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Global Education Unit

Below is my Global Education Unit that I developed and completed during my fellowship with TGC Fulbright.  This unit hopes to re-examine the entire course by implementing global citizenship into every aspect of the curriculum, making it a richer experience and creating a model for curriculum at Andover High School.  

Prepared by:    Eric Pellerin                                                          School/Location:    Andover High School 

Subject: Advanced Placement English                                        Grade:     12       

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         Interdisciplinary Unit Title:   Discovering Glocalized Selves through Literature 

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Unit Summary:  

 

Advanced Placement English Literature & Composition has traditionally been a preparatory course, culminating in an exam to be taken in the spring for college credit. However, to those of us who teach language arts, this course is more about teaching students to read and write with greater insight, as well as a chance to help students develop a genuine sense of empathy through literature. This unit hopes to re-examine the entire course by implementing global citizenship into every aspect of the curriculum, making it a richer experience and creating a model for curriculum at Andover High School.  Each section of the unit will have three components: 1) An aspect of Global Citizenship; 2) well-chosen literary selections which connect to the former and an element of fiction; as well as 3) an experience where students find connections in literature, themselves, and the world around them. The framework of the course will consist of a series of existential questions from Dr. William Gaudelli’s work, prompting students to make connections in relation to themselves, the literature, and with others in a “glocal” sense through writing, discussion, and social media.  Each question, piece of literature, and overall learning experience will build on the next. Toward the end of term two, students will be having experiences where they combine all these elements and have direct contact with students from another country, students from an adjoining city, and share their work in a public forum.

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I. Introduction

 

  • We begin with the question:  Why study fiction? Students will study a series of famous paintings by well-known authors, studying the pieces “like a book.”  How do we take the same approach to literature? Our own lives? Our lives in a glocal sense?

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  • Students will compose journal reflections:  What is your favorite reading experience? They will share these responses.  Next, they will be introduced to Global Citizenship through YouTube clips from the Asia Society and handouts.  Through seminars, we will discuss the connections from self to fiction to global impact. Students will also engage in a ThingLink activity to see “where” we will exploring this semester.

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  • The bridge into the next unit begins with a selection by Margaret Atwood, titled, “Happy Endings.” Students will be asked to compose a journal response:  What do you look for in a happy ending? Through seminar discussion, we will examine how stories discuss our existence. As Atwood states, ending are fine, but true connoisseurs like “how and why.”

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  • Students will read, recite, share and examine poetry coupled with this part of the unit.



 

II. Telling a Story

 

  • In our examination with “plot,” students will study the plot structure of James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” and revisit short story from Jhumpa Lahiri’s collection Unaccustomed Earth (one of their summer reading selections), “Only Goodness.”  Both stories deal with addiction and how can one achieve the American Dream if you are not protected under white supremacy?

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  • For global citizenship, students will study Dr. Gaudelli’s examination of self through the following: “Narrative,” Institutional, Discourse, and Affinity.  They will engage with the material in journal explorations of themselves through the aforementioned lens and share in a blog discussion and class seminar. The instructor should engage in all activities with the students.

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  • They will continue their examination of James Baldwin through his short story, “Going to Meet the Man” and documentary I Am Not Your Negro.

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  • The documentary 13th will help students see the historical context.  They will take notes and compose a blog response.

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  • Students will read, recite, share and examine poetry coupled with this part of the unit

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  • An essay by Te-Nehisi Coates’s, “The First White President” will show students why Toni Morrison feels he is the one who filled “the intellectual void that plagued me after James Baldwin died.”

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  • This section will culminate into a research essay, using all the materials in this unit to discuss Narrative, Institutional, Discourse, and Affinity in creating an identity through literature and the world around us.

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III.  Who is Telling the Story?

 

  • To answer this question, we will begin with the literary element of “narration and point-of view.”  Students will revisit Lahiri’s short story “Unaccustomed Earth” which utilizes a subtle dual narrative, alongside Shira Nayman’s “The House on Kronenstrasse,” a modern short story exploring the Nazi Holocaust through a dual narrative from two time periods.  Students will engage with the material through blog responses and class seminar.

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  • They will explore global citizenship through Taiye Selasi’s TED Talk, “Don’t ask me where I’m from, ask me where I’m local.” Students will discuss this concept in a class discussion.   

