculum. While some students may choose the road less traveled, the objective is
fixed. When students become lost through a wrong turn, teachers recalculate the route,
providing a calm and confident voice that guides all students to academic achievement
and deep literacy.
Shared Responsibility for Students’ Literacy Development
The Common Core State Standards insist that the responsibility for helping students
achieve literacy is not the sole responsibility of the English teacher. The introduction
states clearly that, “instruction in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language
(should) be a shared responsibility within the school” (4). Citing NAEP Reading
assessment test specification guidelines, the Common Core recommends that 55% of
what students read in grade 8 and 70% in grade 12 should be informational text. These
percentages are not meant to reflect the balance of reading materials in English class
alone but rather the totality of what students should be reading across the curriculum
in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects as well as in English. Given
the type of reading that will be required of students in college and of graduates in the
workplace, this distribution is both relevant and practical.
Understanding of Other Perspectives and Cultures
The Common Core also makes clear the importance of literature in the education of
America’s children. “Through reading great classic and contemporary works of literature
representative of a variety of periods, cultures, and worldviews, students can vicariously
inhabit worlds and have experiences much different from their own” (7). Reading
literature demands that readers look inward, examine their beliefs in light of new
information, consider the world through different eyes, take time for reflection. Such
reading is a key to student learning.
FM40
student guide
The Purpose of Exemplar Texts
To describe the quality and complexity of the works students should read at each
grade level, the Common Core offers lists of “exemplar texts.” While some may choose
to treat the texts on these lists as required reading, such usage would represent a
misunderstanding of their purpose. “The choices should serve as useful guideposts
in helping educators select texts of similar complexity, quality, and range for their
own classrooms. They expressly do not represent a partial or complete reading list”
(Appendix B, 2). The poems, stories, novels, and nonfiction that appear on the Common
Core lists are intended as models for guiding — not dictating — text selection.
The Difference Between Persuasion and Argument
The Common Core writing standards describe the types and purposes for writing that
students need to master. You will find extended definitions of argument, informative/
explanatory writing, and narrative writing in Appendix A. Of particular note is the
distinction the Common Core draws between persuasion and
argument. “When writing to persuade, writers employ a variety of
persuasive strategies. One common strategy is an appeal to the
credibility, character, or authority of the writer (or speaker). A logical
argument, on the other hand, convinces the audience because of the
perceived merit and reasonableness of the claims and proofs offered
rather than either the emotions the writing evokes in the audience
or the character or credentials of the writer” (24). Because of its
importance for college and workplace readiness, argument holds a
special place in the Common Core writing standards.
One way to
think about the
Common Core is
as a kind of GPS
device …
Complex Literary and Informational Texts
Throughout the Common Core document you will notice the anchor standard, “Read and
comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.”
It isn’t enough for students to read with a teacher by their side. They need to be able,
often with a little help from their friends or from the habits of mind they learned from
their teachers, to read for themselves. They need to be able, like Huck Finn, to head out
for the territory on their own. Such a journey requires confidence in one’s ability to
navigate uncharted waters and to overcome challenges their teachers can’t foresee or
even imagine. As we guide students on the academic adventure that is high school, let
us never forget that the path we tread is the path to intellectual freedom.
works cited
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and History/Social Studies,
Science, & Technical Subjects. 2010.
Appendix B. Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and History/Social
Studies, Science, & Technical Subjects. 2010.
Carol Jago has taught middle and high school for over 30 years and was a member
of the Common Core Initiative feedback team. She serves as president of the National
Council of Teachers of English.
student guide
FM41
Understanding the
Common Core State Standards
What are the English Language Arts Common Core
State Standards?
The Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts indicate what you
should know and be able to do by the end of your grade level. These understandings
and skills will help you be better prepared for future classes, college courses, and a
career. For this reason, the standards for each strand in English Language Arts (such
as reading informational text or writing) directly relate to the College and Career
Readiness Anchor Standards for each strand. The Anchor Standards broadly outline the
understandings and skills you should learn by the end of high school so that you are
well-prepared for college or for a career.
How do I learn the English Language Arts Common Core
State Standards?
Your textbook is closely aligned to the English Language Arts Common Core State
Standards. Every time you learn a concept or practice a skill, you are working on
mastery of one of the standards. Each unit, each selection, and each workshop in
your textbook connects to one or more of the standards for
English Language Arts listed on the following pages.
FM42
student guide
The English Language Arts Common Core State Standards are divided into five strands:
Reading Literature, Reading Informational Text, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and
Language.
Reading Literature (RL)
This strand concerns the literary texts you will read at this grade level: stories, drama,
and poetry. The Common Core State Standards stress that you should read a range
of texts of increasing complexity as you progress through high school.
Reading Informational Text (RI)
Informational text includes a broad range of literary nonfiction, including exposition,
argument, and functional text, such as personal essays, speeches, opinion pieces,
memoirs, and historical and technical accounts. The Common Core State Standards
stress that you will also read a range of informational texts of increasing complexity
as you progress from grade to grade.
Writing (W)
The Writing strand focuses on your generating three types of texts: arguments,
informative or explanatory texts, and narratives, as well as using the writing
process and technology to develop and share your writing. The Common Core State
Standards also emphasize research and specify that you should write routinely for
both short and extended time frames.
Speaking and Listening (SL)
The Common Core State Standards focus on comprehending information presented
in a variety of media and formats, on participating in collaborative discussions, and
on presenting knowledge and ideas clearly.
Language (L)
The standards in the Language strand address the conventions of Standard English
grammar, usage, and mechanics; knowledge of language; and vocabulary acquisition
and use.
common core decoder
W 1d
Indicates that this
standard is from
the writing strand.
Identifies the standard
number and standard
subpart for the
knowledge or skill.
Identifies the specific knowledge
or skill for this standard.
1. Write arguments to support claims
in an analysis of substantive topics
or texts, using valid reasoning and
relevant and sufficient evidence.
d. Establish and maintain a formal
style and objective tone while
attending to the norms and
conventions of the discipline in
which they are writing.
student guide
FM43
English Language Arts
Common Core State Standards
Listed below are the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards that you
are required to master by the end of grade 12. We have provided a summary of the
concepts you will learn on your way to mastering each standard. The CCR anchor
standards and high school grade-specific standards for each strand work together
to define college and career readiness expectations—the former providing broad
standards, the latter providing additional specificity.
College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS
KEY IDEAS AND DETAILS
1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite
specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key
supporting details and ideas.
3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
CRAFT AND STRUCTURE
4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative,
and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
5. Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the
text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.
6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
INTEGRATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND IDEAS
7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and
quantitatively, as well as in words.
8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the
reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
9. Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to
compare the approaches the authors take.
RANGE OF READING AND LEVEL OF TEXT COMPLEXITY
10. Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
FM44 student guide
Reading Standards for Literature, Grades 11–12 Students
The College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading apply to both literature and informational text.
