Grade 11 and 12 English Literature

An introduction to this course for Grade 11 and 12 English. A teacher with almost three decades of experience has built a robust and thorough English course that encompasses the Common Core standards for this level, but which goes beyond that to touch on some of the major texts that have influenced the growth and evolution of English literature. Most Common Core recommended texts are covered, and most curricular goals. It includes a look at key works from ancient Greece and Rome, and also the periods of Old English (Beowulf); Middle English (The Canterbury Tales); and Modern English (Hamlet and other Common Core recommended texts). It also includes a lesson on the origin of the internet and netiquette (online etiquette), and a lesson on grit and the growth mindset. It includes a study of significant texts and then a section on attitudes and communication.

An introduction to the Humanities as they pertain to this course, and also a list of the recommended texts from the Common Core for this Grade 11 and 12 English course. Also to be covered is an introduction to General English; the research based evidence that encourages vocabulary home-study; and the importance of reading all Common Core recommended texts (and much more if possible), as reading builds both vocabulary and grammar skills in an intuitive fashion.

This is a simple student reflection based on the course. The student should reflect upon the humanities and note what areas they like best, and also consider creativity outside of the bounds of the humanitites. Lastly the student should reflect on what learning approaches appeal to them.

Main Texts Covered

The Iliad by Homer, a tragic epic poem in 24 books

The Odyssey by Homer, a romantic epic poem in 24 books

The Aeneid, a tragic epic poem in 12 books modelled on the Odyssey and Iliad

Main Ideas

1. The ancient world attributed the two epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the earliest and greatest works of Greek literature, to the poet Homer.

2. Just as all Greek literature everywhere of necessity situated itself against Homer, so traces of the Aeneid can be seen in every genre of verse or prose, Christian as well as pagan.

This video and text provide a student worksheet on key aspects of lesson 2 on epic poetry.

Common Core Standards Addressed

CCSS.ELA-Literacty. Reading Literature. 11-12.6

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.Speaking & Listening.11-12.1.a

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.Speaking & Listening.11-12.1.c

Main Texts Covered

The Oresteia trilogy: Agamemnon; Choephori (‘Women Bearing Drink-Offerings); and Eumenides by Aeschylus, a trilogy of tragic drama

Oedipus Tyrranus (the King) by Sophocles, a model of tragic form that dramatizes the metaphor of blindness

The Bacchae, a tragedy by Euripides that shows the horrible collision of people and gods that we cannot understand

Main Ideas

1.) “Aeschylus, like all truly tragic writers, is well aware of, and vividly presents, the terrible suffering, often hard to justify in human terms, of which life is full; nevertheless he also believes strongly in the ultimate justice of the gods”.

2.) In play after play, one or more of the characters is brought to the realization that he or she has misperceived the nature of reality and the realization (‘recognition’ as Aristotle called it in his Poetics) is almost always associated with pain, suffering, and death”. Shakespeare often does the same in his tragedies, showing the difference between appearance and reality is hard to distinguish.

3.) Tragically in Sophocles, recognition comes after the sad event, too late to improve the outcome.

4.) Whereas Sophocles presented people as ‘they ought to be’, Euripides is credited as a realist that showed human beings ‘as they are’. He also shows a deep understanding of human thinking or psychology, especially female psychology.

5.) In his last plays Euripides, the most innovative tragic dramatist, ‘escaped’ from tragedy and included some happy endings to create ‘tragicomedies’ and ‘melodrama’.

The text for student's to refect on the key ideas in the lesson on Greek Tragedy, along with the video answer.

Main Texts Covered

The plays of Plautus, comedies based on Greek originals, but freely adapted with unique verbal fireworks.

Many English texts by Shakespeare used to illustrate creative language use in Plautus: King Lear; Twelfth Night; The Tempest; Romeo and Juliet; Venus and Adonis; Hamlet; and The Phoenix and Turtle.

The six plays of Terence, plays taught in European schools up to the nineteenth century.

Main Ideas

1.) All Roman actors were male, except in mimes.