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  • Students will read, recite, share and examine poetry coupled with this part of the unit

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  • Next, students will be asked to apply their knowledge of narration and point-of view using a writing prompt from the A.P. Exam using a passage from Dalton Trumbo’s Johnny Got His Gun.  Student will compose essays and look at 10 real essay examples from years past.  They will examine the best essays - the best means of communication through writing.  Students will submit essays through Turnitin.com and have the opportunity to revise essays.

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IV.  Who am I?

 

  • Student have been examining this question already through the previous two sections.  Now we will look at “characterization” beginning with Lahiri’s “Gogol” from The New Yorker.  The story examines Gogol’s development of self through his relationship with his parents, his family’s origins in Calcutta, and his “strange” name.  Student will engage in blog discussions and class seminars.

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  • They will continue the journey by viewing the film The Namesake, based on Lahiri’s novel.  “Gogol” is the story that she eventually expanded into her novel The Namesake, so we can also see how she broadened her search of self through this character.

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  • After watching the first section of the film with Gogol’s parents, students will view a Charlie Rose interview with Lahiri where she explains her writing process and how she came up with the character of Gogol. They will also read and respond in a class blog and seminar to Lahiri’s Newsweek essay, “My Two Lives” where she explains the parallels between herself and Gogol.

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  • Next, students will read Nikolai Gogol’s “The Overcoat,” which Lahiri references throughout her story.  As students finish viewing the film, they will revisit Taiye Selasi’s aforementioned TED Talk, and apply her theory of self to the protagonists of both stories as well as Lahiri.  Selasi asks students to think of self through: relationships, rituals and restrictions, culminating into a new way of defining “where you are from.”  Students will explore this concept in a blog response and class seminar.

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  • Students will read, recite, share and examine poetry coupled with this part of the unit

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  • This will culminate into a detailed journal response where students apply this concept to themselves and share in a class seminar.  Teachers should engage and share, as well.

 

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V. Where or When are We?

 

  • We will bridge into this section by studying the essential questions shared through Paul Gauguin’s painting, “Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?”  Students will compose a journal where they attempt to answer those three questions for themselves. Students and the instructor will share their responses in a class seminar.

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  • We will examine the literary device of “Setting” by engaging in a blog response where students analyze the author’s use of setting in the previous stories we have read thus far.

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  • Next students will explore scientific philosophy, reading Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman.  The novella is broken up into a series of vignettes where a fictional Einstein imagines different ways of viewing time, and students will read and engage with the various ways of “when are we?”

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  • Next, students will look at the genre of drama, reading two plays by Henrik Ibsen.  The first, A Doll House, explores self in the context of society through Nora Helmer and the other dolls in our societal house.  Next, they will study reactions to the play during Ibsen’s time, and his choice to follow-up with Ghosts.  After reading and responding to both works, students will examine the protagonists of Nora and Mrs. Helmer (Ibsen’s projected older Nora, had she stayed with her husband) using “Narrative,” Institutional, Discourse, and Affinity.  They will engage in blog responses, journal reflections, and class seminars. Students will also view various film adaptations from around the world to see the differences in tone and purpose. They will also perform scenes in guided acting workshops.

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  • Students will read, recite, share and examine poetry coupled with this part of the unit

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  • This will culminate into a research piece where students examine the ways Nora has been viewed in three other countries, as A Doll House is one of the most performed plays in the world.

 

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VI.  What Do Others Think?

 

  • Again, the last unit bridges in, as students have already explored ways of seeing from around the world.  In a structural sense, we will examine the use of “symbolism” in fiction. We will begin with an artistic lens, again, with Franz Kafka’s “A Hunger Artist” and Nick Hornby’s “Nipple Jesus” an exploration of faith, the artist, the critic and true spirituality.

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  • Students will engage in these theories by choosing an aspect of themselves from past journal reflections, and a passage from one of the stories we have read where they see a direct connection to themselves, and depict it in a piece of artwork using any medium.