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARD
WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU
KEY IDEAS AND DETAILS
1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support
analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text, including determining
where the text leaves matters uncertain.
You will use strong evidence from a text to support your
analysis of its central ideas—both those that are stated
directly and those that are suggested—and to show where
the text leaves matters uncertain.
2. Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a
text and analyze their development over the course
of the text, including how they interact and build on
one another to produce a complex account; provide an
objective summary of the text.
You will analyze the development of at least two of a text’s
key ideas and themes by showing how they progress and
interact throughout the text. You will also summarize the
text as a whole without adding your own ideas or opinions.
3. Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding
how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama
(e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered,
how the characters are introduced and developed).
You will analyze the author’s choices related to setting, plot
structure, and characterization in a story or drama.
CRAFT AND STRUCTURE
4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as
they are used in the text, including figurative and
connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific
word choices on meaning and tone, including words
with multiple meanings or language that is particularly
fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as
well as other authors.)
You will analyze specific words and phrases in the text to
determine both their figurative and connotative meanings,
as well as how they contribute to the text’s tone and
meaning as a whole. You will also consider multiplemeaning words and vivid language.
5. Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to
structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of
where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a
comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall
structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
You will analyze the ways in which the author has chosen
to structure and order the text and determine how those
choices shape the text’s meaning and affect the reader.
6. Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view
requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text
from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony,
or understatement).
You will understand a point of view in which what is really
meant is different from what is said or stated.
INTEGRATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND IDEAS
7. Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama,
or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or
recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version
interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by
Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.)
You will compare and contrast multiple interpretations of
a story, drama, or poem, and analyze how each draws from
and uses the source text.
8. (Not applicable to literature)
student guide
FM45
Reading Standards for Literature, Grades 11–12 Students, continued
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARD
WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU
9. Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenthand early-twentieth-century foundational works of
American literature, including how two or more texts
from the same period treat similar themes or topics.
You will analyze, compare, and contrast important
eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and early-twentieth-century
works of American literature.
RANGE OF READING AND LEVEL OF TEXT
COMPLEXITY
10. By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend
literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the
high end of the grades 11–12 CCR text complexity band
independently and proficiently.
You will read and understand grade-level appropriate
literary texts by the end of grade 12.
Spotlight on Common Core
RL 1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to
support analysis of what the text says explicitly as
well as inferences drawn from the text.
Literature: Citing Textual Evidence
The Common Core State Standards stress the importance of providing strong and thorough support
for your analysis of any text that you read, from short stories, to dramas, to epic poems. To support
your analysis you need to provide textual evidence, which means using ideas and details from the
text. You can do this in two ways:
1. identify the ideas and details that enable you to analyze what the text clearly states
2. identify the ideas and details that enable you to draw inferences, or make logical assumptions,
about the text
Throughout this book, in questions about individual texts and in writing about texts, you will be
asked to support your ideas with text evidence. Study the following example:
Read the following poem, “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley, a Romantic
poet. Ozymandias is the Greek name for the Egyptian pharaoh Rameses II,
who reigned from 1279 to 1213 BC. Then answer the two questions that
follow the poem.
5
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs1 of stone
Stand in the desert. . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage2 lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;3
1. trunkless legs: legs separated from the rest of the body.
2. visage: face.
3. lines 6–8: The passions outlast the sculptor whose hand mocked those passions
and the king whose heart fed those passions.
FM46 student guide
10
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
1. What imagery does the poet use to characterize the statue of Ozymandias? Support your
response with text evidence.
2. What can you infer about Ozymandias’s position in the world from the poem? Support your
response with text evidence.
,%!2.ß(/7 Citing Textual Evidence The questions that follow “Ozymandias” ask you to cite
text evidence, but for different reasons. The first question directs you to probe what the poem says
explicitly; the second question relates to the inferences you make in reading the poem.
To support your analysis, you need to identify specific ideas and details in the poem that will support
your response to either type of question. These ideas and details can be specific words or quotations
from the text, paraphrases of the text, or a summary of the text or of a relevant part of the text.
Remember that to paraphrase, you use your own words instead of the exact words in the text. To
summarize, you briefly retell what the text says, again in your own words.
Here are two examples of how to respond to the questions. Notice how the writer uses the types of
text evidence to support each analysis.
1. What imagery does the poet use to characterize the statue of Ozymandias? Support your
response with text evidence.
summary of the poem
In the poem “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley, the speaker describes
the disintegrating statue of a once-powerful king in the desert. The statue
is in fragments: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone” (line 3) stand on
one part of the sand. The statue’s face, a “shattered visage,” (line 4) lies
nearby. Nevertheless, the king’s “sneer of cold command” (line 5) is still
evident, as is the inscription in which he declares his great power (lines
10–11). The king’s words strongly contrast with the statue’s decayed state.
2. What can you infer about Ozymandias’s position in the world from the poem? Support
your response with text evidence.
Ozymandias was a powerful enough ruler to be represented by a
statue of himself inscribed as “king of kings” (line 10). His “sneer of
cold command” (line 5) implies that he was a ruthless, demanding
king. However, the disintegration of his statue also implies that
his power was ultimately vain and arrogant. The poem’s final lines
describe the isolated, seemingly endless desert that surrounds
the statue and suggest how empty, insignificant, and transient
Ozymandias’s power finally is.
quotation marks and
line numbers indicate
direct citations
paraphrase: statue’s
inscription
direct quotations
support the writer’s
inferences
inferences supported
with a paraphrase
student guide
FM47
Spotlight on Common Core
Literature: Analyzing Two or More Themes
RL 2 Determine two or more themes or central
ideas of a text and analyze their development over
the course of the text, including how they interact
and build on one another to produce a complex
account; provide an objective summary of the text.
The theme of a text is the underlying message it conveys. Many literary works have more than one
theme, and those themes often build on one another to produce an even more complex theme. To
analyze a text with one or more themes, you can follow these steps:
1. Summarize the poem briefly and objectively to help you identify its major themes.
2. Determine the central themes of the text by paying close attention to the author’s use of
language, including literary devices (such as imagery and figurative language). Support your
conclusions with evidence from the text, such as quotations or paraphrases.
3. Analyze the relationship between the two themes. How do they combine, or build upon each
other, to form an even more complex theme?
Throughout this book, you will be asked to identify the themes of a variety of works from a variety of
literary genres and to determine how they interact. Study the following example:
Read the following poem, “Sonnet 18” by William Shakespeare, the great
Elizabethan poet and dramatist. Then answer the questions that follow
the poem.
5
10
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed;1
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;2
Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.3
1. lines 7–8, fair from. . . untrimmed: beauty eventually fades, due to misfortune
or natural aging.
