English 11 B Self-Paced

This course will concentrate on three areas of study: literature, language, and writing.

Our study of literature will concentrate on American Literature from the Modern to the Contemporary periods and will include short stories, poetry, nonfiction, the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, and the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller.

Students will develop their writing skills through short responses and a formal literary essay.

The course is united by several Essential Questions, chief among them: How does American writing and literature show American values and themes? and How does literature reflect the historical, social, and cultural period of its creation? Students will return to these questions throughout the course, analyzing literature from each literary period to discover American values and to connect the literature to its historical time period.

About the Self-Paced Course Model

Self-Paced courses are designed for students who need flexibility in their academic schedule. Teachers answer questions and interact with students in Private Topics, provide feedback on work, and host weekly office hours. Students work independently on course activities; the course does not include class discussion assignments or other collaborative work.

This course has start dates on each Wednesday throughout the year. Students must maintain enrollment for a minimum of 4 weeks and have up to 16 weeks to complete all assignments in the course. It is expected that students will work for approximately 90 hours to complete this course, though the amount of time may vary depending on a student’s work habits and comfort with the material.

Acknowledgements

Required Texts: This course requires students to obtain copies of certain texts. Details provided in the Additional Requirements field of this course description.
Successful completion of English 11 A.
I acknowledge that this is a self-paced course.
This course contains an end-of-course proctored exam. Instructions for students to identify an appropriate adult proctor are included in the course lessons.

Course Objectives

Course Essential Questions:

How does American writing and literature show American values and themes?
How does literature reflect the historical, social, and cultural period of its creation?

Course Objectives:

Find and use sources to understand time periods in American history and analyze how texts from that period connect to the time period in which they were created.
Determine themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development and meaning.
Evaluate writer's craft.
Select, cite, and use strong and thorough textual evidence to support claims.
Use the writing process, in a variety of genres, to develop and refine their ideas.
Use standard English conventions in their written output.

Additional Requirements

Students will need to obtain copies of the following texts which are available at many schools or local libraries or for purchase online for a small fee.

John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men needed in Unit 1
Arthur Miller's The Crucible needed in Unit 3