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  • Getting back to the form in literature, students will explore two challenging novels in William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury and Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway.  Students will make connections between Baldwin’s work and Faulkner.  Further, students read Michael Cunningham’s The Hours for summer reading.  Both deal with multiple narratives, time shifts, and stream of consciousness. Students will be revisiting previous blog responses and discussions to make meaning on their own.  During the unit, students will be composing literary analysis essays, sharpening their skills.

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  • This work will culminate into a creative piece where students will compose group essays, analyzing the literature using a distinctive voice for themselves, mimicking the style of Sound or Dalloway.

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  • Students will read, recite, share and examine poetry coupled with this part of the unit

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  • The final piece in this section will be a shared reading of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet between our class and a class in India.  Students will have studied India and the work of Lahiri and will share their reflections during the course of the unit.  There will be blog responses, use of filmed performances from around the world through YouTube, formal literary analysis, and acting workshops.

 

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VII. What Issues Concern You?

 

  • At this point in the curriculum, students will be nearing the end of their senior year.  What better time than to discuss this essential question. Student will begin with a journal reflection using the literature they have read this year and in the past.  What issues concern you? Which works of literature best communicates these ideas? If you could choose one issue affecting the world today, what would it be and why? What obstacles are in the way for you and humanity in remedying your issue of choice? Students will share these ideas in a class seminar.  The last question will get students thinking about “taking action” which will be the centerpiece of the final assignment.

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  • Next, students will read Jane Austen’s Persuasion, about Anne Elliot who found herself persuaded to reject an offer of marriage by Captain Wentworth years ago.  It is a novel about second chances: why do we make decisions for others instead of ourselves? Students will engage in blog responses and class seminars.

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  • Next, they will explore Existentialism and read Jean-Paul Sartre’s The Stranger.  Both stories offer protagonists who do not act (we will revisit Hamlet, of course).  When these characters do act, it ends in catastrophe.  Bringing the conversation back to beginning, we will examine the “endings” of these works.  What did these characters want? How did it turn out?

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  • Next, students will engage in the final portion of the poetry examination through Spoken Word and SLAM poetry, a new tradition that is rich in political activism.

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  • The first of two final projects, students will compose their own poems using the issue of greatest importance, a poet they respect as a model for form.  They will perform these poems at El Taller in Lawrence, MA alongside students from Lawrence High School.

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  • Their final project will be a Multi-Genre Research Paper to be displayed in the front foyer of the school. Students will choose an essential question from this year pertaining to an issue important to them, using literature from the course, and experiences from past units from around the world they will convey their ideas through multiple genres.  

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Stage 1:  Desired Results

 

ESTABLISHED GOALS

 

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1

Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

 

CCSS. ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2

Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.

 

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3  

Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).

 

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)

 

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5

Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.

 

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.6

Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).

 

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.7

Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry); evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.)

 

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.9

Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics.

 

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10

By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
 

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GLOBAL COMPETENCY

 

  • Recognizing perspective

  • Investigating the world

  • Communicating Ideas

  • Glocalization

  • Everyday Transcendence

  • Taking Action

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TECHNOLOGY USED

 

  • Blogger

  • Film

  • Projection Screen

  • Skype

  • ThinkLink

  • YouTube

  • Twitter

  • Instagram



Transfer

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Students will be able to independently use their learning to:

 

T1. Re-examine sense of self through a global lens

T2. Read a variety of texts from authors around the world and make connections to themselves, the authors, and        others around the world

T3. Respect and value diversity in literature.

T4. Apply the skills of literary analysis to their own lives and ways of viewing the world.  

T5. Identify global issues through literature and make connections to current events

T6. Relate local issues to global issues.

T7. Use writing as a means of making connections between literature and our own existence.

T8. Engage with students from a neighboring high school from another socio-economic bracket and see other ways of viewing a text and the world around us.

T9. Engage with students from another country and see other ways of viewing a text and the world around us.

T10. Re-examine self and the course through fiction writing.




Meaning

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UNDERSTANDINGS:  

 

Students will understand that:

U1. The local community exists within the global community.

U2. Literature can express beliefs, values, and customs of foreign cultures.

U3. Literature provides a vehicle through which to learn about others around the world.

U4. Those who study literature from a culture other than their own possess valuable skills in analysis, cultural awareness, critical thinking & writing.

U5. People around the world have more similarities and differences and need to work together to solve global problems while simultaneously preserving their local culture.