2.) In the plays of Plautus and Terence and also in the Atellana, the actors wore masks, but masks were not worn in mimes.

3.) Plautus drew inspiration from (Greek) New Comedy and local, Italian comic traditions but his verbal fireworks are a distinctive and unique addition.

4.) Plautus was well known in Renaissance Italy and his plays were performed and imitated all over Europe until the seventeenth century. Terence was more widely read in schools, but both contributed to the development of the European comic tradition.

5.) The plays of Terence “repay thoughtful study”, as do the plays of Shakespeare, “and give a sympathetic portrayal of human relationships.

6.) Unlike the fantastic verbal exuberance of Plautus, the greatest contribution of Terence to the development of Latin literature was the skillful use of everyday language to create a naturalistic style.

This is the studen worksheet with key discussion questions, followed by the teacher video with a sketch of a possible answer.

Main Texts Covered

The plays of Plautus, comedies based on Greek originals, but freely adapted with unique verbal fireworks.

Hamlet - the masterpiece of William Shakespeare.

The plays of Terence, who had a more tender heart and deeper sympathies.

Main Ideas

1.) Shakespeare consciously drew on the comic conventions used by Plautus and Terence primarily, but also – at times –those of earlier Greek comic writers like Aristophanes and Menander.

2.) Shakespeare uses comic structure, so we may entertain a happy ending, but then these comic promises are broken in tragedy.

Three questions are given to the student in the worksheet, and the teacher provides examples of feasible answers in the video segment.

Main Texts Covered

1. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes.

2. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

3. “At Home” by Anton Chekhov.

4. “The Garden of Forking Paths” by Jorge Luis Borges.

Main Ideas

1. Truth and Beauty are the aim of the Humanities and also of Science and Mathematics.

2. The novel Don Quixote, part of the Spanish canon, about a book crazy man who tries to correct all evils in the world has influenced many other works of literature.

3. Dostoevsky influenced the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.

4. Crime and Punishment teaches us that we will punish ourselves if we do any evil, because we have a conscience.

5. Chekov teaches us the importance of mothers in a child’s life.

6. Chekov also shows us that truth can never be given directly, but must always be sugar-coated, or put in story form; Plato shares this idea.

7. In “The Garden of Forking Paths”, Borges compares a novel to a garden with multiple options; at any point in life we take one of many possible pathways.

The answer video is provided along with the key student focus questions. The video answer gives an example of a developed and proper reply, and is meant to suggest a good possible answer to each question.

Main Texts Covered

1. Tartuffe by Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Molière.

2. A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen.

3. Death and the King’s Horseman: A Play by Wole Soyinka.

Main Ideas

1. Tartuffe has entered English; it means a person who is evil but who pretends to be religious – a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

2. Tartuffe is a comedy, the deceptive bad guy ends up in jail.

3. Henrik Ibsen, from Norway, is the father of modern drama.

4. Ibsen wrote tragedies based on real-life experiences in prose; a Doll’s House is one such play that may be read in Grade 12.

5. Soyinka feels compelled to write about the evil political situation of his home country of Nigeria.

6. The origin of that political tragedy arose when Nigeria was a British colony.

Some questions are posed on the three dramas handled in this unit, along with a teacher video that expands on some possible answers to the questions.

Main Text Covered

1. Beowulf, an Old English (Anglo-Saxon) poem written by an unknown author.

Main Ideas

1. English is in the Germanic language family.

2. Beowulf combines Christian religion with a Germanic story; the start of a long tradition that continued into the nineteenth century.

3. Old English ended around 1150; Middle English goes until around 1500; Modern English includes Shakespeare to the present day.

4. The Vikings in the Danelaw by talking with the Anglo Saxons to the south simplified English.

5. When the Viking William the Conqueror won England, words from the French, Latin and Greek languages entered into English.

Main Text Covered

1. Beowulf, an Old English (Anglo-Saxon) poem written by an unknown author.

Main Ideas

1. English is in the Germanic language family.

2. Beowulf combines Christian religion with a Germanic story; the start of a long tradition that continued into the nineteenth century.

