The American Gothic

Essential Questions:

• What elements of Gothic Literature engage us?
• How does an author effectively use literary devices to achieve a desired affect?

Student Outcomes:

• I can read and annotate complex texts.
• I can identify and interpret strong textual evidence.
• I can analyze the qualities of Gothic literature and the development of theme over the course of a text.
• I can identify literary devices and their meaning.
• I can gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.

Standards:

• 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.
• RL.11-12.2 - Determine two or more 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 provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
• RL.11-12.3 - Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.
• 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.
• 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).
• 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.
• W.11-12.1 - Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
• W.11-12.4 - Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
• W.11-12.5 - Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.
• W.11-12.6 - Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information.
• W.11-12.9 - Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
  • a. Apply grades 11-12 Reading standards to literature (e.g., "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").
• W.11-12.10 - Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Core Texts:

• "The Story of an Hour" - Kate Chopin
• "The Minister's Black Veil" - Nathaniel Hawthorne
• "A Rose for Emily" - William Faulkner
• "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" - Ambrose Bierce
• "The Cask of Amontillado" - Edgar Allan Poe

Assessments:

• Reading Comprehension Quizzes
• Literary Analysis Project/Essay