 

 

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

 

E1. Who are You?

E2. Where Are You?

E3. When Is It?

E4. What Issues Concern You?

E5. What Do Others Think?

E6. What Can You Do About Those Issues?


 

 

Acquisition

 

Students will know:

K1.  Key terms related to Global Competency and Global Studies

K2. Key concepts in reading literature with greater insight

K3.  How to write concise arguments using research.

K4.  How do research multiple sources before making a decision to speak or share ideas

K5. The importance of connecting with people outside their circle.

K6. How to use literature as a means of promoting social change.

 

 

Students will be able to:

S1. Reading and analyzing literature.

S2. Appreciating diversity.

S3. Having empathy and humility.

S4. Recognizing important global issues.

S5. Using technology to research global issues.

S6. Writing about transformative experiences.

S7. Compose fiction pieces in order to describe complex global issues.




 

Stage 2 - Evidence

 

Assessment

 

Assessments FOR Learning:

 

  • Reading literature from a variety of genres

  • Reading biographical and sociological essays to connect to the literature

  • TED Talks connected to Global Citizenship

  • Written journal reflections

  • Class blog responses & discussions

  • Class seminars

  • Skype with a class from India

  • Films & documentaries

 

Evaluation Criteria (Learning target or Student Will Be Able To)

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1.     Understanding Global Citizenship

2.     Understanding self through “Narrative,” Institutional, Discourse, and Affinity

3.     Understanding the elements and craft of fiction

4.     Investigating the world

5.     Recognizing perspectives

6.     Comprehension & analysis of literary texts

7.     Writing coherently about literature and informational texts

8.     Collaborative listening skills

9.     Using technology to connect with others in the world

 

Assessments OF Learning:

 

  • Literary Analysis Essays

  • Research Essays

  • Original artwork

  • Written and performance poetry

  • Multi-genre research paper

 

1.     Writing literary analysis at an expert level

2.     Researching information using credible, reliable, unbiased sources

3.     Communicating with the local and global community

4.     Retaining information from the unit overall

5.     Using the skills of a poet and artist to convey meaning

6.     Using genre to make meaning

 

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Stage 3 - Learning Plan

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I.  Introduction:

 

Lesson 1

  • Class Discussion and PowerPoint:  We begin with the question: Why study fiction? Students will study a series of famous paintings by well-known authors, studying the pieces “like a book.”

  • Journal:  How do we take the same approach to literature?  Our own lives? Our lives in a glocal sense?

  • Homework:  Journal - What is your favorite reading experience? Students will share these responses tomorrow.  

 

Lesson 2

  • Class discussion of journal responses.

  • Youtube clips from Asia Society.  Handout on Global Citizenship.

  • ThinkLink Activity: “Where” we will exploring this semester?

  • Homework:  Discuss the connections from self to fiction to global impact.

 

Lesson 3

  • Read Margaret Atwood’s “Happy Endings,” together.  

  • Journal response:  What do you look for in a happy ending?

  • Homework:  Revisit “Only Goodness” by Jhumpa Lahiri.  Read “Plot” and “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin.  Compose a blog response.

 

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II. Telling a Story

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Lesson 4

  • Class discussion:  Examine the plot structure of James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” and “Only Goodness.”  Both stories deal with addiction. Question: How can one achieve the American Dream if you are not protected under white supremacy?

  • Global Citizenship:  Students will study Dr. Gaudelli’s examination of self through the following: “Narrative,” Institutional, Discourse, and Affinity.  

  • Homework: Students will explore themselves through the aforementioned lens and share in a blog discussion and class seminar.  The instructor should engage in all activities with the students.

 

Lesson 5

  • Share responses in small and large group discussions.

  • View Part I of the documentary 13th students will see the historical context of “Sonny’s Blues.”  Students should take notes.

  • Homework:  Read James Baldwin’s short story, “Going to Meet the Man.” and compose a blog response.

 

Lesson 6

  • Discuss “Going to Meet the Man” in small groups.

  • View Part II of the documentary 13th Students will see the historical context of “Sonny’s Blues.”  Students should take notes.

  • Homework:  Blog response to 13th.

 

Lesson 7

  • Discuss the blog responses and reactions to 13th.