3. Old English ended around 1150; Middle English goes until around 1500; Modern English includes Shakespeare to the present day.

4. The Vikings in the Danelaw by talking with the Anglo Saxons to the south simplified English.

5. When the Viking William the Conqueror won England, words from the French, Latin and Greek languages entered into English.

Main Texts Covered

1. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer:

              a) The Knight’s Tale.

              b) The Miller’s Tale.

              c) The Wife of Bath’s Tale.

              d) The Nun’s Priest’s Tale.

Main Ideas

1. Chaucer is one of the greatest English poets; he wrote in Middle English.

2. The Canterbury Tales, although incomplete, is his most celebrated work.

3. The Knight’s Tale is a courtly love story.

4. The Miller’s Tale is a parody of the courtly love story.

5. The Wife of Bath is one of the greatest, most lively characters in English literature.

6. The Nun’s Priest’s Tale is a fable that ends with a famous idea from Saint Paul – that we can learn something good from any experience.

Main Ideas

1. Chaucer is one of the greatest English poets; he wrote in Middle English.

2. The Canterbury Tales, although incomplete, is his most celebrated work.

3. The Knight’s Tale is a courtly love story.

4. The Miller’s Tale is a parody of the courtly love story.

5. The Wife of Bath is one of the greatest, most lively characters in English literature.

6. The Nun’s Priest’s Tale is a fable that ends with a famous idea from Saint Paul – that we can learn something good from any experience.

Main Texts Covered

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë.

3. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.

Main Ideas

1. Pride and Prejudice is a novel that tells of complicated progress towards true love.

2. Jane Eyre has a Byronic hero, and complex heroine.

3. Jane Eyre has been popular ever since it was published, but was not thought to be appropriate for young ladies.

4. The Importance of Being Earnest is an entertaining and witty comedy, but does not show the influence of Henrik Ibsen, so fails the acid test of realism.

Main Texts Covered

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë.

3. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.

Main Ideas

1. Pride and Prejudice is a novel that tells of complicated progress towards true love.

2. Jane Eyre has a Byronic hero, and complex heroine.

3. Jane Eyre has been popular ever since it was published, but was not thought to be appropriate for young ladies.

4. The Importance of Being Earnest is an entertaining and witty comedy, but does not show the influence of Henrik Ibsen, so fails the acid test of realism.

Main Text Covered

1. Hamlet, the tragic masterpiece of William Shakespeare.

Main Ideas

1. Hamlet is a phenomenon, with more than one book or article published each and every day about it.

2. Hamlet is famous for its hero and his thoughtful soliloquies – speeches made to the audience that illuminate his thinking and develop his character.

3. The language in Shakespeare, the greatest poet in English, uses particularly fresh, engaging, and beautiful language.

4. Shakespeare wrote beautifully and also created so many life-like characters that his genius amazes us.

5. Any literature is a spiritual exchange between reader and writer that can transcend time, place and culture (via translation).

Main Text Covered

1. Hamlet, the tragic masterpiece of William Shakespeare.

Main Ideas

1. Hamlet is a phenomenon, with more than one book or article published each and every day about it.

2. Hamlet is famous for its hero and his thoughtful soliloquies – speeches made to the audience that illuminate his thinking and develop his character.

3. The language in Shakespeare, the greatest poet in English, uses particularly fresh, engaging, and beautiful language.

4. Shakespeare wrote beautifully and also created so many life-like characters that his genius amazes us.

5. Any literature is a spiritual exchange between reader and writer that can transcend time, place and culture (via translation).

Main Texts Covered

1. Hamlet, the tragic masterpiece of William Shakespeare.

Main Ideas

1. Hamlet is a man of honour seeking to solve a complex problem.

2. Hamlet, like each of us, must be careful in trying to ‘read’ a complex reality that includes evil and deceitful people.

3. T. S. Eliot believes Hamlet must be understood as an entire story - a whole - and we should not get caught up on the characterization of Hamlet alone.

