English 4
The key question for English 4 is, “What does it mean to be human?” Questions that go along with that include, “What is the human condition?” “What reasons are there for hope in humanity?” and “How do we wrestle with the realities of human evil and our hope for a better future?”
The vision for this course is to ask these questions through a variety of types of literature. Classics and canonical Grade 12 texts are used, as well as literature from a variety of different voices. Each of the texts that was chosen wrestles with the realities of the human condition in some way. The hope is that students will have an opportunity to consider important questions about their own nature through the examination of this literature, with the goal of moving them toward a hopeful vision of peace and reconciliation.
An honors version of the course is also available, offering greater volume and rigor than the standard course. Each unit includes at least one honors extension, which may involve an additional lesson and assignment, or an expanded version of a standard assignment. The honors course also includes a dystopian novel study that is not part of the standard course.
Table of Contents
*Each lesson is designed to take 60 minutes to complete with the exception of major projects and assignments.
- Course Introduction
- Course Thematic Introduction
- Introduction to Lord of the Flies
- Lord of the Flies, Chapters 1-2
- Lord of the Flies, Chapters 3-4
- Lesson Assignment
- Chapters 3-4 Symbols Worksheet
- Lord of the Flies, Chapters 5-6
- Lord of the Flies, Chapters 7-8
- Lord of the Flies, Chapters 9-10
- Lord of the Flies, Chapters 11-12
- Honors Assignment
- What Can Lord of the Flies Teach People?
- Lesson Assignment
- Lord of the Flies Response Questions
- Was Golding Right?
- Brainstorming and Outlining a Literary Essay
- Literary Analysis Essay Rough Draft
- Revising, Editing, and Publishing Your Essay
- Unit Assignment
- Lord of the Flies Essay
- Introduction to Nonfiction
- Personal Memoir
- Lesson Assignment
- Personal Memoir Exercise
- Observation and Reflection
- Nature Writing
- Travel Writing
- Honors Assignment
- Comparing Representations
- Biography
- Lesson Assignment
- Nonfiction Reflection Questions
- Worldview Interview
- Unit Assignment
- Worldview Interview Assignment
- Introduction to Rhetoric and the Rhetorical Situation
- Rhetorical Choices
- Persuasive Appeals
- Language, Tone, and Voice
- “A Room of One’s Own”
- Lesson Assignment
- Rhetorical Analysis Assignment
- Satire and Indirect Persuasion
- Lesson Assignment
- Rhetoric Activities
- Planning Your Persuasive Speech
- Writing Your Persuasive Speech
- Revising for Rhetorical Impact
- Delivering a Persuasive Speech
- Unit Assignment
- Speech Assignment
- Introduction to Hamlet
- Hamlet, Act 1
- Hamlet, Act 2
- Hamlet, Act 3
- Hamlet, Act 4
- Lesson Assignment
- Hamlet Activities
- Hamlet, Act 5
- Viewing Hamlet
- Honors Assignment
- Who is the True Tragic Hero?
- Literary Criticism of Hamlet
- Research for Character Analysis Essay
- Literary Analysis
- The Essay Writing Process
- Character Analysis Essay
- Unit Assignment
- Character Analysis Essay
- Introduction to Dystopian and Post-Apocalyptic Literature
- Lesson 2: Dystopian Novel Study, Quarter 1
- Lesson 3: Dystopian Novel Study, Quarter 2
- Lesson 4: Dystopian Novel Study, Quarter 3
- Lesson 5: Dystopian Novel Study, Quarter 4
- Lesson 6: Dystopian Novel Final Reflection
- Lesson 7: Dystopia in Film
- Lesson Assignment
- Dystopian Reflection Questions
- Lesson 8: Carrying the Fire
- Unit Assignment
- Creative Dystopia Project
- Introduction to Short Fiction and Poetry
- “Revelation”
- “If the Aging Magician Should Begin to Believe”
- “Things We Knew When the House Caught Fire”
- Lesson Assignment:
- “Things We Knew When the House Caught Fire” Creative Response
- “The Living”
- Lesson Assignment:
- Short Fiction Reflection Questions
- “Musée Des Beaux Arts”
- “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”
- Poetry and Mortality
- Poetry and Hope
- Lesson Assignment:
- Poetry Reflection Questions
- The Soundtrack of Your Life
- Unit Assignment:
- The Soundtrack of Your Life
- Final Project Introduction
- Creating Your Final Project
- Cumulative Assignment:
- Final Project
Experience a lesson as your students would
Course Features
- “60-second Seminars” – short, humorous instructional videos
- Many videos come with note packages so students can fill in the blanks as they watch
- Other interactives – effort has been made to ensure that there is at least one per unit in some of the challenge areas so students give extra time and attention to key skills
- Flexibility – Wherever possible/reasonable, summative assessments offer maximum student choice and flexibility so that the course can feel very personalized, enhancing engagement
- Thoughtfully-chosen core texts: Lord of the Flies by William Golding and Shakespeare’s Hamlet are the two major texts studied, selected for their relevance to course themes