  • View Part I of the documentary I Am Not Your Negro. Take notes during the film.

  • Homework:  Read an essay by Te-Nehisi Coates’s, “The First White President.”  Comment on the blog.

 

Lesson 8

  • Discuss Coates's essay.  

  • Journal:  How are Coates and Baldwin alike?  Could they be seen as global citizens?  How do people respond to them?

  • View Part II of documentary I Am Not Your Negro.

  • Homework:  Using direct evidence from the documentaries and readings how would Coates and Baldwin define themselves according to the following:  Narrative, Institutional, Discourse, and Affinity?

 

Lesson 9

  • Class discussion of the blog responses.  

  • Journal Question:  Given that these men are from different time periods, what kind of progress do we see with regard to racial prejudice?

  • Follow with small group discussion.

  • Homework:  Using the journal responses and insights from small group discussion, give a formal response using direct evidence on the class blog.

 

Lessons 10-12

  • Introduce Research Writing Assignment:  Please choose one of the A.P. prompts and compose an essay using the following texts by James Baldwin:  “Going to Meet the Man,” “Sonny’s Blues,” and I Am Not Your Negro. You will be using the two pieces of literature to compare and contrast the distinctive voice of black and white America (“Sonny’s is from the black perspective while “Going” is seen through the eyes of a white man).  Analyze how Baldwin uses the elements of literature to make a point about race relations. Important: Always focus on how Baldwin makes the text work. For example, it is not “Jesse said…” it is that “Baldwin created Jesse to show his audience…” Also, use the documentary as a means of discussing these concepts in a non-fictional sense.  What does Baldwin believe to be true? How does he see the world? How did he project these ideas through the eyes of Sonny? His brother? Jesse? The crowd? Show the balance using the various texts.Next, what is the impact today? Use Coates’s article “The First White President.” Finally, how does the idea of global citizenship apply to Coates and Baldwin?  

  • Students may work on computers in class.  They can share ideas.

 

Lesson 13

  • Class seminar:  Share results from research essays.


 

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III. Who is Telling the Story?

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Lesson 14

  • Class Discussion:  Who is Telling the Story?  We will begin with the literary element of “narration and point-of view.”  

  • We will read and discuss the two page analysis in the Norton Anthology.  

  • Homework:  Students will revisit Lahiri’s short story “Unaccustomed Earth” which utilizes a subtle dual narrative, and read Shira Nayman’s “The House on Kronenstrasse,” a modern short story exploring the Nazi Holocaust through a dual narrative from two time periods. Students will compose a blog response.

 

Lesson 15

  • Class discussion of blog response

  • View Taiye Selasi’s TED Talk, “Don’t ask me where I’m from, ask me where I’m local.”

  • Homework:  Journal response:  Where are you local?  Be as detailed as you can.

 

Lesson 16

  • Small groups:  Discuss journal responses.

  • Connecting with every student in class, go up to a classmate and ask “Where are you local?”

  • Class discussion:  Did anything surprise you?  Do you find yourself more connected with anyone?  How?

  • Homework:  Read Question 2 essay prompt for 2006 AP College Board  from Dalton Trumbo’s Johnny Got His Gun. Set aside one hour and compose an essay.  Students will submit essays through Turnitin.com and have the opportunity to revise essays.

 

Lesson 17

  • Student will examine 10 real essay examples from the A.P. College Board. As we read each work, students will individually grade the works.  We will calibrate as a class.

  • Homework:  Students may revise and resubmit on Turnitin.com


 

IV. Who am I?

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Lesson 18

  • Class discussion: Who am I?  We will begin with the literary element of “characterization.”  

  • Students will read and discuss the two page analysis in the Norton Anthology.  

  • TED talk:  “The Politics of Fiction” by Elif Shafak

  • Journal response.  According to Shafak how can fiction be used to promote change? How does characterization connect with our definition of self?

  • Share responses in a class discussion.

  • Homework:  Read Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Gogol” from The New Yorker.  The story examines Gogol’s development of self through his relationship with his parents, his family’s origins in Calcutta, and his “strange” name.  Compose a blog response.

 

Lesson 19

  • Begin viewing the film The Namesake, based on Lahiri’s novel.  “Gogol” is the story that she eventually expanded into her novel The Namesake, so students can see how she broadened her search of self through this character. Students should take notes.

