Delaware Valley Regional High School English II (2021-2022) American Experiences
ABOUT THE CURRICULUM: The only texts in this course that are required to be covered are the Declaration of Independence, Constitution or select Federalist Papers, The Bill of Rights and The Great Gatsby and/or Of Mice and Men. It is required that a variety of voices representing diverse backgrounds and perspectives are explored throughout the year, but the additional selections, approaches, and applications are up to the individual teacher. Pairing texts with contrasting perspectives is encouraged. Teachers should incorporate student interest and choice into the curriculum whenever possible, while still maintaining academic rigor.
Course Description: This course explores the concept of the development and ideas behind the American Dream since the pre-Colonial era, requiring students to analyze Native American influences, seminal U.S. documents, pivotal speeches, and major texts from throughout American history. Students will read, view, and listen to a multitude of texts including The Great Gatsby and/or Of Mice and Men and additional media such as poetry, short stories, plays, novels, films, documentaries, speeches, and podcasts. Students will view these texts through literary lenses as they develop their reading and writing skills. Selections will be added when appropriate by teachers and students to deepen the conversations of the development of American texts and literature.
Writing: Narrative/creative writing Evidence-based paragraphs Analytical paragraphs This course requires the use of MLA Format. Each class will address a variety of synthesis and research writing. Discussion Boards
Vocabulary: The individualized vocabulary program Membean will be utilized. Expectations for training are three (3) 15-minute sessions for a total of 45 minutes a unit.
Independent Reading: Optional units that require students to select works of their own choice can be embedded into the American Literature curriculum. (1) Throughout the semester, students will be responsible for selecting a memoir that is at-or-above grade level to read and be prepared to use in an assignment at the end of the semester. Selections must be written by American authors. (2) Throughout the semester, students will be responsible for selecting a podcast to listen to and be prepared to use it in an assignment at the end of the semester. (3) Throughout the semester, students will be responsible for selecting a fictional text that is at-or-above grade level to read and be prepared to use in an assignment at the end of the semester. Selections must be written by American authors.
THEMATIC UNITS: This Land is Your Land: The Creation of American Identity Required Texts: ● Document: Declaration of Independence (1776) ● Document: The Constitution (1789) OR Federalist Paper #1 OR #10 OR #51 ● Document: Bill of Rights (1791) Additional Selections (Choose): ● "Manifest Destiny" by Mike Kubic (2015) COMMONLIT ● "Excerpts from Thomas Jefferson's Writings on American Indians" COMMONLIT ● Excerpt from "Of Plymouth Plantation" - William Bradford (1620) ● Excerpt from "The General History of Virginia" John Smith (1624) ● Essay: "The Meaning of July 4th for the Slave" by Frederick Douglass (1852) ○ Essay: "What to an American is the Fourth of July" by Ibram X Kendi ● Poem: "Declaration" by Tracy K. Smith (2018) (A 1:06) ● "Bill of Rights" COMMONLIT ● Video: "Confronting Hard History" by Hasan Kwame Jeffries (TEDx 13:42) ● Document: “The Iroquois Constitution” ● Journal: "A Rhetorical Revolution: the antithesis of the First Amendment" by Eimi Priddis Yildirim ● Excerpt from "Letters from an American Farmer" by J. Hector St. John Crevecoeur (1782) ● Excerpts from "The Autobiography" by Benjamin Franklin (1791) ● Excerpts from "Poor Richard's Almanack" by Benjamin Franklin
Song of Myself: Individuality, Conformity, and Society Selections (Choose): ● Novel: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson ○ Excerpts from Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson ● Novel: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne ● Play: A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams ○ "A Concise Introduction to: Tennessee Williams" by Ed Madden from DT+ ○ "Fundamentals: History of Tennessee Williams" from DT+ ○ "Fundamentals: Aims of Tennessee Williams" from DT+ ○ "Fundamentals: Methods of Tennessee Williams" from DT+ ○ Film: A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), Dir. Elia Kazan ● Novel: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston ○ "Looking for Zora" by Alice Walker ○ Scholarly Essay: "Cognitive Construction of the Self in Hurston" by Patrick S. Bernard ○ Film: Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005), Dir. Darnell Martin ● Excerpt from My Bondage and My Freedom: "An Enslaved Caulker in the Baltimore Shipyards" from My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass (1855) ● Excerpts from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs ○ “Fugitive Slave Act of 1793” COMMONLIT ● Short Story: "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (A 39:16) ○ Article: “Go Rest, Young Man” by Anne Stiles ○ Article: “Go West, You Nervous Men” by Matthew Wills ○ Article: “From Nerves to Neuroses” from ScienceMuseum.org ○ Video: “The Yellow Wallpaper” (1983 Productions V 12:07) ● Short Story: "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin (A 7:50)
● Short Story: "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" by Bret Harte ○ "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" by Bret Harte ADAPTED (A 14:24) ● Short Story: “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne ● Poem: "America" by Claude McKay (1921) COMMONLIT ● Excerpt from Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson COMMONLIT ● Excerpt from Honky by Dalton Conley COMMONLIT ● "First Lady Barbara Bush's Commencement Address at Wellesley College" COMMONLIT ● Discussion Board: "Declining Student Resilience: A Serious Problem for Colleges" Discussion Board Response (Juniors- to be removed after 20-21 school year) ● Poem: Excerpts from "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman ● Poem: "The Unknown Citizen" by W.H. Auden ● Poem: "anyone lived in a pretty how town" by e.e. Cummings ● Essay: “On Being a Cripple” by Nancy Mairs ● Excerpts from Laughing at My Nightmare by Shane Burcaw ● Video: “I Am Not Your Asian Stereotype” by Canwen Xu (9:38) ● Excerpts: Disability Visibility Edited by Alice Wong ● Excerpts: Tell Me Who You Are by Winona Guo and Priya Vulchi ● Videos: Example: “Calling Your Crush” by Josh Sundquist (9:28)
Power to the People: Revolutionaries and Rebels Selections (Choose): ● Graphic Novel: March: Book One by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin ● Graphic Novel: Redbone: The True Story of a Native American Rock Band by Christian Staebler, Sonia Paoloni, and Thibault Balahy (Forward by Frankie Vegas) ● Play: The Crucible by Arthur Miller ○ Film: The Crucible (1996), Dir. Nicholas Hytner ○ Video: "What is McCarthyism? And how did it happen?" (TEDEd 5:43) ○ Speech: "Patriotism is Not the Fear of Something" by Adlai Stevenson, 1952 (a response to McCarthy accusations) ○ Video: "McCarthyism: Anatomy of an Investigation" Lattimore Video on PBS (5:50) ○ Video: "What Really Happened During the Salem Witch Trials" by Brian A. Pavlac (TEDEd 5:30) ● “A Participant’s First-hand Account of the Boston Tea Party” by George Hewes COMMONLIT ● Video: “The story behind the Boston Tea Party” Ben Labaree TED-Ed (V 3:47) ● "The American Crisis, No. 1, 1776" by Thomas Paine ○ "The Sharpened Quill" A Historical Critique of Thomas Paine ○ "Thomas Paine: American Crisis Rhetorical Analysis" (V 4:11) ● "Thomas Jefferson on Shay's Rebellion" COMMONLIT (1787) ● Speech: "I Will Fight No More Forever" by Chief Joseph (1877) ● Excerpt: Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau ● Speech: “Speech on Woman Suffrage - June 17, 1911” by Jane Addams ● Speech: “Woman Wants Bread, Not the Ballot” by Susan B. Anthony ● Speech: “Woman's Right to the Ballot” by Amelia Bloomer ● Poem: "Rosa Parks" by Nikki Giovanni (V- Lecture 30:26) ● Video: "The Hidden Life of Rosa Parks" by Riché D. Richardson (TEDEd 4:59) ● Speech: "The Ballot or the Bullet" by Malcolm X (1964) (V 53:36) ● Essay: "This Is What An Antiracist America Would Look Like" by Ibram X Kendi
● Poem: "Afterimages" by Audre Lorde ● Excerpt from "Atlanta Compromise" Speech by Booker T. Washington & Excerpt from "The Souls of Black Folk" by W.E.B. Du Bois COMMONLIT ● Video: “Why I, as a black man, attend KKK rallies” by Daryl Davis (TedX 18:52) ● Letter from Birmingham Jail (Excerpts) by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963) ○ Letter from Birmingham Jail - Inspiration Letter (to MLK) ● “We Shall Overcome Speech” by President Lyndon B. Johnson COMMONLIT ● “Protest Music is as American as Apple Pie” by Thomas Pool COMMONLIT ○ Song: “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival ○ Song: “Blowin’ in the Wind” by Bob Dylan ○ Song: “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield ○ Song: “This Land Is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie ○ Song: “Born in the U.S.A.” by E Street Band ● Article: “Americans think social media can help build movements, but can also be a distraction” by Brooke Auxier and Colleen McClain (PEW Research Center) ● Article: “Activism in the Social Media Age” by Monica Anderson, Skye Toor, Lee Rainie, and Aaron Smith (PEW Research Center) ● Video: "How to Turn Protest Into Powerful Change" by Eric Liu (TEDEd 4:56) ● Letter: “Letter to Gas Company” by E.B. White