2. line 10, thou owest: you own; you possess.
3. line 12, when. . . growest: when in immortal poetry you become a
part of time.
1. Briefly summarize the poem in your own words.
2. What are the two central themes of the poem? Support your conclusion with evidence from the text.
3. How do these two themes combine, or build upon each other, to form a third theme?
FM48 student guide
,%!2.ß(/7 Analyzing Two or More Themes You can analyze a complex text by following a
few steps. First, summarize the poem by briefly restating what happens in it in your own words.
Summarizing the poem helps you identify the poem’s major themes and how they interact. An
effective summary is objective, meaning it does not include your thoughts or feelings about the work.
Next, in order to discuss how two or more themes in a text build upon one another, you must first
identify those themes. What are the primary ideas or messages portrayed in the work? If you are
unsure, ask yourself these questions.
• Who is the speaker and what is his or her main subject?
• How does the speaker feel about this subject? To what or whom does the speaker compare or
contrast the subject?
• What kind of language, imagery, and devices does the speaker use to describe the subject?
Finally, ask yourself how the themes combine to form a third theme. Notice how the following
example uses this three-step approach.
1. Briefly summarize the poem in your own words.
In Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18,” the speaker compares a person
he or she loves to a summer’s day. Summer fades quickly, but the
beloved’s beauty is “eternal” because the poem immortalizes it.
brief, objective
summary
2. What are the two central themes of the poem? Support your conclusion with evidence
from the text.
In the first lines, the speaker compares his beloved to a summer’s
day. Summer is described as turbulent, featuring “rough winds” and
unpleasant changes in temperature ( “Sometimes too hot the eye of
heaven shines”). Summer also fades too fast ( “summer’s lease hath
all too short a date”). One theme of this poem is the inevitable,
turbulent passage of time.
In contrast, the beauty of the beloved is stable ( “thy eternal
summer shall not fade”) because the poem preserves it for eternity.
The poem makes the beloved’s beauty live forever: “So long lives this,
and this gives life to thee.” The second theme is the power of art to
portray beauty.
text evidence
first theme
text evidence
second theme
3. How do these two themes combine, or build upon each other, to form a third theme?
The two themes of the inevitable passage of time and the power
of art build upon one another in the poem. In the end, art is more
powerful than nature because it can preserve beauty for all time.
interaction of two
themes
In your reading of complex texts throughout this book, determine whether the author
includes more than one theme, as well as how those themes interact to create yet another
theme. The richness of British literature ensures that you will encounter multiple themes in
many texts.
student guide
FM49
Reading Standards for Informational Text, Grades 11–12 Students
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARD
WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU
KEY IDEAS AND DETAILS
1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support
analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text, including determining
where the text leaves matters uncertain.
You will use details and information from the text to
support your analysis of its central ideas—both those that
are stated directly and those that are suggested—and to
show where the text leaves matters uncertain.
2. Determine two or more central ideas of a text and
analyze their development over the course of the text,
including how they interact and build on one another
to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective
summary of the text.
You will analyze the development of at least two of a
text’s key ideas by showing how they progress and interact
throughout the text. You will also summarize the text as a
whole without adding your own ideas or opinions.
3. Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events
and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events
interact and develop over the course of the text.
You will analyze the specific interactions among a set of
ideas, individuals, or a sequence of events in a text.
CRAFT AND STRUCTURE
4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they
are used in a text, including figurative, connotative,
and technical meanings; analyze how an author uses
and refines the meaning of a key term or terms over
the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction
in Federalist No. 10).
You will analyze specific words and phrases in the text
to determine their figurative, connotative, and technical
meanings, as well as to uncover how an author uses them
throughout a text.
5. Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the
structure an author uses in his or her exposition or
argument, including whether the structure makes
points clear, convincing, and engaging.
You will examine a text’s structure and evaluate whether it
makes the author’s claims clear, convincing, and interesting.
6. Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in
a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective,
analyzing how style and content contribute to the
power, persuasiveness or beauty of the text.
You will understand the author’s purpose and perspective
on a topic and analyze how the author uses language to
affect the reader.
INTEGRATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND IDEAS
7. Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information
presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually,
quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address
a question or solve a problem.
You will integrate multiple and varied sources of
information to address a question or solve a problem.
8. Delineate and evaluate the reasoning in seminal
U.S. texts, including the application of constitutional
principles and use of legal reasoning (e.g., in U.S.
Supreme Court majority opinions and dissents) and
the premises, purposes, and arguments in works
of public advocacy (e.g., The Federalist, presidential
addresses).
You will analyze the reasoning and underlying principles of
important and influential U.S. texts for their support of the
principles of democracy.
FM50
student guide
Reading Standards for Informational Text, Grades 11–12 Students, continued
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARD
WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU
9. Analyze seventeenth-, eighteenth-, and nineteenthcentury foundational U.S. documents of historical
and literary significance (including The Declaration of
Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution, the
Bill of Rights, and Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address)
for their themes, purposes, and rhetorical features.
You will read and analyze important eighteenth-,
nineteenth-, and early-twentieth-century documents
pertaining to American history to determine their themes,
purposes, and use of language.
RANGE OF READING AND LEVEL OF
TEXT COMPLEXITY
10. By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend
literary nonfiction at the high end of the
grades 11–12 CCR text complexity band
independently and proficiently.
You will demonstrate the ability to read and understand
grade-level appropriate literary nonfiction texts by the end
of grade 12.
Spotlight on Common Core
Informational Texts: Analyzing Structure
RI 5 Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the
structure an author uses in his or her exposition or
argument, including whether the structure makes
the points clear, convincing, and engaging.
To evaluate the effectiveness of an argument, you need to analyze its structure, or the order in which
the writer presents the components of the argument, such as claims, reasons, and rhetorical devices.
You can do this by:
1. identifying the order in which the writer presents his or her major points
2. evaluating to what extent the argument’s structure helps convey its points clearly, convincingly,
and engagingly to the reader
Throughout this book, you will be asked to consider the structure of a variety of informational texts,
including arguments and expository texts. Study the following example:
Read this excerpt from “Female Orations,” a text written in the seventeenth century by
Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle. At a time when women could not own
property or vote and often received little formal education, a group of women gather to
discuss the limitations in their lives. In Part I, one of the women starts the discussion by
sharing her views on men and women. Answer the questions that follow the excerpt.
Ladies, gentlewomen, and other inferior women, but not less worthy:
I have been industrious to assemble you together, and wish I were so
fortunate as to persuade you to make frequent assemblies, associations,
and combinations amongst our sex, that we may unite in prudent
counsels, to make ourselves as free, happy, and famous as men; whereas
now we live and die as if we were produced from beasts, rather than from
men; for men are happy, and we women are miserable; they possess all the
ease, rest, pleasure, wealth, power, and fame; whereas women are restless
with labor, easeless with pain, melancholy for want of 1 pleasures, helpless
for want of power, and die in oblivion, for want of fame. Nevertheless,
1. for want of: due to the lack of.
student guide
FM51
men are so unconscionable2 and cruel against us that they endeavor to bar
us of all sorts of liberty, and will not suffer3 us freely to associate amongst
our own sex; but would fain4 bury us in their houses or beds, as in a grave.