  • Homework:  Blog response compare and contrast the story with the film.

 

Lesson 20

  • After watching the first section of the film with Gogol’s parents, students will view a Charlie Rose interview with Lahiri where she explains her writing process and how she came up with the character of Gogol.

  • Read Lahiri’s Newsweek article, “My Two Lives” where she explains the parallels between herself and Gogol.

  • Homework: Read Nikolai Gogol’s “The Overcoat,” which Lahiri references throughout her story.  

 

Lesson 21

  • Discuss initial reading of “The Overcoat.”

  • Finish viewing The Namesake.  Take notes.

  • Homework:  Revisit Taiye Selasi’s TED Talk and apply her theory of self to the protagonists of both stories as well as Lahiri in blog response.

 

Lesson 22

  • Class discussion of blog responses.

  • Selasi asks students to think of self through: relationships, rituals and restrictions, culminating into a new way of defining “where you are from.”  

  • Journal:  Students will apply relationships, rituals and restrictions to themselves.

  • Homework:  Complete the journal response and share one example on the class blog.  Teachers should complete this assignment, as well.

 

Lessons 24-26

  • Essay:  Using the idea of relationships, rituals, and restrictions compare and contrast Gogol with its author Jhumpa Lahiri; Nikolai Gogol with Akaky Akakievich of “The Overcoat;” and James Baldwin and one of his protagonists and short stories.

 

Lesson 27

  • Class seminar sharing results


 

 

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V. Where or When are We?

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Lesson 23

  • Class discussion: Where or When are We?  We will begin with the literary element of “setting.”  

  • We will read and discuss the two page analysis in the Norton Anthology.  

  • We will bridge into this section by studying the essential questions shared through Paul Gauguin’s painting, “Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?”  View it on Epson projector.

  • Students will compose a journal where they attempt to answer those three questions for themselves.  Students and the instructor will share their responses in a class seminar.

  • Homework:  Blog response examining the literary device of “Setting” by analyzing the author’s use of setting in the previous stories we have read thus far.

 

Lesson 24

  • Discussion of blog.

  • TED Talk:  “How Books Can Open Your MInd” by Lisa Bu.

  • Introduction to scientific philosophy with Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman.  The novella is broken up into a series of vignettes where a fictional Einstein imagines different ways of viewing time, and students will read and engage with the various ways of “When are we?”

  • Homework:  Read Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman, Part I and respond on the blog.

 

Lesson 25

  • Small group discussions about which version of “time” they can most relate to and why.

  • Introduction to Henrik Ibsen and the use of drama as a vehicle for political change.

  • In class, begin reading A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen.

  • Homework:  Read Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman, Part II and respond on the blog.

 

Lesson 26

  • Small group discussions about which version of “time” from section II they can most relate to and why.

  • Continue reading and performing scenes from Act I of A Doll House.

  • Homework:  Read Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman, Part III and respond on the blog.

 

Lesson 27

  • Small group discussions about which version of “time” from section III they can most relate to and why.

  • Read, perform, discuss scenes from Act II of A Doll House.

  • Homework:  Compare and contrast a British version and an Indian production posted on the blog.

 

Lesson 28

  • Class discussion of films.

  • Journal:  Apply an element of time to Nora, Torvald, Krogstad, Mrs. Linde, and Dr. Rank.

  • Homework:  Choose one character and an element of time from your journal responses and post a refined post for one character on the blog.  

 

Lesson 29

  • Small group discussion of blog & journal responses.

  • View film adaptations of Act II.

  • Homework:  Read Act III of A Doll House (Krogstad and Mrs. Linde only) and respond on the blog.

 

Lesson 30

  • Brief class discussion of Act III.

  • Finish reading a performing Act III as a class.

  • Homework:  Reactions to the ending of A Doll House on the blog.  

 

Lesson 31

  • Small group and class discussion

  • View two versions of the ending.

  • View and discuss the ending imposed on Ibsen in Norway.  

  • Homework:  Finish reading Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman.

 

Lesson 32

  • Discussion of Einstein’s Dreams.