This Land is My Land: The Evolution of American Identity Selections (Choose): ● Speech: "Emancipation Proclamation" by Abraham Lincoln (1863) (V/A) ● Speech: "Gettysburg Address" by Abraham Lincoln (1863) ● Speech: "Declaration of Sentiments" Seneca Falls Convention by Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1848) ● Poem: "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman (1860) ● Speech: "Inaugural Address" by John F. Kennedy (1961) (V 15:36) ● Website: "Project Implicit" from Harvard University Note: This resource is only used as reference material. Students do not take IAT. ● Essay and Poem: "An Account of an Experience with Discrimination" by Sojourner Truth and "Sympathy" by Paul Laurence Dunbar (V) ● Video: "Systemic Racism and Implicit Bias Explained" (V 4:23) ● Supreme Court Case: Brown v. Board of Education (V 2:21) ○ Article: “Black Education Matters” by Dr. Thomas Sowell ○ “Does It Matter If Schools are Racially Integrated?” by Michel Martin COMMONLIT ● Excerpt from Bone Black by Bell Hooks ● Poem: "Lord, Lord, Why Did You Make Me Black?" by RuNett Nia Ebo (1994) (V 4:49) ● Short Story: "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker (A 25:04) ● Poem: "Mending Wall" by Robert Frost ● Poem: "Freeway 280" by Lorna Dee Cervantes ● Essay: "Straw Into Gold: The Metamorphosis of the Everyday" by Sandra Cisneros ● Essay: "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan ● Excerpt from "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston (1976) ● Short Story: "Antojos" by Julia Alvarez (1991) ● Video: ”Changing the way we see Native Americans” Matika Wilbur (19:44) ● Excerpt: “A Time for Choosing” by Ronald Reagan COMMONLIT ● Speech: “The Strenuous Life” by Theodore Roosevelt
American Dreams and Nightmares Required: Novel: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald AND/OR Novel: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Additional Selections (Choose): ○ Film: Of Mice and Men (1992), Dir. Gary Sinese ○ Film: The Great Gatsby (1974), Dir. Jack Clayton ○ Film: The Great Gatsby (2013), Dir. Baz Luhrmann ○ Novel: Anthem by Ayn Rand ○ Novel: Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway ○ Novel: Educated by Tara Westover ○ Novel: Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance ○ Novel: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury ■ “Allegory of the Cave” by Plato COMMONLIT ■ “Burning a Book” by William Stafford COMMONLIT ■ Bible: Matthew 6:25-34 ■ Bible: Genesis 11:1-9 ○ Novel: Grateful American: A Journey from Self to Service by Gary Sinese ○ Excerpt from “On Drought Conditions” by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt COMMONLIT ○ Article: "Teenagers Are Losing Confidence in the American Dream" by Joe Pinsker ○ Article: "The Queering of Nick Carraway" by Michael Bourne ○ Video: "Lethality of Loneliness" by John Cacioppo (TEDx 13:04) ○ Article: "Friendship in an Age of Economics" by Todd May ○ Short Story: "The Devil and Tom Walker" by Washington Irving ○ Poem: "To a Mouse" by Robert Burns ○ Essay: "Paradox and Dream" by John Steinbeck ○ Short Story: "Barn Burning" by William Faulkner (A 47:44) ○ Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) ■ Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 Analysis (V) ■ Chinese Exclusion Act Impact- Political Image Analysis ○ Graphic Novel: They Called Us Enemy by George Takei ■ Executive Order 9066: Japanese Internment (1942) ■ Handbook: Power of Words Handbook A Guide to Language about Japanese Americans in World War II Understanding Euphemisms and Preferred Terminology by Japanese American Citizens League (a discussion of rhetoric) ○ Essay: "Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases" By Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1892) ○ Essay: "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander ○ Video: "Let's get to the root of racial injustice" by Megan Ming Francis (TEDx 19:37) ○ Poem: "juxtaposing the black boy & the bullet" by Danez Smith ○ Video: "Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance: Crash Course Literature" (V 11:31) ○ Poem: Langston Hughes Poetry (V 3:33)
