Unit Materials for 12th Grade English
Explore the texts and supporting materials used in each unit of 12th Grade English.
Need to purchase texts for this course?
Download the text list for the 2026–27 school year, which includes ISBNs and guidance on ordering quantities.
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Hamlet
Core Texts
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Play: Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Supporting Texts
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Article: “Dear Men: It's You, Too” by Roxane Gay (The New York Times)
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Short Story: “Gertrude Talks Back” by Margaret Atwood
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Poem: “How I Didn't Get Myself to a Nunnery” by Suzanne Lummis (The New Yorker)
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Podcast: “Act V” (This American Life)
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Transcript: “Act V Podcast Transcript”
- Resource: Recommended Texts for Independent Reading
Klara and the Sun
Core Texts
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Book: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Supporting Texts
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Video: “The ChatGPT Revolution” (CBS Reports)
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Excerpt: “Excerpts from Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus” by Mary Shelley
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Article: “Could AI help cure 'downward spiral' of human loneliness?” by Ian Sample (The Guardian)
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Article: “How COVID taught America about inequity in education” by Clea Simon (The Harvard Gazette)
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Podcast: “If By Chance We Meet Again” by Ira Glass (This American Life)
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Poem: “(First Trimester)” by Craig Santos Perez (Poetry Foundation)
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Poem: “From 'understory'” by Craig Santos Perez (Poetry Foundation)
- Resource: Recommended Texts for Independent Reading
Sula
Core Texts
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Book: Sula by Toni Morrison (Vintage Press, 2004)
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Audiobook: Sula Audiobook
Supporting Texts
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Video: “The urgency of intersectionality” by Kimberlé Crenshaw (TED Talk)
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Poem: “Facing It” by Yusef Komunyakaa
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Poem: “Black Mother Woman” by Audre Lorde
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Article: “Visualizing the Great Migration” by MoMA
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Article: “The Forgotten Northern Origins of Jim Crow” by Steve Luxenberg (Time)
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Video: “African Americans and World War I | The Great War” by PBS Learning
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Video: “Remembering Toni Morrison, An Iconic American Author | NYT News” by The New York Times
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Photo: Please let your light shine on me (Library of Congress)
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Photo: Are they equal in the eyes of the law? (Digital Scholarship Initiatives)
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Article: “The Radical Vision of Toni Morrison” by Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah
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Excerpt: “All About Love: New Visions” by bell hooks
- Resource: Recommended Texts for Independent Reading
Exit West
Core Texts
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Book: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
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Book: The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Supporting Texts
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Poem: “Home” by Warsan Shire
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lnfographic: Refugee Data Finder (UNHCR)
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lnfographic: Figures at a glance (UNHCR)
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Video: “What migrants face as they journey through the deadly Darién Gap” (PBS NewsHour)
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Video: “I AM A REFUGEE: Global refugees share their stories” (Global Citizen)
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Article: “Syrian Refugees Share Cherished Cellphone Snaps” (Newsweek)
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Exhibit: Space in Between by Margarita Cabrera (Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College)
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Illustration: Perspective by Thi Bui (p. 63 in The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives)
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Illustration: What Gets Lost by Thi Bui (p. 65 of The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives)
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Excerpt: “"Guests of the Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa"” by Lev Golinken (pp. 75–80)
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Excerpt: “"The Parent Who Stays"” by Reyna Grande (pp. 81–89)
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Excerpt: “"Refugees and Exiles"” by Marina Lewycka (pp. 129–135)
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Excerpt: “"A Refugee Again"” by Vu Tran (pp. 165–171)
- Resource: Recommended Texts for Independent Reading
Fun Home
Core Texts
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Book: Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
Supporting Texts
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Poem: “Someday I'll Love Ocean Vuong” by Ocean Vuong (The Poetry Archive)
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Transcript: “On Personal Expression and Comics with Alison Bechdel” by Noelle Chung (WHRB News)
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Poem: “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop (The Poetry Foundation)
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Article: “Heteronormative Meaning: What Does Heteronormative Mean? Plus, 8 Examples to Know” by Kristen Cochran (Teen Vogue)
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Poem: “Cyrus & the Snakes” by Ada Limón (The Poetry Foundation)
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Short Story: “Nothing Extraordinary” by Jeniffer Kim (Performance Task Mentor Text)
- Resource: Recommended Texts for Independent Reading