  • Small Group Presentations:  Apply the following to the characters of A Doll House “Narrative,” Institutional, Discourse, and Affinity.  Also, apply a applicable concept of time to your assigned character.

 

Lesson 33

  • Return to small groups.

  • Article:  Public reactions to A Doll House.

  • YouTube clip:  Reactions to A Doll House throughout the world.

  • Introduction to Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen.

  • Read and view Act I of Ghosts.

  • Homework:  Blog response.

 

Lesson 34

  • Return to small groups.

  • Read and view Act I of Ghosts.

  • Homework:  How does Lightman’s view of time connect with Ghosts?  How do we continue to carry on the patterns of behavior from the previous generation?  How do we try to avoid or make things better, and continue to fall into the same traps?

 

Lessons 35-36

  • Small group and class discussion on blog.

  • View Acts II & III of Ghosts.

  • Homework:  Blog response:  How is Ghosts a public statement to the reactions of A Doll House?

 

Lesson 37

  • Class discussion.

  • Now add a character of Ghosts to your presentation: Apply the following to the characters of Ghosts “Narrative,” Institutional, Discourse, and Affinity.  Also, apply a applicable concept of time to your assigned character.

  • Research essay:  Research productions of Ibsen.

 

Lesson 38

  • Present “Narrative,” Institutional, Discourse, and Affinity of Ibsen’s characters.

 

Lessons 39-40

  • Work on essays.

 

Lesson 41

  • Class seminar sharing results.

 

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VI. What Do Others Think?

 

 

Lesson 42

  • Class discussion: What do others think?  We will begin with the literary element of “symbolism.”  

  • Students will read and discuss the two page analysis in the Norton Anthology.  

  • How are Ibsen's plays symbolic?  How does he use Ghosts and A Doll House as symbolism?  The burning of the orphanage?  Pastor Manders as a member of the church?  Oswald as an artist?  How do we define the “artist?”

  • Homework:  Read Franz Kafka’s “A Hunger Artist” and compose a blog focusing on symbolism.

 

Lesson 43

  • Small group and class discussion

  • TED Talk:  Journey through the mind of an artist by Dustin Yellin.

  • Homework:  Read Nick Hornby’s “Nipple Jesus” and compose a blog using elements of the TED Talk and the short story.

 

Lesson 44

  • Class discussion.

  • Journal:  How do I define art?  Use the work of Kafka and Hornby as a guide.  Please cite actual pieces that you consider art.

  • Homework:  Finish the above and compose a formal blog response from your work.

 

Lesson 45

  • Class seminar:  What is art?

  • Choose a piece of artwork that speaks to you.  Research from different countries and contexts:  Two critics that have a positive view of the piece and two that have a negative view.  Compose an essay where you give your idea of the artwork using the materials you gathered and the concepts we have gleamed from Hornby and Kafka.

 

Lessons 46-48

  • Work on essays

 

Lessons 50-60

  • Introduction to Shakespeare

  • Hamlet

  • Connect with a class in India through Shared Studios.  

  • Include films from productions of Hamlet around the world.  

  • Include conceptions and themes from Hamlet students eee in their society and share with the class from India.

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VII. What Issues Concern You?

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Lesson 61

  • Class discussion:  What Issues concern you?  At this point in the curriculum, students will be nearing the end of their senior year.  What better time than to discuss this essential question.

  • Student will begin with a journal reflection using the literature they have read this year and in the past.  What issues concern you? Which works of literature best communicates these ideas? If you could choose one issue affecting the world today, what would it be and why?  What obstacles are in the way for you and humanity in remedying your issue of choice?

  • Homework:  Complete the above journal reflection and share a formal response on the class blog.

 

Lesson 62

  • Students will share these ideas in a class seminar.  The last question will get students thinking about “taking action” which will be the centerpiece of the final assignment.

  • Introduction to Jane Austen.

  • Next, students will read Jane Austen’s Persuasion, about Anne Elliot who found herself persuaded to reject an offer of marriage by Captain Wentworth years ago.  It is a novel about second chances: why do we make decisions for others instead of ourselves? Students will engage in blog responses and class seminars.

 

Lessons 63-66

  • Reading Persuasion and responding on the blog.

