English Language Arts
11th Grade
11th Grade ELA Course Summary
In 11th Grade English Language Arts, students explore the year-long topic, American Dreams and Realities. They will grapple with overarching questions:
- How does literature reveal the values and beliefs of a nation?
- How does American culture influence identity and the choices we make?
- Is the American Dream a myth or reality? Is it achievable for everyone in the same way?
Building upon the knowledge and English Language Arts skills they’ve developed in previous years, students deeply engage with Understanding Text Complexity and Text Considerations through both independent reading and guided Close Reading, prepare for and engage in whole class discussions including Socratic Seminars, and write multi-paragraph responses to Essential Questions by gathering evidence and effectively communicating their thoughts. Across the units, students will also deepen their writing skills through narrative, opinion, analytical, and informational writing tasks.
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11th Grade Book List
Recommended Sequence
Unit 1
20 Lessons
Living Deliberately: Transcendentalism Then and Now
Students will analyze how the seminal works of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau convey the central tenets of Transcendentalism, reflecting on their own relationship to those ideas and considering the legacy of Transcendentalism in contemporary poems and essays.
Unit 2
24 Lessons
The Dream that Recedes Before Us: The Past and The American Dream in The Great Gatsby
Students will examine how Fitzgerald uses diction, point-of-view, and symbolism to develop themes about class, the past, and the American dream.
Unit 3
20 Lessons
To the Horizon and Back: Janie's Search for Identity in Their Eyes Were Watching God
Students will examine Janie's evolution on her journey of self-discovery, exploring how Hurston uses motifs to develop Janie's ideas about love and relationships, independence, and identity.
Unit 4
21 Lessons
Illuminating Illusions: Truth and Fantasy in A Streetcar Named Desire
Students will explore how Williams uses characterization to represent the conflict between truth and fantasy throughout the play. Additionally, students will use different literary lenses to analyze the play's themes and social commentaries, as well as make comparisons between the written play and its 1951 film adaptation.
Unit 5
24 Lessons
Weaving a Counternarrative: The Urban Native Identity in There There
Students will examine how Tommy Orange uses multiple perspectives and structure in There There to challenge monolithic ideas of Native identity. In doing so, students will consider how stories can act as counternarratives that deepen one's understanding of what it means to be Native today.
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