Syllabus: Thematic Units for Study
1. The Hero's Journey: Planned Texts for DBQs
Assigned Texts Excerpts from Mythology (Atalanta)
○ Background Essay: Mythology: Does Atalanta Follow the Hero’s Journey?
○ Doc A: The Hero’s Journey
○ Doc B: Atalanta and the She Bear
○ Doc C: The Calydonian Boar Hunt
○ Doc D: The Race
Additional Texts as time allows:
● Short Story: “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh”by Ray Bradbury 328 (990L)
● Myth: “Pandora’s Box” retold by Louis Untermeyer 474 (1080L)
● Religious Text: “The Story of David and Goliath” (970L)*
● Poem: “Paul Revere’s Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 136 & History Article: “The Other Riders” by PBS Online Staff 145 (1260L)
● Biography: from Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad by Ann Petry 268 (1010L)
● Informational Text: “Healing ‘Brick City’: A Newark Doctor Returns Home” by NPR Staff*
Essential Questions:
- How do I determine if I am using the strongest pieces of evidence from the text to support analysis of the text?
- How do I use logical reasoning and textual evidence to make inferences about what a text states?
- How do I use the details in a text to determine the theme/central ideas of a text?
- How do I use the relationships between characters/people, settings/location, and plot/events over the course of a text to determine how the theme/multiple central ideas are developed?
- How do I determine the impact that lines or dialogue have on a text?
- How do I use dialogue and events in a story to analyse characters?
2. Influences on Identity
Assigned Texts:
● Memoir: “My First Free Summer” by Julia Alvarez 116 (820L)
● Anecdote: “Gil’s Furniture Bought and Sold” by Sandra Cisneros 468 (990L)
● Short Story: “New York Day Women” by Edwidge Danticat 696 (920L)
● Poem: “My Mother Pieced Quilts” by Teresa Paloma Acosta 502
● Magazine Article: “The Story of an Eyewitness” by Jack London 410 (950L)
Additional Texts as time allows:
● Short Story: “The Treasure of Lemon Brown” by Walter Dean Myers 176 (850L)
● Short Story: “Home” by Gwendolyn Brooks (810L)*
● Poem: “Not My Bones” by Marilyn Nelson 648 and “Identity” by Julio Noboa 621
● Poem: “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar “Jabari Unmasked” by Nikki Grimes*
● Memoir: “The Great Rat Hunt” by Laurence Yep 122 (650L) & “Going Where I’m Coming From” by Naomi Shihab Nye 394 (890L)
● Essay: “Us and Them” by David Sedaris 740 (1100L)
Essential Questions:
How do I analyze the development of the theme/central idea in relation to key details over the course of the text?
What is the relationship between the theme/central ideas and development of key concepts and events, characters, plot,
and setting of a text?
What does a particular event, dialogue, scene, detail reveal about the character or meaning of the text?
How do authors use relationships between and among events, details, and ideas in a text to create meaning?
How do the different structures contribute to the meaning and style of each text?
How do I use appropriate transition words to help the reader understand the sequence of the narrative?
How are the events and experiences throughout my narrative related to each other?