4. English is a stress-based, Germanic language.

5. A sonnet is a poetic form that has three parts: a thesis (A;B;A;B); an antithesis (C;D;C;D;E;F;E;F), and ironic synthesis (G;G).

Main Texts Covered

1. Hamlet, the tragic masterpiece of William Shakespeare.

Main Ideas

1. Hamlet is a man of honour seeking to solve a complex problem.

2. Hamlet, like each of us, must be careful in trying to ‘read’ a complex reality that includes evil and deceitful people.

3. T. S. Eliot believes Hamlet must be understood as an entire story - a whole - and we should not get caught up on the characterization of Hamlet alone.

4. English is a stress-based, Germanic language.

5. A sonnet is a poetic form that has three parts: a thesis (A;B;A;B); an antithesis (C;D;C;D;E;F;E;F), and ironic synthesis (G;G).

Main Texts Covered

1. The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe

2. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

3. A White Heron by Sarah Orne Jewett

4. Billy Budd by Herman Melville

Main Ideas

1. Edgar Allan Poe influenced the short story and detective story.

2. The Scarlet Letter speaks to us of sin and overcoming sin by sincere, public exposure.

3. Sarah Jewett wrote about her native state of Maine, one of the most important writers of local-color school.

4. Billy Budd, like Shakespeare’s Othello, is a cautionary tale about how evil – without cause – will try to harm the good and innocence.

5. The chiasmus, when a good person like Billy does evil, by hitting and killing Claggart – is like the crucifixion of Christ. We should never do physical harm to others, even if they have hurt us; best to forgive and move on.

Main Texts Covered

1. The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe

2. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

3. A White Heron by Sarah Orne Jewett

4. Billy Budd by Herman Melville

Main Ideas

1. Edgar Allan Poe influenced the short story and detective story.

2. The Scarlet Letter speaks to us of sin and overcoming sin by sincere, public exposure.

3. Sarah Jewett wrote about her native state of Maine, one of the most important writers of local-color school.

4. Billy Budd, like Shakespeare’s Othello, is a cautionary tale about how evil – without cause – will try to harm the good and innocence.

5. The chiasmus, when a good person like Billy does evil, by hitting and killing Claggart – is like the crucifixion of Christ. We should never do physical harm to others, even if they have hurt us; best to forgive and move on.

Main Texts Covered

1. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.

2. The Bluest Eyes by Toni Morrison.

3. The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow.

Main Ideas

1. Hurston was the first woman of color to publish in America; she wrote proudly about the beauty of African American culture.

2. Hurston’s novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, based on her true experience, made her famous, but near the end of her life the African American community she had loved neglected her.

3. Toni Morrison is the most famous black, female author in America; others are measured by her creative works.

4. The Bluest Eyes is a tragic novel about feeling one is ugly for having dark skin, and that life would be transformed if one were white and had blue eyes.

5. Saul Bellow wrote with humor, but had little hope for American culture as he saw it; he viewed much of the 20^th century as madness.

6. Bellow and Morrison both won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Main Texts Covered

1. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.

2. The Bluest Eyes by Toni Morrison.

3. The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow.

Main Ideas

1. Hurston was the first woman of color to publish in America; she wrote proudly about the beauty of African American culture.

2. Hurston’s novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, based on her true experience, made her famous, but near the end of her life the African American community she had loved neglected her.

3. Toni Morrison is the most famous black, female author in America; others are measured by her creative works.

4. The Bluest Eyes is a tragic novel about feeling one is ugly for having dark skin, and that life would be transformed if one were white and had blue eyes.

5. Saul Bellow wrote with humor, but had little hope for American culture as he saw it; he viewed much of the 20^th century as madness.

6. Bellow and Morrison both won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Main Texts Covered

1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

2. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner.

3. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway.

Main Ideas

1. The Great Gatsby, like Billy Budd, is a cautionary tale; a life without morality has horrible consequences, including murder and death.

2. As I Lay Dying shows that tragedy of poverty, and the struggles of love in such circumstances.

3. Poverty increases human suffering, and tragic loss.

4. A Farewell to Arms indicates that happiness cannot be found even in loving human relationships; we must accept the tragedy of human existence with dignity.