The truth is, we live like bats or owls, labor like beasts, and die like worms.
2. unconscionable: not led by conscience.
3. suffer: allow.
4. fain: gladly.
1. What is the structure, or organization, of this argument?
2. How effective is this structure in making the points clear, convincing, and engaging?
,%!2.ß(/7 Analyzing Structure The first question following the excerpt asks you to identify
the structure of the argument; the second asks you to evaluate the effectiveness of this structure. To
support your analysis, you need specific support in the form of quotations from the text. You may also
paraphrase, restating each point briefly in your own words in the order in which it appears.
A writer usually begins with a claim, his or her position on an issue or problem. The writer then builds
the argument, adding increasingly strong reasons and evidence (such as examples and opinions) to
support the claim. The writer may include literary devices, such as similes, metaphors, and imagery to
engage the reader with colorful language to make his or her point. Above all, it is important that the
writer make the points clearly and convincingly in a way that engages the reader enough to consider
the writer’s argument.
1. What is the structure, or organization, of this argument?
The speaker claims that women are drastically unequal to men.
She begins by wishing that women could gather more often to discuss
how to be as “free, happy, and famous as men.” She then provides
two parallel lists contrasting examples of the power men have ( “all
the ease, rest, pleasure, wealth, power, and fame” ) with examples
of the deprivation women suffer ( “restless with labor, easeless with
pain. . .…” ). Next, she intensifies this argument by comparing how men
deprive women of their liberty and humanity, treating women as if “in
a grave.” Finally, the speaker closes her argument with three striking
similes that sum up women’s subhuman existence: “. . . we live like bats
or owls, labor like beasts, and die like worms.”
argument based on
more and more vivid
comparisons
2. How effective is this structure in making the points clear, convincing, and engaging?
The structure conveys the speaker’s position clearly. The argument
becomes increasingly intense as it goes on, making the opinions the
writer presents memorable and potentially convincing. The increasingly
FM52 student guide
analysis of effectiveness
lively, if horrifying, imagery keeps the reader engaged. The final
sentence is a strong reminder of the speaker’s main point that women
are not treated as equal human beings. By offering solutions for the
problem described, the speaker might have made an even stronger
conclusion, thus strengthening the argument.
one weakness of the
argument
As you analyze other arguments and expository texts throughout this book, be sure to consider how
effectively a text’s structure conveys the writer’s points and strengthens his or her argument.
College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Writing
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS
TEXT TYPES AND PURPOSES
1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning
and relevant and sufficient evidence.
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly
and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, wellchosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF WRITING
4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate
to task, purpose, and audience.
5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new
approach.
6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate
with others.
RESEARCH TO BUILD AND PRESENT KNOWLEDGE
7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating
understanding of the subject under investigation.
8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy
of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
RANGE OF WRITING
10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time
frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
student guide
FM53
Writing Standards, Grades 11–12 Students
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARD
WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU
TEXT TYPES AND PURPOSES
1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of
substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and
relevant and sufficient evidence.
a. Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s), establish
the significance of the claim(s), distinguish the
claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and
create an organization that logically sequences
claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
a. a clear organization of precise claims and counterclaims
b. Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly and
thoroughly, supplying the most relevant evidence
for each while pointing out the strengths and
limitations of both in a manner that anticipates the
audience’s knowledge level, concerns, values, and
possible biases.
b. relevant and unbiased support for claims that
incorporates audience considerations
c. Use words, phrases, and clauses as well as varied
syntax to link the major sections of the text, create
cohesion, and clarify the relationships between
claim(s) and reasons, between reasons and
evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims.
c. use of transitional words, phrases, and clauses and
varied sentence structures to link information and
clarify relationships
d. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective
tone while attending to the norms and conventions
of the discipline in which they are writing.
d. a tone and style that is appropriate and that adheres to
the conventions, or expectations, of the discipline
e. Provide a concluding statement or section
that follows from and supports the argument
presented.
e. a strong concluding statement or section that
summarizes the evidence presented
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and
convey complex ideas, concepts, and information
clearly and accurately through the effective selection,
organization, and analysis of content.
a. Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts,
and information so that each new element builds
on that which precedes it to create a unified whole;
include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g.,
figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to
aiding comprehension.
FM54
You will write and develop arguments with strong evidence
and valid reasoning that include
You will write clear, well-organized, and thoughtful
informative and explanatory texts with
a. a clear introduction and an organization that builds
on each successive idea, including formats, headings,
graphic organizers (when appropriate), and multimedia
b. Develop the topic thoroughly by selecting the most
significant and relevant facts, extended definitions,
concrete details, quotations, or other information
and examples appropriate to the audience’s
knowledge of the topic.
b. a sufficient variety of support and background
information
c. Use appropriate and varied transitions and syntax
to link the major sections of the text, create
cohesion, and clarify the relationships among
complex ideas and concepts.
c. appropriate and varied transitions and sentence
structures
student guide
Writing Standards, Grades 11–12 Students, continued
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARD
WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU
TEXT TYPES AND PURPOSES
d. Use precise language, domain-specific vocabulary,
and techniques such as metaphor, simile, and
analogy to manage the complexity of the topic.
d. precise language, relevant vocabulary, and the use of
comparisons to express complex ideas
e. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective
tone while attending to the norms and conventions
of the discipline in which they are writing.
e. an appropriate tone and style that adheres to the
conventions, or expectations, of the discipline
f. Provide a concluding statement or section that
follows from and supports the information
or explanation presented (e.g., articulating
implications or the significance of the topic).
f. a strong concluding statement or section that logically
relates to the information presented in the text and that
restates the importance or relevance of the topic
3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences
or events using effective technique, well-chosen details,
and well-structured event sequences.
a. Engage and orient the reader by setting out
a problem, situation, or observation and its
significance, establishing one or multiple point(s) of
view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters;
create a smooth progression of experiences or events.
You will write clear, well-structured, detailed narrative texts
that
b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing,
description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to
develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
b. use a range of literary techniques to develop and expand
on events and/or characters
c. Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so
that they build on one another to create a coherent
whole and build toward a particular tone and
outcome (e.g., a sense of mystery, suspense, growth,
or resolution).
c. have a coherent sequence and structure that create the
appropriate tone and ending for readers
d. Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and
sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the
experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.
d. use precise words, sensory details, and language in order
to keep readers interested
e. Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects
on what is experienced, observed, or resolved over
the course of the narrative.
e. have a strong and logical conclusion that reflects on the
topic
a. draw your readers in with a clear topic, well-developed
point(s) of view, a well-developed narrator and
characters, and an interesting progression of events or
ideas
PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF WRITING
4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the
development, organization, and style are appropriate to
task, purpose, and audience.