○ Poem: "From the Dark Tower" by Countee Cullen ○ Poem: "We Wear the Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar ○ Novel: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair ○ “Excerpt from Nickel and Dimed” by Barbara Ehrenreich COMMONLIT ○ "Hollywood Dreams of Wealth, Youth, and Beauty" by Bob Mondello COMMONLIT ○ Article: “What Is Beauty and How Do We Know It?” by Nancy Etcoff ○ Speech: "Moon Speech" by J.F. Kennedy (1962) (V 17:47) ○ "A Child of Slavery Who Taught a Generation" by Karen Grigsby Bates COMMONLIT ○ Essay: “How One Woman Celebrates Her Disability with the #DisabledAndCute Hashtag” by Keah Brown ○ Essay: “I’ve Asked to Work Remotely for Years. It’s Painful to Watch Companies Finally Comply” by Keah Brown ○ Documentary Miniseries: McMillions (2020) ○ Short Story: “The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury ○ Short Story: “The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas” by Ursula Le Guin ○ Short Story: “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut ■ Film: “2081” (2009), Dir. Chandler Tuttle ■ Poem: “lesson of the moth” by Don Marquis ○ Video: “This Speech Broke the Internet” by Arnold Schwarzenegger (V 14:57) ○ Video: “Admiral McRaven Leaves the Audience Speechless” (V 15:59) ○ Speech: “Checkers” by Richard Nixon
In Search of America : Journeys and Destinations Selections (Choose): ● Video: "Native American Culture - Language: the Key to Everything" by Ron (Muqsahkwat) Corn, Jr. (TEDx 11:56) ● Poem: "A Caged Bird" by Sarah Orne Jewett ● Short Story: "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" by Mark Twain (V 12:53) ● Short Story: "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner (V 19:43) ● Short Story: "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor (A 37:50) ● Video: "What if you could trade a paperclip for a house?" by Kyle MacDonald (TEDx 13:21) (Canada & US) ● Excerpt from "Setting Free the Crabs" by Barbara Kingsolver ● Poem: "For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth in Its Human Feet" by Joy Harjo ● Essay: “Nature” by Ralph Waldo Emerson ● “Excerpt from Nature” by Ralph Waldo Emerson COMMONLIT ● “Excerpt from Self Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson COMMONLIT ● Excerpt "from Walden: Where I Lived, and What I Lived For" by Henry David Thoreau COMMONLIT ● Excerpts: Walden by Henry David Thoreau ● “Excerpt from Walden: Economy” by Henry David Thoreau COMMONLIT ● “Excerpt from Walden: The Ponds” by Henry David Thoreau COMMONLIT ● Poem: "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot ● Poem: "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost ● “A&P” by John Updike COMMONLIT ● Short Story: “The Beast in the Cave” by H.P. Lovecraft ○ Short Story: “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” by Edgar Allan Poe
● Song: “American Pie” by Don McClean ● Song: “American Girl” by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers ● Song: “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus ● Song: “Some Gave All” by Billy Ray Cyrus ● Song: “Only in America” by Brooks and Dunn ● Song: “Color Me America” by Dolly Parton ● Song: "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood ● Song: "Born Free" by Kid Rock ● Song: "You've Got To Stand For Something" by Aaron Tippin ● Song: "Living in America" by James Brown ● Song: "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel ● Song: “We Shall Be Free” by Garth Brooks ● Song: “God Bless the U.S.A.” by Lee Greenwood ● Novel: Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer ● Novel: On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Nature of Life and Death Selections (Choose): ● Short Story: "To Build a Fire" by Jack London (A 39:10) ● Short Story: "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe ● Short Story: "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving (A 1:18:32) ● Short Story: "The Minister's Black Veil" by Nathaniel Hawthorne (A 32:12) ● Short Story: "Speech Sounds" by Octavia Butler ● Video: "Why should you read sci-fi superstar Octavia E. Butler" by Ayana Jamieson and Moya Bailey (TEDEd 4:14) ● Poem: "Thanatopsis" by William Cullen Bryant ● Poem: "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" by Emily Dickinson (1890) (A) ● Poem: "The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ● Poem: "A Psalm of Life" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ● Poem: "My life closed twice before its close" (96) by Emily Dickinson ● Poem: "Bag of Bones" by Dunya Mikhail (2005) COMMONLIT ● Novel: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls ○ Film: The Glass Castle (2017), Dir. Deston Daniel Cretton ○ Photo & Interview Essay: Life On the Streets by Nate Schweber ○ Article: “Dr. Laura Schlessinger Talks of Courage, Character” by Valerie Finholm ● Novel: The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch ● Novel: When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi ● Article: “Disability Representation and the Problem with 'Inspiration P-rn'" by Keah Brown ● Excerpt from (Don’t) Call Me Crazy Essay Collection “Happiness Goes On” by Adam Silvera
