ENGLISH 11
THE LANGUAGE OF LITERATURE: AMERICAN LITERATURE
Did you know that many times writers are inspired by historical events? The writers profiled in our textbook have been inspired by events in our American history. Our text is divided into these units: Origins and Encounters; From Colony to Country; The Spirit of Individualism; Conflict and Expansion; The Changing Face of America; and War Abroad and Conflict at Home.
Can you match the following selections with the units above?
Thoreau's Civil Disobedience
"The World on the Turtle's Back"
Steinbeck's "Why Soldiers Won't Talk"
Henry's Speech in the Virginia Convention
Hemingway's "The End of Something"
Our supplemental readings also reflect certain time periods in our American history. A few titles are When the Legends Die, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, The Great Gatsby, The Bluest Eye, The Last Mission, Great American Short Stories, and Going Where I'm Coming From.
In addition to strengthening your reading skills, you will work on building your vocabulary, writing clearly and concisely, and improving your spelling. (Quiz time: What is the symbol in The Great Gatsby? Are you feeling ebullient today? What exactly is parallel structure? Do you know the difference between THERE, THEIR, AND THEY'RE?)
What else do we do in English 11? We prepare for the ELA Regents and the SAT test. We write a U.S. History-English 11 research paper. We read library books and report on them. We write creatively, using pictures as prompts. We work and speak collaboratively; we work and speak independently. In other words, we do our best to improve our skills and teamwork. We're all in this together!