You will produce writing that is appropriate to the task,
purpose, and audience for whom you are writing.
5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by
planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a
new approach, focusing on addressing what is most
significant for a specific purpose and audience.
You will revise and refine your writing, using a variety of
strategies, to address what is most important for your
purpose and audience.
6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce,
publish, and update individual or shared writing
products in response to ongoing feedback, including
new arguments or information.
You will use technology to share your writing, provide
links to other relevant information, and to update your
information as needed.
student guide
FM55
Writing Standards, Grades 11–12 Students, continued
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARD
WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU
RESEARCH TO BUILD AND PRESENT KNOWLEDGE
7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research
projects to answer a question (including a selfgenerated question) or solve a problem; narrow or
broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize
multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating
understanding of the subject under investigation.
You will engage in short and more complex research tasks
that include answering a question or solving a problem by
using multiple sources. Your understanding of the subject
will be evident in the product you develop.
8. Gather relevant information from multiple
authoritative print and digital sources, using
advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths
and limitations of each source in terms of the task,
purpose, and audience; integrate information into the
text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding
plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and
following a standard format for citation.
You will effectively conduct searches to gather information
from a variety of print and digital sources and will evaluate
each source in terms of the goal of your research. You will
appropriately cite your sources of information and will
follow a standard format for citation, such as the MLA or
APA guidelines.
9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to
support analysis, reflection, and research.
a. Apply grades 11–12 Reading standards to literature
(e.g., “Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-,
nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century
foundational works of American literature, including
how two or more texts from the same period treat
similar themes or topics”).
You will paraphrase, summarize, quote, and cite
primary and secondary sources, using both literary and
informational texts, to support your analysis, reflection, and
research, for purposes including
a. written analysis of themes, author’s choices, or point of
view in works of literature
b. Apply grades 11–12 Reading standards to literary
nonfiction (e.g., “Delineate and evaluate the
reasoning in seminal U.S. texts, including the
application of constitutional principles and use of
legal reasoning [e.g., in U.S. Supreme Court Case
majority opinions and dissents] and the premises,
purposes, and arguments in works of public advocacy
[e.g., The Federalist, presidential addresses]”).
b. written analysis of central ideas, text structure, word
choice, point of view, or reasoning in works of literary
nonfiction
RANGE OF WRITING
10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for
research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time
frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of
tasks, purposes, and audiences.
You will write a variety of texts for different purposes and
audiences over both short and extended periods of time.
Spotlight on Common Core
Writing: Maintaining Clarity and Coherence
The Common Core State Standards stress the need to communicate
clearly and coherently with your readers, so they can follow and
understand what you have written.
W 4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which
the development, organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
W 10 Write routinely over extended time frames
(time for research, reflection, and revision) and
shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or
two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Pre-planning helps you define your project and establish a realistic timeframe. Having insufficient
time to draft, revise, and proofread will compromise the clarity and coherence of your writing.
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For example, what are you writing? A letter to a newspaper takes less time to write than a research
paper. You also need plenty of time to research, draft, revise, and proofread what you have written,
especially if you have a specific deadline. Give yourself more time than you need in case you have
unexpected scheduling conflicts, need to start over and try a new approach to your topic, or must do
extra research.
,%!2.ß(/7 Planning Your Writing Process Study the chart below. It provides some additional
questions that you can ask yourself to help you plan your writing process and produce your best work.
Planning Your Writing Process
Question
Examples
What is my final product?
• A research paper for history class
• A proposal to launch a school literary
magazine
• A letter to a newspaper
What is my topic?
• Queen Elizabeth I in Renaissance England
• The benefits of a school literary magazine
• The unfair portrayal of teenagers in an
editorial
What is my purpose, or reason, for writing?
• To research and explain the rise to power of
Queen Elizabeth I
• To obtain permission and funding for a new
school publication
• To write an opposing argument to the opinions
expressed in an editorial
Who is my audience?
• Other students in class
• A committee of school board members and
the school principal
• The newspaper’s editors and readers
How much time do I have? Am I writing
over a short or extended period of time?
• One month
• Two weeks
• Two days
You can plan your writing process once you understand your task, purpose, audience, and timeframe.
For example, you can decide how much time you should spend researching your topic based on your
purpose and due date. You might try drafting a schedule, using a calendar and your prior knowledge
to decide how much time to allow for each step in the writing process.
,%!2.ß(/7 Using Writing Strategies With a writing plan, you can concentrate on producing
clear and coherent writing. The Writing Workshops in this book provide several strategies to help
you write effectively. Study the chart below. The highlighted text in the right column reflects the
boldfaced points in the left column.
Writing Strategies
DEVELOPMENT
WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
• Include a memorable introduction and concluding
statement or section.
Female monarchs were the exception, not the rule, in
Renaissance Europe. King Henry VIII (1491–1547) was
displeased when his wife gave birth to a girl, rather than
the male heir he wanted. Ironically, the daughter Henry did
not want ultimately surpassed her father, becoming one of
England’s most powerful and beloved monarchs as well as an
accomplished military commander. This paper will establish
how Queen Elizabeth I (1533–1603) rose from disfavor to be
loved by England and feared by other nations.
• Utilize a controlling idea or thesis statement.
• Introduce sufficient facts, definitions, concrete details,
quotations, and other examples that are appropriate
to the audience’s knowledge of the topic.
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Writing Strategies
ORGANIZATION
WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
• Establish a logical organization that makes sense for
the purpose and audience.
There are three major ways the school would benefit from
establishing and funding an online literary magazine.
• Provide graphics, use formatting, or other text
features to help aid comprehension, if necessary.
First, an online literary magazine will provide students with
an in-house, professional publication. This will make their work
available to the school community, increase student writers’
self-respect and productivity, and enhance school pride.
• Use organizational patterns, such as cause-and-effect,
definitions, or compare-contrast to help readers
understand the relationship between ideas.
• Include words, phrases, and clauses that link sections
of text and create cohesion, or flow.
Second, students who work on the magazine will develop
skills in editing, graphics, and desktop publishing. This, in turn,
will help students gain valuable job skills.
• Organize complex ideas, concepts, and information to
make important connections and distinctions.
Third, this publication would contribute to student literacy
by encouraging all students to participate personally in the
reading and writing process. Many students keep journals or
write poems and short stories. A student literary magazine
provides a forum for sharing their work.
LANGUAGE AND STYLE
WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
• Maintain an appropriate style and tone, such as
formal and objective for academic writing.