Main Texts Covered

1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

2. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner.

3. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway.

Main Ideas

1. The Great Gatsby, like Billy Budd, is a cautionary tale; a life without morality has horrible consequences, including murder and death.

2. As I Lay Dying shows that tragedy of poverty, and the struggles of love in such circumstances.

3. Poverty increases human suffering, and tragic loss.

4. A Farewell to Arms indicates that happiness cannot be found even in loving human relationships; we must accept the tragedy of human existence with dignity.

Main Texts Covered

1. Our Town: A Play in Three Acts byThornton Wilder.

2. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller.

3. A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry.

Main Ideas

1. Our Town, like the Oresteia and Hamlet, shows the Hand of God in human experience; tragedy is accepted in the context a Loving God.

2. Death of a Salesman is a tragedy set in everyday life; the main character, Willy Lowman, has limited self knowledge.

3. Willy Lowman in his tragic blindness resembles Oedipus and King Lear.

4. A Raisin in the Sun represents the struggles of African Americans for dignity and equality.

5. The untimely, early death of Lorraine Hansberry was a tragic loss of a gifted artist.

Main Texts Covered

1. Our Town: A Play in Three Acts byThornton Wilder.

2. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller.

3. A Raisin in the Sun by LorraineHansberry.

Main Ideas

1. Our Town, like the Oresteia and Hamlet, shows the Hand of God in human experience; tragedy is accepted in the context a Loving God.

2. Death of a Salesman is a tragedy set in everyday life; the main character, Willy Lowman, has limited self knowledge.

3. Willy Lowman in his tragic blindness resembles Oedipus and King Lear.

4. A Raisin in the Sun represents the struggles of African Americans for dignity and equality.

5. The untimely, early death of Lorraine Hansberry was a tragic loss of a gifted artist.

Main Texts Covered

1. The poetry of Walt Whitman.

2. Song of Myself by Walt Whitman.

3. The poetry of Emily Dickinson.

Main Ideas

1. Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson are the greatest and most influential poets from the United States.

2. All of the best poetry by Whitman belongs to the decade 1855 – 1865.

3. The American Civil war, a tragic conflict, marked the end of Whitman’s creative powers.

4. Song of Myself is firmly established as the American epic, the long poem that defines the ethos of the nation.

5. Emily Dickinson never married, and never published any poetry during her own lifetime.

6. Around 600 of her poems are of permanent aesthetic value.

Main Texts Covered

1. The poetry of Walt Whitman.

2. Song of Myself by Walt Whitman.

3. The poetry of Emily Dickinson.

Main Ideas

1. Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson are the greatest and most influential poets from the United States.

2. All of the best poetry by Whitman belongs to the decade 1855 – 1865.

3. The American Civil war, a tragic conflict, marked the end of Whitman’s creative powers.

4. Song of Myself is firmly established as the American epic, the long poem that defines the ethos of the nation.

5. Emily Dickinson never married, and never published any poetry during her own lifetime.

6. Around 600 of her poems are of permanent aesthetic value.

Main Texts Covered

1. The poetry of Robert Frost.

2. The poetry of Ezra Pound.

3. The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot.

4. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot.

Main Ideas

1. Frost chose words that had many possible meanings, so his poems “imply everything”.

2. Pound had a circle of artistic friends in London; he helped and influenced other twentieth century poets and novelists.

3. The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot is the most important poem of the twentieth century.

4. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, a character who is not a Hamlet nor was meant to be, presents “study of crippling self-consciousness”.

18a American Poetry Two Lesson Worksheet

1) 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.)

Possible answers are found at the end of this document and in the accompanying video discussion

Work Cited

Eliot; T. S. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. Poetry Foundation. Online.

Main Text Covered

1. Man Listening To Disc by Billy Collins.

Main Ideas

1. Phillis Wheatley was a slave in Boston who wrote popular poetry.

2. Elizabeth Bishop wrote poems about her rootlessness “as a woman, a lesbian, an orphan, a geographically rootless traveler – and a sufferer of depression and alcoholism”.