 

Lessons 67-71

  • Begin research for Jane Austen.  Part of the assignment is seeing how Austen is viewed from at least two other cultures around the world:

    • Marriage:  Compare how nineteenth-century society viewed marriage with how marriage is viewed today. What might account for the differences?  How have society’s views of marriage and divorce changed since your grandparents were young? Research two cultures from around the world and compare it in the context of Austen’s work (avoid generalizations, please).

    • Cultural:  Why do you think Jane Austen’s novels continue to be read almost 200 years after they were written?  Have you seen any of the movies or TV miniseries made in the 1990s that are based on Austen’s novels? Research two cultures from around the world and compare it in the context of Austen’s work (avoid generalizations, please).

    • Socioeconomic:  After completing the novel, have the students investigate social/cultural institutions and attitudes. Look back in the novel to identify passages in which Austen addresses the English class system. What is Austen’s attitude toward the English class system? Look at the Bennets’ parenting styles and the family life in the Bennet household. What do these descriptions suggest about Austen’s attitudes about family life? Research two cultures from around the world and compare it in the context of Austen’s work (avoid generalizations, please).

    • Women’s Rights:  Jane Austen: Social Critic? In a scene earlier in the novel, Elizabeth implores Mr. Collins to treat her as “a rational creature speaking the truth from her heart.” Her statement seems to echo Mary Wollstonecraft, an author whose writings marked the beginning of the women’s rights movement. The well-read Austen would have been familiar with Wollstonecraft’s landmark work, Vindication of the Rights of Woman, published in 1792. This popular book challenged the prevailing idea that a woman’s purpose in life was to please men. Wollstonecraft claimed that, as mental equals, women should have the same opportunities in education, work, and politics as men. None of Austen’s female characters “rocks the boat” the way Wollstonecraft did. Elizabeth Bennet, however, like other Austen heroines, is an intelligent woman of depth and substance. As you finish reading the novel, think about Elizabeth in relation to her society. Does she seem to accept society’s limits on her as a woman? How do you think Austen views the restrictions on her heroine? Do you think her purpose in writing the novel was merely to entertain, or did her work contain a deeper message of social criticism?  Research two cultures from around the world and compare it in the context of Austen’s work (avoid generalizations, please).

    • Fandom:  Jane Austen has had a fan club for over 100 years. In the late 1800s, the first publication of an Austen biography and collected edition of her novels led to a boom of interest in Jane Austen. Many of these early admirers were interested in her characters and in Austen herself. Austen acquired more scholarly admirers in the twentieth century, when many critics highlighted her mastery of language, plot, and irony. Today, a Jane Austen Society exists in both Great Britain and North America. Austen’s modern-day fans appreciate her novels as literature, but they are also fascinated by the era that shaped Jane Austen’s life and writings. The Jane Austen Society of North America was founded in 1979. Its members’ interests range from publishing scholarly papers on Austen’s works to recreating dinner parties and balls like those attended by her characters.  Research the fan bases around the world. What is it that unifies us? Research two cultures from around the world and compare it in the context of Austen’s work (avoid generalizations, please).

  • Essays will be sent to Turnitin.com

 

Lesson 72

  • Class seminar sharing results from Jane Austen research

 

Lesson 73

  • Class Discussion:  Students will explore Existentialism and read Albert Camus’s The Stranger. When these characters do act, it ends in catastrophe.  Bringing the conversation back to beginning, we will examine the “endings” of these works.  What did these characters want? How did it turn out? Why don’t they act? Bringing it back to Hamlet, what is the result of inaction?

 

Lessons 74-76

  • Reading The Stranger, responding on the blog and in class discussions.

 

Lessons 77-80

  • Introduction:  Students will engage in the final portion of the poetry examination through Spoken Word and SLAM poetry, a new tradition that is rich in political activism.

  • The first of two final projects, students will compose their own poems using the issue of greatest importance, a poet they respect as a model for form.  They will perform these poems at El Taller in Lawrence, MA alongside students from Lawrence High School.

 

Lessons 81-84

  • Create TED Talks. Students will choose an essential question from this year pertaining to an issue important to them, using literature from the course, and experiences from past units from around the world they will convey their ideas through multiple genres.  They will film TED Talks and post them on social media.

 

Lesson 85

  • Class seminar to discuss results.

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