English 10CP (1A, 3A, 4A, & 2B)

The English 10 CP course is a survey of American Literature from pre-colonial to present day that includes textbook, novel, essay, and online resources that can be utilized via Google Classroom and other applications. Students will embrace the approach of Workshop while working through the course curriculum. Teachers will present mentor texts to model/enrich alongside student selections of works that coincide with each unit of study.

Unit 1: Reading Literature

Essential Questions -

- What impact do herd mentality and vengeance have on a community? Can their impact ever be positive?

- Why is it important to recall our past, even if it is difficult?

- How does a critical reader read and analyze a text? 

- What attributes of literature are important for readers to analyze?

- How does a reader engage in discussion about a text with fellow readers?

Stephen King and the American Nightmare (4B Semester 1)

Through careful study of the life and works of Stephen King, one can simultaneously face fear and strengthen close reading skills. This class will introduce students to the mystery and horror of King’s finest writing and the tragedy and victory that he experienced in his own life. With allusions to literary classics and current social issues, students will engage themselves in sincere discussions that revolve around life’s challenges and how one can overcome them through the study of fictional struggles. Works of study will include King’s classic The Shining, his collection of short stories from 1978 titled Night Shift, current mystery Joyland, and the autobiographical On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.

Unit 2: Day Shift - King of Short Stories

Essential Questions -

• What aspects of Stephen King's life shaped the short stories he created?
• What periods of horror are present in works from Night Shift and how can the works be compared to classic voices like Poe, Faulkner, and Dickinson?
  
• What classic elements of the short story are present in these works and how do they vary in accordance with the genre of horror?
• What types of fear and/or concerns does King present in Night Shift and how do the characters respond to them?
• How is King able to make everyday objects, interactions, and subject matter more horrifying in his works of short fiction?
• How can a reader overcome the horrors/fears mentioned in the previous bullet through a close study of these tales?

Lost Literature (4B Semester 2)

In this course, students explore numerous stories, poems, and novels that have vanished from the average literature curriculum for various reasons. While this entails reading and analyzing literature, the majority of time is spent examining the conditions under which this literature has been removed and the groups that wanted it erased from literary history. This course features writing and group research assignments, literature circles, film analysis, and class discussions. Some potential works to be discussed in this course include Seuss’s The Lorax, Orwell's 1984, and Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five. Join this course before it disappears