3. Judith Ortiz Cofer writes about the experience of living as a Hispanic woman in the United States.

4. Billy Collins uses a free verse approach in his poem Man Listening To Disc.

19a American Poetry Three Lesson Worksheet

Work Cited

              Collins, Billy. Man Listening to Disc. (22 March 1941) New York. PoemHunter.com. Online

CCSS.ELA-Literacy. Reading Literature.11-12.4

1) Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in “Man Listening to Disc”, 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.)

Main Texts Covered

1. Common Sense by Thomas Paine.

2. The Declaration of Independence.

3. The Bill of Rights.

4. Walden by Henry Thoreau.

5. Society and Solitude, essays written by Emerson.

6. The American Language by H. L. Mencken.

7. Black Boy by Richard Wright.

Main Ideas

1. Common Sense is the most important literary text to influence the American war of Independence.

2. The Declaration of Independence, written largely by Thomas Jefferson, determines specific freedoms for American citizens.

3. The Bill of Rights outlines specific rights for U. S. citizens.

4. Walden by Henry Thoreau advocates a simple life.

5. Society and Solitude, essays written by Emerson, suggest we spend time with others “only in small doses”.

6. The American Language, the most important work of scholarship by H. L. Mencken, discusses the development of the language in the U. S.

7. Richard Wright records the tragic life of African Americans, stories of race prejudice in the south that included “graphic descriptions of lynchings”

8. Amy Tam writes about the Chinese American experience.

20a American Informational Texts Lesson Worksheet

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. What goes beyond common sense in the famous tract of that name?

Possible answers are found at the end of this document and in the accompanying video discussion

Common Sense

Hart, James D. 1948. “Common Sense” in The Oxford Companion to American Literature. New York: Oxford University Press. Print. Page 148.

Main Texts Covered

1. Fiction and nonfiction by George Orwell.

2. Fiction mixed with nonfiction by G. K. Chesterton.

3. Autobiography by G. K. Chesterton.

Main Ideas

1. George Orwell wrote both fiction and nonfiction.

2. Nineteen Eighty Four by Orwell is a famous Dystopia which introduces the idea of Newspeak, something like modern political hogwash.

3. G. K. Chesterton mixes fiction with nonfiction and draws remarkable conclusion from everyday experiences.

4. Chesterton includes a character called Father Brown, based on a real Father O’Connor – a kind of Tartuffe devil who scares even Yorkshire giants with his dark whispering.

5. Chesterton also makes a reference to a Christ-like figure with keys who has made a bridge.

21a British Informational Texts Lesson Worksheet

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. How does a Protestant point of view influence our reading of G. K. Chesterton regarding father O’Connor?

Main Texts Covered

1. Ulysses by James Joyce; the most important novel of the twentieth century.

Main Ideas

1. This book is too complex for Grade 12 students, so this is simply an introduction to this complex work.

2. Poldy Bloom, the Jewish hero of Ulysses is the most comprehensive character in western literature.

3. Poldy accepts the world as generally good, but hopes that love with overcome hatred.

4. The section on the Sirens tells us about the power of music in shaping how we think and feel in a positive, if unconscious manner.

1) Analyze how Joyce’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of the ‘Siren’ scene (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.

Possible answers are found at the end of this document and in the accompanying video discussion

Main Texts Covered

1. “A Poem of Changgan” by Li Po.

2. “Song VII” by Rabindranath Tagore.

3. “Ode to My Suit” by Pablo Neruda.

4. “Ode on a Grecian Urn” by John Keats.

Main Ideas

1. “A Poem of Changgan” speaks of love and yearning with rich imagery.

2. “Song VII” speaks of the inadequacy of language and the female muse.

3. “Ode to My Suit” is a modern free verse poem.

4. John Keats mastered the Ode form, and this rich in imagery poem is one of his finest works.

23a World Poetry Lesson Worksheet

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in “Ode on a Grecian Urn”, 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.) [28s.]