I appreciate Mr. Swanson’s argument that teenagers need
to be more hardworking and responsible, but his conclusions
are biased. Like some adults, he assumes most teenagers are
lazy and unfocused. Mr. Swanson fails to account for the
responsibilities many teenagers successfully face each day.
These include working at part-time jobs to save for college
and caring for younger siblings while parents work. These
tasks are often in addition to demanding class schedules
and participation in extracurricular school activities and
volunteering.
• Use precise language and telling details.
• Exhibit a strong command of grammar, usage,
capitalization, and punctuation.
Authors combine different strategies to maintain clarity and coherence in their writing. They apply
these strategies to texts of varied lengths, purposes, and complexity. Be sure to notice these strategies
as you analyze texts throughout this book, and be sure to use them to improve your own writing.
College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS
COMPREHENSION AND COLLABORATION
1. Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse
partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
2. Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually,
quantitatively, and orally.
3. Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.
PRESENTATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND IDEAS
4. Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of
reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
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College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening, continued
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS
5. Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance
understanding of presentations.
6. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal
English when indicated or appropriate.
Speaking and Listening Standards, Grades 11–12 Students
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARD
WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU
COMPREHENSION AND COLLABORATION
1. Initiate and participate effectively in a range of
collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11–12
topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
a. Come to discussions prepared, having read and
researched material under study; explicitly draw
on that preparation by referring to evidence from
texts and other research on the topic or issue to
stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange
of ideas.
You will actively participate in a variety of discussions in
which you
a. have read any relevant material beforehand and have
come to the discussion prepared with background
research
b. Work with peers to promote civil, democratic
discussions and decision-making, set clear goals
and deadlines, and establish individual roles as
needed.
b. work with others to establish goals, processes, and roles
within the group in order to have reasonable discussions
c. Propel conversations by posing and responding
to questions that probe reasoning and evidence;
ensure a hearing for a full range of positions on a
topic or issue; clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and
conclusions; and promote divergent and creative
perspectives.
c. ask and respond to questions, encourage a range of
positions, and relate the current topic to other relevant
information and perspectives
d. Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives;
synthesize comments, claims, and evidence made
on all sides of an issue; resolve contradictions
when possible; and determine what additional
information or research is required to deepen the
investigation or complete the task.
d. respond to different perspectives, summarize points
of agreement or disagreement when needed, help to
resolve unclear points, and set out a plan for additional
research as needed
2. Integrate multiple sources of information presented
in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually,
quantitatively, orally) in order to make informed
decisions and solve problems, evaluating the
credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any
discrepancies among the data.
You will integrate multiple and varied sources of
information, assessing the credibility and accuracy of each
source to aid the group-discussion process.
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Speaking and Listening Standards, Grades 11–12 Students, continued
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARD
WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU
3. Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and
use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the stance,
premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of
emphasis, and tone used.
You will evaluate a speaker’s argument and analyze the
nature of the speaker’s reasoning or evidence.
PRESENTATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND IDEAS
4. Present information, findings, and supporting
evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective,
such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning,
alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed,
and the organization, development, substance, and
style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range
of formal and informal tasks.
You will organize and present information, evidence, and
your perspective to your listeners in a logical sequence
and style that are appropriate to your task, purpose, and
audience.
5. Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual,
graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in
presentations to enhance understanding of findings,
reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
You will use digital media to enhance understanding and to
add interest to your presentations.
6. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks,
demonstrating command of formal English when
indicated or appropriate.
You will adapt the formality of your speech appropriately,
depending on its context and purpose.
Spotlight on Common Core
Speaking and Listening: Interacting
Constructively in Discussions
SL 1b Work with peers to promote civil, democratic
discussions and decision-making, set clear goals
and deadlines, and establish individual roles as
needed.
The Common Core State Standards note the importance of working constructively with your peers
in group discussions. These discussions provide an opportunity to share opinions and ideas in order
to answer a question, solve a problem, or reach consensus. A productive group discussion follows
a democratic model. All participants should feel that they have ample opportunity to share their
opinions and ideas, while also making an effort to acknowledge those that may be different from
their own.
Before you begin your group discussion, assign roles to group members to keep the discussion moving
in a smooth, organized fashion. You will need:
1. a chairperson who keeps the group focused on its goal or purpose, participates in the discussion
and keeps it on track, and helps resolve conflicts
2. a recorder who takes notes on the discussion and summarizes suggestions and decisions
3. a timekeeper who keeps the discussion on schedule
Then, answer these questions:
1. What is the goal or purpose of the discussion? In other words, what should this discussion
accomplish?
2. How much time does the group have for the discussion?
3. What rules will guide the discussion?
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Then, establish rules to ensure a productive, open, energetic discussion in which participants may
establish their opinions while remaining open-minded.
• Interrupting another speaker is rude and wastes time. Each participant needs sufficient time to
convey his or her thoughts. If time is short, consider establishing a reasonable limit on how long
each participant may speak to be monitored by the timekeeper.
• It is natural, and often helpful, for members of the group to have divergent points of view. A
participant who stubbornly or aggressively dominates a discussion will block the free flow of
ideas. Some participants may not get a chance to speak or may not feel that they should. Before
the situation gets out of hand, the chairperson should quickly take action by politely reminding
participants to treat each other with respect and allow everyone an equal opportunity to speak.
Active listening is the process of receiving, interpreting, evaluating, and responding to a message. In
addition to showing your respect for your peers’ opinions, even if they differ from your own, you may
gain a fresh perspective that expands your own point of view about the issue under discussion.
• Fully focus your attention on what your peers say. Even if you disagree with what is being said,
continue to listen respectfully. The chairperson should remind members of the group to do this if
the discussion becomes too impassioned.
• When it’s your turn, first summarize, or restate, the previous speaker’s position briefly in your
own words to verify that you have understood it. Ask the previous speaker clarifying questions if
needed or refer to the recorder for further verification.
• State your own views as clearly, carefully, and concisely as you can.
• Respond diplomatically if another participant questions or disagrees with your opinion.
• Be willing to defend your point of view, but be open to changing your mind about it as well. You
can profit from looking at an issue from an angle you might not have considered before.
Do not fear disagreement. A constructive disagreement helps participants to sharpen their minds.
A lively discussion may help you clarify your opinion, provide additional evidence to support it, and
sharpen your mind overall. You may learn something new and exciting from your opponent that
causes you to see the world with fresh eyes.
When a difference of opinion arises, speak calmly, ask questions respectfully, and remain openminded. Remember, you do not have to resolve all disagreements. Participants can respectfully agree
to disagree. When disagreements arise:
• You should not aggressively interrupt or talk over one another.
• You and your opponent must present reasons or evidence to support your positions. If you say you
like or dislike an idea, you must explain why. It is not enough to simply say you agree or disagree.
