In this unit, students will think about the theme and essential question as they focus on the literary periods of
modernist and postmodernist literature, analyzing excerpts from Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart. They
will also study the genre of fiction while reading stories such as “The Refusal” by Franz Kafka and “She Unnames
Them” by Ursula K. Le Guin. Selections such as Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and Patrick
Henry’s “Speech to the Second Virginia Convention” allow students to read across genres and experience seminal
argumentative texts that deeply influenced the course of American history.
Students will begin this unit as readers and will finish as writers, as they apply what they have learned about the
elements of fiction and effective argumentative writing to their own literary analysis writing projects.
Why do words matter?
What effect do words have on our daily lives?
How challenging is it to find the right words?
What happens when we use inappropriate words or say the wrong thing?
Click on the lessons below to be directed to more specific instructions.
Lessons that are in bold font are Must Do Assignments, meaning that they are required. Lessons with * are Should Do Assignments, which means that you can and should try to do them. Lessons with # are Aspire To Assignments, which means they are not required, but encouraged.
Please note that you must complete the Readiness Test on StudySync prior to beginning ANY coursework listed below. Click Here to be directed to StudySync.
Additionally, the following lessons must be submitted by the due date listed, as we will be doing in class activities associated with those assignments:
Lesson 1.5 - due on September 29
Lesson 1.10 - Due October 1