Main Text Covered

1. The Debatabase Book: A Must-Have Guide for Successful Debate: Third Edition by Robert Trapp.

Main Ideas

1. Communication, rhetoric, argumentation, and debate are related concepts.

2. Only humans can use rhetoric.

3. Argument uses reason to help persuade others; debate uses argument but also story-telling and metaphor.

4. There are simple arguments; convergent arguments; and independent arguments.

24 Debating Lesson Worksheet

Debating cannot be well presented in this forum, so we will look at an important argument called Pascal’s wager.

              The following is from Wikipedia (Pascal’s Wager):

“The Wager uses the following logic (excerpts from Pensées, part III, §233):

1. God is, or God is not. Reason cannot decide between the two alternatives.
2. A Game is being played... where heads or tails will turn up.
3. You must wager (it is not optional).
4. Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing.
5. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is. (...) There is here an infinity of an infinitely happy life to gain, a chance of gain against a finite number of chances of loss, and what you stake is finite. And so our proposition is of infinite force, when there is the finite to stake in a game where there are equal risks of gain and of loss, and the infinite to gain.
6. But some cannot believe. They should then 'at least learn your inability to believe...' and 'Endeavour then to convince' themselves.”

Main Texts Covered

1. Rhetoric: A Very Short Introduction by Richard Toye.

2. “How to use rhetoric to get what you want” by Camille Langston (YouTube; Ted Talk).

3. Rhetoric by Aristotle.

Main Ideas

1. Rhetoric is the art of persuasion using words.

2. Adolf Hitler and his evil Nazi regime used rhetoric to control masses of people.

3. A Jewish man named Victor Klemperer who suffered and survived Hitler also saw the good potential in rhetoric.

4. Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher, outlined three types of rhetoric.

5. The deliberative rhetoric appears when we try to convince others of a future dream that we envision; it is used by politicians and other leaders.

25 Rhetoric Lesson Worksheet

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.

Possible answers are found at the end of this document and in the accompanying video discussion

Work Cited

NCTE/IRT. (2009) Read, Write, Think. PDF. Online.

Persuasive Techniques in Advertising

              The persuasive strategies used by advertisers who want you to buy their product can be divided into three categories: pathos, logos, and ethos.

Pathos: an appeal to emotion.

              An advertisement using pathos will attempt to create an emotional response in the consumer. Sometimes, it is a positive emotion such as happiness: an image of people enjoying themselves while drinking Coke. Other times, advertisers will use negative emotions such as pain: a person having back problems who needs their pain medicine. Pathos can also include emotions such as fear and guilt: images of a starving child persuade you to send money.

Logos: an appeal to logic or reason.

              An advertisement using logos will give you the evidence and statistics you need to fully understand what the product does. The logos of an advertisement will be the "straight facts" about the product: the drink contains the same amount of Vitamin C as do 70 lemons.

Ethos: an appeal to credibility or character.

              An advertisement using ethos will try to convince you that the company is more reliable, honest, and credible; therefore, you should buy its product. Ethos often involves statistics from reliable experts, such as nine out of ten dentists agree that Crest is the better than any other brand. Often, a celebrity endorses a product to lend it more credibility: Catherine Zeta - Jones makes us want to switch to T-Mobile.

Main Text Covered

1. How to Write and Illustrate a Scientific Paper: Third Edition by Björn Gustavii.

Main Ideas

1. Brevity, using as few words as required, is important in all writing.

2. Write and rewrite to check for errors; bad writing may indicate bad Science.

3. Illustrations and graphs are important in technical writing.

4. Thank the people who have helped you.

26a Technical Writing Lesson Worksheet

              This lesson worksheet offers a brief discussion on a well-supported Science claim that humans outside of Africa have some Neanderthal DNA. Technical writing itself cannot be easily presented in this format, so this discussion will be offered as an illustration.

Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

Main Texts Covered

1. The Story: A Critical Anthology by Mark Schorer:

              a) Gooseberries by Anton Chekov.

              b) A Clean Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway.

              c) The Old People by William Faulkner.

