Topic outline

  • Course Information

    English 12 Q3

    “To be or not to be?” Is it the “best of times” or the “worst of times”? Explore these famous questions and more in English 12. This course focuses on British literature in all of its genres: drama, poetry, the novel, short story, and nonfiction literary and informational texts. Students will also apply timeless conversations to our modern world through scholarly research and writing about current issues. Critical reading, analysis, writing, and speaking will cover the core curriculum requirements. In addition to mastering the standard core, our students will employ the latest technological tools to communicate and collaborate, and create professional, creative projects. Emphasis will be placed on skills that will be critical to a successful transition to college and beyond.


    Creative Commons License
    English 12 course materials created by the Open High School of Utah are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. This course contains open educational resources produced by other organizations which may use a different open license. Please confirm the license status of these third-party resources before reusing them. See OpenCourseWare for additional information about licensing.

    • English 12 Q3 Moodle Course File

  • Week 1

    • Theme, Motif, Symbol, and a Historical Look at the Guillotine


      "The Grindstone" (Book2, Chapter 2) by Fred Barnard. 1870s. 10.5 x 13.6 cm (framed). In what in a Phiz-illustrated book would be termed a "dark plate" Fred Barnard realises the moment at which Jarvis Lorry and Alexandre Manette look out upon the courtyard of the mansion that Tellson's has acquired in Paris. What they see through the partially opened blind is the shocking spectacle of a crazed mob preparing to sharpen their weapons on a large grindstone in "The Grindstone" in Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities, Book 3, chap. ii, originally in the November 1859 monthly number. Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.http://www.victorianweb.org/art/illustration/barnard/ttc/18.html

    • Introduction

    • Quarter 2 Evaluation

    • New Reading Log

    • ASSIGNMENT: New Reading Log Page

    • Theme, Motif, and Symbols

    • WATCH: Theme, Motif, Symbol URL
    • EVALUATE: Theme, Motif, Symbol Presentation Page

    • Informational Text: "The Heirs of Madame Guillotine"

    • READ: "The Heirs of Madame Guillotine" Page

    • Demonstrate Your Understanding: Book 3 Chapters 1-5

  • Week 2

    • Introduction to Creative Project, the Persuasive Speech of Jerry Cruncher, and Deus Ex Machina

      http://www.holmessoft.co.uk/homepage/ToTC.htm
      Depiction of Jerry Cruncher and his Son, Young Jerry

    • Introduction

    • Check Your Understanding: Book 3 Chapters 6-10

    • Introduction to Creative Project

    • READ: Intro to Creative Project Page

    • Journal and Discussion

    • Deus Ex Machina

    • WATCH: Deus Ex Machina Page

    • Demonstrate Your Understanding: Quiz Book 3 Chapters 6-10

  • Week 3

    • Dramatic Structure, Conclusion, and Reflection on the Novel



    • The Knock at the Door by Phiz (Halbot K. Browne). Illustration to Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities. Book III, Chapter 7. All the Year Round (November 1859); published 3 October; issued in weekly numbers 8 October.http://www.victorianweb.org/art/illustration/phiz/6b.html

    • Introduction

    • Meet your Group and Discuss Creative Project

    • Check Your Understanding: Book 3, Chapters 11-15

    • Dramatic Structure/Plot Structure

    • READ: Dramatic Structure Page
    • WATCH: Plot Structure File

    • Wrap up the Novel!

    • WATCH: Final Scenes Page
    • Questionnaire: A Tale of Two Cities Page

    • Quiz and Reading Log

  • Week 4

    • Creative Projects and Group Evaluation


    • Introduction

    • Creative Project

    • VIEW and STUDY: Creative Project Evaluation Form URL
    • WATCH: Creative Project Forum Page

    • Book 3 Test

  • Week 5

    • The Effects of War in the Modern Era



      German Soldiers in the Trenches on the Eastern Front (WWI 1916)
      http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/nael/20century/topic_1_05/illustrations.htm

    • Introduction

    • Sharing and Celebrating Creative Projects

    • Introduction to War and the "Modern" Era

    • WATCH: World War 1 Page
    • READ: Introduction to the Modern World URL
    • READ: Representing the War: Overview URL
    • VIEW: WWI Photo Essay URL

    • Poetry Analysis and Comparison

    • LISTEN: Audio Reading "Dolce et Decorum Est" Page
    • READ: "Dolce et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen URL
    • WATCH: WWI Poetry Comparision Page
    • VOTE: Which Poet Was A Soldier? Page

    • Quiz Assignment: One-Hour Essay

    • WATCH: WWI Intro and Poetry Analysis Page
    • WATCH: Analysis and Comparison of Two War Poems Page
    • READ: Introduction to Causal Analysis Project Page
    • 19. COMPLETE: Causal Analysis Worksheet Page
    • RESOURCE: How to Write a Compare/Contrast Essay URL
    • READ: "The Rear Guard" by Siegfried Sassoon URL

  • Week 6

    • An "Immense Panorama of Futility and Anarchy": More Literature of the Modern Era



      City Square (La Place) (1948) by Alberto Giacometti

      This is the way the world ends
      This is the way the world ends
      This is the way the world ends
      Not with a bang but a whimper.
      -T.S. Eliot

    • Introduction

    • Literature of the "Modern" World and "The Second Coming"

    • WATCH: Literature of the Modern World URL
    • WATCH: Discussion of "The Second Coming" Page
    • READ: "The Second Coming" by W.B. Yeats URL

    • "Araby" by James Joyce

    • READ: "Araby" by James Joyce URL
    • READ: Analysis of "Araby" URL

    • "The Hollow Men" by T.S. Eliot

    • WATCH: Intro to T.S. Eliot and "The Hollow Men" Page
    • READ: "The Hollow Men" by T.S. Eliot URL

    • A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

    • WATCH: Virginia Woolf Page
    • READ: "A Room of One's Own" by Virginia Woolf URL
    • READ: Life During the Renaissance URL

    • Demonstrate your Understanding: Quiz

  • Week 7

    • Colonialism and Conflict: George Orwell




      A map of the British Territories (in red) from 1897


    • Introduction

    • Point of View

    • George Orwell and "Shooting an Elephant"

    • WATCH: Intro to George Orwell Page
    • READ: George Orwell: Childhood and Burma URL
    • READ: "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell URL

    • George Orwell and "Politics and the English Language"

    • READ: "Politics and the English Language" URL

    • Point of View Writing Assignment

    • Demonstrate your Understanding: Week 7 Quiz

  • Week 8

    • Postcolonial Literature and Causal Analysis Project


      http://www.informafrica.com/books-africa/things-fall-apart-chinua-achebe/

      The cover of arguably the most famous piece of postcolonial literature--Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Does the title sound familiar? Where did he get this title?

    • Introduction

    • Introduction to Postcolonial Literature

    • WATCH: Postcolonial Literature Page
    • READ: "Decolonising the Mind" by Ngugi wa Thiong'o URL
    • READ: Postocolonialism: Problems with the Term URL

    • Postcolonial Literature Project

  • Week 9

    • Causal Analysis Steps 4-5

    • Causal Analysis Step 6: Peer Editing

    • EVALUATE: Peer Editing Experience Page

    • Submit Final Draft of Causal Analysis Project