Liberty or Death: War, Trauma, and Persistence Selections (Choose): ● Speech: "Speech in the Virginia Convention" by Patrick Henry (1775) ● Speech: "Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death Speech by Patrick Henry" COMMONLIT ● Song: "The Defence of Fort McHenry or The Star-Spangled Banner" by Francis Scott Key (1814) ● Poem: "A New National Anthem" by Ada Limón (2018)
● Poem/Song: "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" by Julia Ward Howe (1861) ● Speech: "Second Inaugural Address" by Abraham Lincoln (1865) (A 5:01) ● Speech: "Speech After Wounded Knee" by Chief Red Cloud (1890) COMMONLIT ● Short Story: "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce (1890) ● Poem: "To Fight Aloud is Very Brave - (138)" by Emily Dickinson (1890) ● Poem: "O Captain! My Captain" by Walt Whitman (1891) ● Poem: "Concord Hymn" by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1837) ● Excerpt from An Episode of War by Stephen Crane (1899) ● Poem: from "War is Kind" by Stephen Crane (1899) ● Poem: "Grass" by Carl Sandburg (1918) ● Excerpts from In Our Time: "Chapter VII" & "Soldier's Home" by Ernest Hemingway (1925) ● Poem: "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" by Randall Jarrell (1945) ● Excerpt from Hiroshima by John Hersey (1946) ● Song: “Ballad of the Green Berets” SSGT Barry Sadler ● Excerpts from The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien (1990) ● Speech: "Address to the Nation- September 11, 2001" by George W. Bush (V 4:42) ● Speech: President George W. Bush addresses joint session of Congress, September 20, 2001 ○ Video: Mr. Rogers on 9/11 (V 0:53) ○ Song: “Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue” by Toby Keith ○ Song: “Have You Forgotten?” by Darryl Worley ○ Song: “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” by Alan Jackson ○ Song: “America Will Survive” by Hank Williams Jr. ● "This Is Not Who We Are" by Naomi Shihab Nye COMMONLIT ● Poem: "sorrow song" by Lucille Clifton ● Novel: Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut ● Excerpt Chapter 1 of Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut ○ Bible: Genesis 19: 1-26 ○ Film: Hacksaw Ridge (2016), Dir. Mel Gibson ○ Article: “Pfc. Desmond Doss: The unlikely hero behind 'Hacksaw Ridge'” by Katie Lange ○ Library of Congress: "Experiencing War: Desmond Thomas Doss” ○ "I Am Very Real" by Kurt Vonnegut COMMONLIT ● Article: “The Stranger in the Photo is Me” by Donald M. Murray ● Poem: "Hymn" by Charlotte Brock (2008) ● Poem: "Gulf War Journal from A Woman at War" by Molly Moore (2010) ● Poem: "Coffee Break" by Brennan Beck (2011) ● Poem: "The Monster I Became" by Robynn Murray (2011) ● Nonfiction: Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program that Brought Nazi Scientists to America by Annie Jacobsen ● Speech: “Message to Invasion Troops” by General Dwight D. Eisenhower ● Speech: “Commencement Address: Michigan State University” by General Douglas MacArthur ● Speech: “Eisenhower's Farewell Address : A Warning On The Military-Industrial Complex” by Dwight D. Eisenhower ● Photo: Allied forces wading ashore at Normandy on June 6, 1944
DIVERSITY OF MALE FEMALE NONBINARY AUTHORS
MIDDLE EASTERN Andrew Aydin Dunya Mikhail Naomi Shihab Nye
ASIAN/PACIFIC Eric Liu Amy Tan ISLANDER George Takei* Maxine Hong Kingston Julie Yip-Williams Canwen Xu Alice Wong Winona Guo Priya Vulchi
BLACK/AFRICAN Hasan Kwame Jeffries Tracy K. Smith Frederick Douglass Zora Neale Hurston Patrick S. Bernard Alice Walker Claude McKay Harriet Jacobs John Lewis Nikki Giovanni Malcolm X Riché D. Richardson Ibram X Kendi Audre Lorde* Martin Luther King, Jr. Bell Hooks Booker T. Washington RuNett Nia Ebo W.E.B. Du Bois Ida B. Wells-Barnett Paul Laurence Dunbar Michelle Alexander Langston Hughes* Megan Ming Francis Danez Smith Octavia E. Butler Countee Cullen* Ayana Jamieson James Brown Moya Bailey Daryl Davis Lucille Clifton Thomas Sowell Keah Brown*