Main Ideas

1. Stories are like bubbles: they contain real-life but shape it to make meaning.

2. Art like the short story must work within set limits.

3. Hemingway writes about the quiet suffering of life where one feels they have ‘nothing’ but retain their dignity.

4. The Old People is a tragic initiation story about predators and prey.

27a Story Lesson Worksheet

              How do the Iliad and Odyssey express the four key elements found in both epic poetry and tragedy? 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.

Main Texts Covered

1. The Hero’s Journey by Matthew Winkler, YouTube; Ted Ed animation.

2. Hero in Simple English Wikipedia.

3. Pinocchio by Walt Disney.

Main Ideas

1. A basic pattern is followed by all heroes.

2. The American man of myth Joseph Campbell mapped out the hero journey by studying stories from all over the world.

3. An ancient hero like Herakles had a god or goddess as one parent, but today we use it for sports stars and firemen.

4. Pinocchio shows the path a hero takes in growing with his or her conscience.

5. Pinocchio is an animated film rich in psychological depth.

28a Heroes Lesson Worksheet

              How does the traditional story map align with the Hero’s journey? 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).

Main Texts Covered

1. Creating Texts: An introduction to the Study of Composition by Walter Nash.

2. Vint Cerf on Wikipedia.

3. Tim Berners-Lee on Wikipedia.

4. “Etiquette in technology.” From Wikipedia

Main Ideas

1. The Internet arose from a military origin in the USA.

2. Vint Cerf helped create the internet, and does many kind and thoughtful projects now that support a healthy internet world.

3. Tim Berners Lee from England is another father of the internet.

4. Netiquette is how one should act online, like NOT SHOUTING, being cautious and showing forgiveness.

                            What is netiquette?

Netiquette, a common phrase for network etiquette or Internet etiquette, is a set of social rules that facilitate interaction over networks, ranging from Usenet and mailing lists to blogs and forums.

Like the network itself, these developing norms remain in a state of change and vary from community to community. The points most strongly emphasized about netiquette often include using simple electronic signatures, and avoiding multi-posting, cross-posting, off-topic posting, hijacking a discussion thread, and other techniques used to minimize the effort required to read a post or a thread.

Main Texts Covered

1. Grit on Wikipedia.

2. “Carol Dweck”from Wikipedia.

Main Ideas

1. Grit means a dogged determination to complete any task.

2. Over 2000 years ago, the Greek philosopher Aristotle acknowledged the importance of perseverance (grit).

3. The Growth Mindset is the best for any learner; with it you believe that errors are part of the learning process, simple hurdles to be overcome not complete barriers.

4. Those with a Growth Mindset know that success comes from hard work; it is not genetic – an either / or.

Who is a hero that has grit?

  Egill Skallarimsson was the greatest poet of the Viking Age. He faught against King Harald Bloodaxe of Norway, and once, stranded on the coast near York, he walked into the hall of Harald, saving his life by a "head-ransom" poem that he wrote during the night. He later lost his two sons on shipwrecks in the north Atlantic.

Main Texts Covered

1. The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E. B. White.

2. How to make your writing funnier by Cheri Steinkellner on Ted Ed.

Main Ideas

1. Write with a plan.

2. Every paragraph is a step in the story or argument, whether one sentence or several in length.

3. Write in the active voice.

4. Use only needed words – be concise, as in technical writing.

5. To write humor, look at everyday events, and add lots of specific details.

6. Since the Italian Renaissance these character types or archetypes have been used: “the know-it-all; the loveable loser; the bad boss; the neurotic; the airhead”.

7. Find the flaw and play it up for laughs.

8. Humor surprises us!

     Many of the books in this course have a tragic message; yet several also show that justice also occurs in the world, whether by God or by the gods, or by the nature of fate. Write a brief reflection on this course as it relates to tragedy and Providence, or just reward.

              This is a sample of my writing, published in the Icelandic-Canadian weekly newspaper, Lögberg- Heimskringla. It refers to some of my work in this Lernsys Grade 11 and 12 English course.