• See if you and your opponent can compromise or agree on part of the issue.
• Watch the time. You may not be able to come to a full agreement, but disagreements can spiral
out of control. If it does not look as if agreement or compromise can be reached, participants
need to agree to disagree and move on.
,%!2.ß(/7 Interacting in Discussions The following chart presents examples of effective
discussion behaviors. The students are discussing the contemporary relevance of Shakespeare’s plays.
Effective Behavior
What It Looks Like
Support others’ contributions.
Jason believes that literary works are a product of their
historical time period. He says that there are limits
to how much they apply to the present day because
western culture has radically changed over time. Raj
listens carefully to Jason’s comments to ensure that he
fully understands them and waits for his turn to speak.
State your own views
thoughtfully.
Raj summarizes Jason’s opinion and asks Jason if his
summary is accurate. Jason nods. Raj agrees that while
some aspects of western culture have indeed radically
changed, most aspects of human nature remain the same;
therefore, Shakespeare’s themes are still relevant.
Jason states his
views and Raj listens
respectfully.
Raj offers an alternative
perspective, after
summarizing Jason’s
points.
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Summarize agreements and
disagreements.
Latoya is the chairperson of the group. She asks the
recorder to summarize Jason and Raj’s comments so far.
It is then her turn to respond. She notes that neither one
of them has offered concrete examples to back up their
opinions. She asks if of they can do so. Jason goes first.
Justify your views or consider
new ones.
Jason pauses to think and then answers Latoya. He notes
that Shakespeare’s plays cannot possibly apply to a
dramatic historical shift, such as the change in women’s
roles over the last century. For example, women now
have options, such as work opportunities, that people in
Shakespeare’s time could never have imagined. Raj had
not considered this possibility. He was ready to defend
his position, but now he realizes he may have to adjust it.
As chairperson, Latoya
points out that both
speakers must offer
evidence for their views.
Jason offers a concrete
example, which prompts
Raj to reconsider his
position.
Throughout this book you will have opportunities to contribute to a variety of group discussions. Be
sure to contribute effectively by understanding and modeling effective attitudes and behaviors. When
you learn how to contribute effectively to group discussions, other participants will be more likely to
listen to you and to grasp your views or perspectives on a topic or issue. Moreover, the discussion will
bear fruit for everyone.
College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Language
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS
CONVENTIONS OF STANDARD ENGLISH
1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or
speaking.
2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and
spelling when writing.
KNOWLEDGE OF LANGUAGE
3. Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make
effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
VOCABULARY ACQUISITION AND USE
4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using
context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference
materials, as appropriate.
5. Demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings.
6. Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases
sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level;
demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase
important to comprehension or expression.
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Language Standards, Grades 11–12 Students
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARD
WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU
CONVENTIONS OF STANDARD ENGLISH
1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of
standard English grammar and usage when writing or
speaking.
a. Apply the understanding that usage is a matter
of convention, can change over time, and is
sometimes contested.
b. Resolve issues of complex or contested usage,
consulting references (e.g., Merriam-Webster’s
Dictionary of English Usage, Garner’s Modern
American Usage) as needed.
2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of
standard English capitalization, punctuation, and
spelling when writing.
a. Observe hyphenation conventions.
b. Spell correctly.
You will correctly use the conventions of English grammar
and usage, including
a. demonstrating that usage follows accepted standards
and can change or be contested
b. using references to resolve disagreements or uncertainty
about usage
You will correctly use the conventions of standard English
capitalization, punctuation, and spelling, including
a. hyphens
b. spelling
KNOWLEDGE OF LANGUAGE
3. Apply knowledge of language to understand how
language functions in different contexts, to make
effective choices for meaning or style, and to
comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
a. Vary syntax for effect, consulting references
(e.g., Tufte’s Artful Sentences) for guidance as
needed; apply an understanding of syntax to the
study of complex texts when reading.
You will apply your knowledge of language in different
contexts to guide choices in your own writing and
speaking by
a. using appropriate references for guidance to vary your
syntax and to understand syntax in complex texts
VOCABULARY ACQUISITION AND USE
4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and
multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grades
11–12 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a
range of strategies.
a. Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a
sentence, paragraph, or text; a word’s position or
function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of
a word or phrase.
You will understand the meaning of grade-level appropriate
words and phrases by
a. using context clues
b. Identify and correctly use patterns of word changes
that indicate different meanings or parts of speech
(e.g., conceive, conception, conceivable).
b. applying various forms of words according to meaning
or part of speech
c. Consult general and specialized reference materials
(e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both
print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a
word or determine or clarify its precise meaning, its
part of speech, its etymology, or its standard usage.
c. using reference materials to determine and clarify word
meaning, part of speech, etymology, and standard usage
d. Verify the preliminary determination of the
meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by checking the
inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary).
d. inferring and verifying the meanings of words in context
student guide
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Language Standards, Grades 11–12 Students, continued
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARD
WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU
5. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language,
word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
a. Interpret figures of speech (e.g., hyperbole,
paradox) in context and analyze their role in
the text.
You will understand figurative language, word relationships,
and slight differences in word meanings by
a. interpreting figures of speech in context
b. Analyze nuances in the meaning of words with
similar denotations.
6. Acquire and use accurately general academic and
domain-specific words and phrases, sufficient for
reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college
and career readiness level; demonstrate independence
in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering
a word or phrase important to comprehension or
expression.
b. analyzing slight differences in the meanings of similar
words
You will develop and use a range of vocabulary at the
college and career readiness level and will demonstrate that
you can successfully acquire new vocabulary independently.
Spotlight on Common Core
Language: Understanding Usage
L 1a Apply the understanding that usage is a
matter of convention, can change over time,
and is sometimes contested. L 1b Resolve issues
of complex or contested usage, consulting
references (e.g., Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of
English Usage, Garner’s Modern American Usage)
as needed.
The English language is centuries old but ever-changing. For example, the words text and message
have existed in English since the fourteenth century, but the term text message, meaning a form of
electronic communication, is only a few decades old. Nonetheless, the rules of English usage that
govern how and when to use words still apply. A handwritten letter qualifies as a text and a message,
but it would be incorrect to refer to it as a text message.
Other words fall out of use generally, or become archaic, but live on in literature. “Thee” and “thou” no
longer stand for “you” and “yours” in English today, but you will still encounter them in older texts.
,%!2.ß(/7 Understanding Usage English usage, like language, changes over time, and
sometimes inspires controversy or confusion. For example, read these sentences. Should a sentence
end with a preposition?
A word’s meaning is often based on the language it derives from.
A word’s meaning is often based on the language from which it derives.
Correct usage has long dictated that ending a sentence with a preposition (such as from or with) is
incorrect. However, some writers have complained that ending sentences with a preposition sounds
more natural.