LATINX Adam Silvera* Lorna Dee Cervantes Sandra Cisneros Julia Alvarez Ada Limón
NATIVE AMERICAN Iroquois (Constitution) Joy Harjo Chief Joseph Frankie Vegas Ron (Muqsahkwat) Corn, Jr. Matika Wilbur Chief Red Cloud
WHITE Thomas Jefferson Eimi Priddis Yildirim
Thomas Paine Laurie Halse Anderson Mike Kubic Charlotte Perkins Gilman William Bradford Kate Chopin John Smith Barbara Bush J. Hector St. John Crevecoeur Elizabeth Cady Stanton Benjamin Franklin Karen Grigsby Bates Nathaniel Hawthorne Tennessee Williams* Sarah Orne Jewett* Bret Harte Barbara Kingsolver Ralph Waldo Emerson Flannery O'Connor Walt Whitman Jeannette Walls Dalton Conley Charlotte Brock W.H. Auden* Robynn Murray e.e. Cummings Molly Moore Robert Frost Emily Dickinson* Arthur Miller Julia Ward Howe Adlai Stevenson Brian A. Pavlac Nancy Mairs Henry David Thoreau Annie Jacobsen Abraham Lincoln Katie Lange J.F. Kennedy Valerie Finholm Washington Irving Miley Cyrus F. Scott Fitzgerald Dolly Parton William Faulkner Ursula Le Guin Robert Burns Nancy Etcoff John Steinbeck Ayn Rand Joe Pinsker Michael Bourne Tara Westover John Cacioppo Susan B. Anthony Todd May Amelia Bloomer Upton Sinclair Jane Addams Bob Mondello Brooke Auxier Mark Twain Colleen McClain Kyle MacDonald Anne Stiles T.S. Eliot* Randy Pausch Kurt Vonnegut Jack London Edgar Allan Poe Brennan Buck George Bush Fred Rogers John Hersey Ernest Hemingway Patrick Henry William Cullen Bryant Francis Scott Key
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Carl Sandburg Randall Jarrell Ambrose Bierce Tim O’Brien Stephen Crane Shane Burcaw Douglas MacArthur Donald M. Murray Alan Jackson Hank Williams Jr. Toby Keith Barry Sadler Darryl Worley John Updike H.P. Lovecraft Don McClean Tom Petty Billy Ray Cyrus Brooks and Dunn Lee Greenwood Kid Rock Aaron Tippin Billy Joel Garth Brooks Jon Krakauer Jack Kerouac Admiral McRaven Ray Bradbury Don Marquis Arnold Schwarzenegger Richard Nixon Gary Sinese Ernest Hemingway J.D. Vance Michel Martin F.D. Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt E.B. White Ronald Reagan Lyndon B. Johnson Thomas Pool Creedence Clearwater Revival Bob Dylan
Buffalo Springfield Woody Guthrie E Street Band Matthew Wills Ben Labaree George Hewes Josh Sundquist
RACIALLY AMBIGUOUS
MULTIRACIAL
DIFFERENTLY Shane Burcaw (Spinal Octavia E. Butler (Severe ABLED Muscular Atrophy) Dyslexia) F. Scott Fitzgerald (Dyslexia) Flannery O’Connor F.D. Roosevelt (Lupus) (Polio/paralysis) Keah Brown* (Cerebral Josh Sundquist (Cancer Palsy) survivor/amputee) Julie Yip-Williams (Blind) Nancy Mairs (Multiple Sclerosis) Alice Wong (Spinal Muscular Dystrophy)
DIVERSITY OF Male Female Nonbinary CHARACTERS MAJOR TEXTS
MIDDLE EASTERN
ASIAN/PACIFIC Graphic Novel: They Graphic Novel: They ISLANDER Called Us Enemy by Called Us Enemy by George Takei George Takei
BLACK/AFRICAN Novel: Their Eyes Were Novel: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston Neale Hurston
Graphic Novel: March: Book One by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin
LATINX
NATIVE AMERICAN Graphic Novel: Redbone: The True Story of a Native American Rock Band by Christian Staebler, Sonia Paoloni, and Thibault Balahy (Forward by Frankie Vegas)
WHITE Novel: Speak by Laurie Novel: The Scarlet Halse Anderson Letter by Nathaniel Novel: The Scarlet Hawthorne Letter by Nathaniel Play: A Streetcar Hawthorne Named Desire by Play: A Streetcar Tennessee Williams Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
Play: The Crucible by Arthur Miller Play: The Crucible by Arthur Miller Novel: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Novel: The Great Fitzgerald Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Novel: Of Mice and Men by John Memoir: The Glass Steinbeck Castle by Jeannette Walls Memoir: The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
RACIALLY AMBIGUOUS
MULTIRACIAL
DIFFERENTLY ABLED
GRADE 9-10 NJSLS Anchor Standards for Reading Key Ideas and Details
NJSLSA.R1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences and relevant connections from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
NJSLSA.R2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
NJSLSA.R3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
Craft and Structure
NJSLSA.R4. 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.
NJSLSA.R5. 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.
NJSLSA.R6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
NJSLSA.R7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
NJSLSA.R8. 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.
