English 9 B Self-Paced

Essential Questions

• How do tensions in literature reveal universal themes?
• How does tension shape who we become?
• What tools do writers use to express their ideas? How can I use those tools to craft my own writing?

Course Learning Objectives

• Interpret and explore a variety of tensions in literature including tensions related to self, choice, defiance, and belonging.
• Independently and proficiently read and comprehend both fiction and nonfiction texts from a variety of genres, cultures, and perspectives.
• Analyze theme, character motivation, plot development, structure, and figurative language in a variety of texts.
• Support claims with strong textual evidence.
• Write well-organized and appropriately supported responses in a variety of genres, including narratives, informative texts, and arguments.
• Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage.

Unit 1: Romeo & Juliet and Creative Writing (Topics 1-7)

In the third unit of the class, students will read Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and develop their reading skills with close reading practice. The theme that will guide the unit is defiance, and students will consider how Romeo and Juliet’s choice to defy their parents changes their lives. Students will respond to the text in a variety of ways, but with a focus on creative responses.

Overlapping with their reading of the play, students will work on a piece of creative short fiction, using the theme of defiance as a jumping-off point. Students will develop the plot, characters, and setting for their story, and will focus on using descriptive language and dialogue to show, rather than tell, in their writing.

Unit 2: Choice Novel and Analytical Essay (Topics 8-12)

In the final unit of the class, students will choose from a list of three novels, all exploring the theme of belonging:

• Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson
• The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
• The Length of a String by Elissa Brent Weismann

Students will practice actively reading their choice novel, recording important literary elements and quotations to support them in crafting an argumentative analytical essay. They will be guided through the writing process, this time with a focus on developing a thesis and supporting that thesis with textual evidence. Students will also continue with their study of grammar, focusing on sentence elements and specific concepts of usage like subject-verb agreement.

The final project is a summative theme collage where students respond to one of the course’s themes with evidence and examples from throughout the course. The students will finish the course with a final exam.