Language experts no longer agree about this rule. Because it is controversial, you are safer applying
the original rule to formal writing; the second sentence above is the better choice. Consulting
a reference book that focuses on English usage is the best way to find the most authoritative
information about current rules and practices.
Many words are often confused, misused, or nonstandard (not considered part of standard English).
What is the difference between every one and everyone? awfully or very? could have or could of?
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Confused Words
fewer or less?
Incorrect: I made less
cookies than last
time.
Correct usage
depends on the
context in which
each word is used.
Less refers to general
amounts when
individual items
cannot be counted.
Fewer refers to items
you can count.
Correct: I made fewer
cookies than last
time.
Incorrect: Please put
fewer sugar in the
lemonade.
Correct: Please put
less sugar in the
lemonade.
Misused Words
awfully or very?
Incorrect: I was
awfully happy to see
Paul.
Awfully is colloquial,
meaning it is not
appropriate to use in
formal speaking and
writing.
Correct: I was very
happy to see Paul.
Nonstandard Words
could of or could
have?
Incorrect: I could of
left home earlier.
Correct: I could have
left home earlier.
Could of is nonstandard,
so avoid using it in favor of
could have.
See page R79, Commonly Confused Words, for additional examples.
,%!2.ß(/7 Using References to Resolve Usage Informal language is colloquial, or everyday,
language you might use with friends or family: “Hector and Kevin want to hang out after school.”
Likewise, substituting “u” instead of you or the number 4 for the word for is common in textmessaging. However, while you may use these abbreviations in casual text messages and e-mails,
avoid them in formal contexts like school reports or job applications.
Formal language is more appropriate for business, legal, and academic contexts. It is important to
make this distinction. For example, if you use informal language in a résumé or cover letter, you
will appear unprofessional and a potential employer will not take you seriously. Read the following
example of how to exchange informal for formal language in this sentence from a cover letter.
Informal Usage: I can do an awesome job 4 u. My boss really likes me, so you can phone him
up and he will let you know how I helped him out.
Formal Usage: I have excellent qualifications for the position. If you wish to contact him, my
former employer, Mr. DeLuca, will be happy to recommend me and discuss my skills.
When in doubt about whether a word is appropriate for its context, consult a dictionary of English
usage such as Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, Garner’s Modern American Usage, or
The American Heritage Book of English Usage.
Like the language itself, the rules that govern it change over time. Experts may even argue about,
or contest, the correct usage of a word. The word data comes from the Latin datum. In Latin, data is
considered plural, so it has been treated as a plural noun in English, too, and takes a plural verb: The
data the scientists collected are irreplaceable.
However, over time, data has come to mean a “singular mass of information” and some newspapers
and magazines now treat it as a singular noun that takes a singular verb: The data, which the scientists
gathered for months, is no longer valid. According to Merriam-Webster and American Heritage, both the
singular and plural forms of data are acceptable, although the plural form still dominates scientific and
academic writing. In other words, in formal contexts, it is still safer to treat data as a plural noun.
Particularly as you write and speak in your classes and in your endeavors after high school, be aware of
correct usage. Remember that you can add to your knowledge by consulting appropriate reference sources.
student guide
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Spotlight on Common Core
Language: Varying Syntax for Effect
L 3a Vary syntax for effect, consulting references
(e.g., Tufte’s Artful Sentences) for guidance as
needed; apply an understanding of syntax to the
study of complex texts when reading.
Syntax comes from the Greek word for arrangement, or ordering together. It refers to the way a writer
arranges words, phrases, clauses, and sentences to create an effect on the reader. If a writer’s prose is
needlessly repetitive or lacks verbal rhythm, or flow, it sounds lifeless and loses its effectiveness.
In order to avoid this problem, you should vary the syntax in your writing. This benefits your writing
in several ways. Instead of sounding dull, your prose will come alive and engage your reader. Varying
syntax also allows you to add information or emphasize specific words or ideas to dramatic effect so
they convey your message better. In order to vary syntax:
1. Vary sentence lengths for emphasis within paragraphs by alternating long and short sentences.
2. Vary sentence structure by rearranging or adding words, phrases, or clauses to individual
sentences or by combining multiple sentences.
,%!2.ß(/7 Varying Syntax When you vary syntax, remember that your writing must remain
appropriate to your task, purpose, and audience. Each sentence must be clear and coherent. For
additional options about how to vary syntax, you may consult a reference (such as Virginia Tufte’s
Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style).
You can vary syntax for emphasis by varying sentence length. Read the concluding paragraph
below from “Evidence of Progress,” a political commentary about England written in 1830 by
the Victorian writer Thomas Babington Macaulay (see pages 1032–1035).
. . . Our rulers will best promote the improvement of the nation
by strictly confining themselves to their own legitimate duties, by
leaving capital to find its most lucrative course, commodities their
fair price, industry and intelligence their natural reward, idleness
and folly their natural punishment, by maintaining peace, by
defending property, by diminishing the price of law, and by
observing strict economy in every department of the State. Let
the Government do this: the People will assuredly do the rest.
Macaulay offers a long list of duties the government should perform. He effectively uses
parallel structure to indicate how British rulers can improve the country (“by strictly confining
themselves,” “by leaving capital,” “by maintaining peace,” and so on). To great effect, he follows
this list with a much shorter, blunter sentence: “Let the Government do this: the People will
assuredly do the rest.” The sentence’s brevity makes it sound definitive and resolute. It is
memorable and solidifies his argument because it has the ring of conviction. The rhetorical
balance between the two halves of the sentence suggests that the actions of the people are as
important as the duties of the government for Macaulay.
Here are some examples of how to revise sentences to vary syntax. These sentences come
from an argument about the British monarchy. Note how each revision changes the effect of
these sentences on the reader.
The British monarchy should end. The royal family costs too much.
They do not contribute to society. They are planning an expensive
royal wedding. British people are losing their jobs.
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Desired Effect
Revision
To improve rhythm
The royal family costs too much and does not contribute
to society enough. To make matters worse, as they plan an
expensive royal wedding, British people are losing their jobs.
The British monarchy should end.
To create emphasis
People are losing their jobs, but the royal family is still
planning an expensive wedding. The British monarchy should
end. The royal family costs too much and contributes too
little.
To create emphasis
and drama
Why is the royal family planning an expensive wedding when
British people are losing their jobs? Abolish the British
monarchy now! They cost too much and contribute too little.
To create emphasis and
drama and to add important
information
As the royal family plans a multi-million dollar wedding,
thousands of British people are losing their jobs. It is time
to end a monarchy that spends extravagant sums, but won’t
use them to help their own people.
In your own writing, be sure to vary syntax to affect your readers. As you read the texts in this book,
notice how authors vary syntax to affect you as a reader.
student guide
FM67