NJSLSA.R9. Analyze and reflect on how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.
NJSLSA.R10. Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently with scaffolding as needed.
Grades 9-10 Progress Indicators for Reading Literature Key Ideas and Details
RL.9-10.1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence and make relevant connections to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferentially, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
RL.9-10.2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details and provide an objective summary of the text.
RL.9-10.3. Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
Craft and Structure RL.9-10.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
RL.9-10.5. Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create specific effects (e.g. mystery, tension, or surprise).
RL.9-10.6. Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas RL.9-10.7. Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each work (e.g., Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts” and Breughel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus).
RL.9-10.9. Analyze and reflect on (e.g. practical knowledge, historical/cultural context, and background knowledge) how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work (e.g., how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from mythology or the Bible or how a later author draws on a play by Shakespeare).
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity RL.9-10.10. By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems at grade level text-complexity or above with scaffolding as needed. By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at grade level or above.
Grades 9-10
Progress Indicators for Reading Informational Text Key Ideas and Details RI.9-10.1. Accurately cite strong and thorough textual evidence, (e.g., via discussion, written response, etc.) and make relevant connections, to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferentially, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
RI.9-10.2. Determine a central idea of a text and analyze how it is developed and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
RI.9-10.3. Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them.
Craft and Structure RI.9-10.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).
RI.9-10.5. Analyze in detail how an author’s ideas or claims are developed and refined by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger portions of a text (e.g., a section or chapter).
RI.9-10.6. Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetorical devices to advance that point of view or purpose.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas RI.9-10.7. Analyze various perspectives as presented in different mediums (e.g., a person’s life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account.
RI.9-10.8. Describe and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and reasoning.
RI.9-10.9. Analyze and reflect on (e.g. practical knowledge, historical/cultural context, and background knowledge) documents of historical and literary significance, (e.g., Washington’s Farewell Address the Gettysburg Address, Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms speech, King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, etc.), including how they relate in terms of themes and significant concepts.
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity RI.9-10.10. By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at grade level text-complexity above with scaffolding as needed. By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at grade level text-complexity or above.
Anchor Standards for Writing
Text Types and Purposes
NJSLSA.W1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
NJSLSA.W2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
NJSLSA.W3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
Production and Distribution of Writing
NJSLSA.W4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
NJSLSA.W5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
NJSLSA.W6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.
Research to Build and Present Knowledge
NJSLSA.W7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects, utilizing an inquiry-based research process, based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
NJSLSA.W8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
NJSLSA.W9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Range of Writing
NJSLSA.W10. 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.
