Outline of Course Content
Unit | Title | Length |
Introduction | Course Introduction |
|
Unit 1 | Media: Serial Podcast | 20 hours |
Unit 2 | Poetry and Short Stories | 20 hours |
Unit 3 | Novel Study: To Kill a Mockingbird | 30 hours |
Unit 4 | Theatre and Performance: Romeo and Juliet | 30 hours |
Unit 5 | Independent Study Project | 8 hours |
| Final Exam | 2 hours |
| Total: | 110 hours |
Unit Overviews
Course Introduction
As an introduction to the course, students will review various reading and writing and notetaking strategies that will be useful to them throughout the length of the course. We will cover MLA format indetail, and students are encouraged to review the course glossary or importantterms prior to commencing the unit lessons.
Unit 1 Media: Serial Podcast
In this unit, students will investigatethe (in)famous podcast Serial to investigate issues of bias, institutionalized racism, stereotypes, and rhetorical devices. They will complete various writing tasks to help them develop their opinions about the case and ultimately reflect on their personal biases.
Unit 2: Poetry and Short Stories
This unit will focus on issues of genre, specifically investigating gothic literature and social justice narratives(these ideas support unit 3). Students will learn about the various literary devices that authors use and reflect on the social function of literature. They will perform formalist analyses as they develop their writing skills andenhance their understanding of various writing formats. Additionally, they will explore presentation strategies and hone their interpretive skills.
Unit 3 Novel Study: To Kill aMockingbird
In this unit, students will explore the various social issues raised by the text with an emphasis on gender and race.They will apply skills that they learned in the first two units to create amedia campaign and write their own poetry. The unit will culminate in aliterary essay in which the students decode the meaning of the text.
Unit 4 Theatre and Performance: Romeo and Juliet
In this unit, students will complete a reading of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. They will consider various to picsrelated to both the play’s content and issues of production. Students will create their own Director’s Notes and watch selected scenes to demonstrate their understanding of staging and the play’s themes. Students will completecreate tasks as well as a final test, which will help them to prepare for the final examination.