Grades 9-10 Progress Indicators for Writing Text Types and Purposes W.9-10.1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
A. Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence. B. Develop claim(s) and counterclaims avoiding common logical fallacies, propaganda devices, and using sound reasoning, supplying evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both in a manner that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level and concerns. C. Use transitions (e.g. words, phrases, clauses) 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.
D. Establish and maintain a style and tone appropriate to the audience and purpose (e.g. formal and objective for academic writing) while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing. E. Provide a concluding paragraph or section that supports the argument presented.
W.9-10.2. 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. 1. Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and distinctions; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension. 2. Develop the topic with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic. 3. Use appropriate and varied transitions to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships among complex ideas and concepts. 4. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic. 5. Establish and maintain a style and tone appropriate to the audience and purpose (e.g. formal and objective for academic writing) while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing. 6. Provide a concluding paragraph or section that supports the information or explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).
W.9-10.3. 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, establishing one or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters; create a smooth progression of experiences or events. B. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, 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.
D. Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters. E. Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved over the course of the narrative.
Production and Distribution of Writing W.9-10.4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)
W.9-10.5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, trying a new approach, or consulting a style manual (such as MLA or APA Style), focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.
W.9-10.6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, share, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.
Research to Build and Present Knowledge W.9-10.7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated 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.
W.9-10.8. Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation (MLA or APA Style Manuals).
W.9-10.9. Draw evidence from literary or nonfiction informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
A. Apply grades 9–10 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work [e.g., how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from Ovid mythology or the Bible or how a later author draws on a play by Shakespeare]”). B. Apply grades 9–10 Reading standards to nonfiction informational e.g., “Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning”).
Range of Writing
W.9-10.10. 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.
Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening
Comprehension and Collaboration
NJSLSA.SL1. 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.
NJSLSA.SL2. Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
NJSLSA.SL3. Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
NJSLSA.SL4. 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.
NJSLSA.SL5. Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations.
NJSLSA.SL6. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.
Grades 9-10
Progress Indicators for Speaking and Listening
Comprehension and Collaboration SL.9-10.1. Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with peers on grades 9–10 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. B. Collaborate with peers to set rules for discussions (e.g. informal consensus, taking votes on key issues, presentation of alternate views); develop clear goals and assessment criteria (e.g. student developed rubric) and assign individual roles as needed. C. Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that relate the current discussion to broader themes or larger ideas; actively incorporate others into the discussion; and clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions.
D. Respond thoughtfully to various perspectives, summarize points of agreement and disagreement, and justify own views. Make new connections in light of the evidence and reasoning presented.
SL.9-10.2. Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, qualitatively, orally) evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source.
SL.9-10.3. Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any false reasoning or distorted evidence.
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas SL.9-10.4. Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically. The content, organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
SL.9-10.5. Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
SL.9-10.6. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English.
Anchor Standards for Language
Conventions of Standard English
NJSLSA.L1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
NJSLSA.L2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
Knowledge of Language
NJSLSA.L3. 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
NJSLSA. L4. 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.
NJSLSA.L5. Demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings.
NJSLSA.L6. 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 encountering an unknown term important to comprehension or expression.
Grades 9-10
Progress Indicators for Language Conventions of Standard English L.9-10.1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. 1. Use parallel structure. 2. Use various types of phrases (noun, verb, adjectival, adverbial, participial, prepositional, absolute) and clauses (independent, dependent; noun, relative, adverbial) to convey specific meanings and add variety and interest to writing or presentations.
L.9-10.2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
A. Use a semicolon (and perhaps a conjunctive adverb) to link two or more closely related independent clauses. B. Use a colon to introduce a list or quotation.
C. Spell correctly.
Knowledge of Language L.9-10.3. Apply knowledge of language to make effective choices for meaning, or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading, writing, speaking or listening.
A. Vary word choice and sentence structure to demonstrate an understanding of the influence of language.
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use L.9-10.4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grades 9–10 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. B. Identify and correctly use patterns of word changes that indicate different meanings or parts of speech (e.g., analyze, analysis, analytical; advocate, advocacy). 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, or its etymology.
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).
L.9-10.5. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
A. Interpret figures of speech (e.g., euphemism, oxymoron) in context and analyze their role in the text. B. Analyze nuances in the meaning of words with similar denotations.
L.9-10.6. 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.