What are you teaching the second nine weeks of American literature?
School is in swing. We built communities. Routines and procedures? Established.
Now comes an important part of the school year—keeping momentum.
If you are teaching American literature chronologically, you might use my plans. Even if you teacher American literature thematically, you’ll be able to pull ideas for whatever works of literature you use.
What do you teach during the second nine weeks of American Literature?
The first part of the school year establishes early American stories with high school students. Now that we’ve covered Anne Bradstreet, the Declaration of Independence, and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, it is time to finish the first semester with more modern subject matter.
Unit Four: What can modern Americans learn?
This unit introduces some 19th and 20th century stories as well as literary analysis. At the end of the readings, we write a literary analysis essay concerning our American writers and the history of the United States.
First, we begin with an overview of literary analysis and close reading.
Our three stories for literary analysis are:
- “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” by Mark Twain (1865).
- “Land” by Sinclair Lewis (1931).
- “The Use of Force” by William Carlos Williams (1938).
The most simple of topics work for these literary analysis essays. Often, students and I work through each story together. Then, each student picks a short story which then has bonus informational texts to inspire analysis. (A favorite of students who read “The Use of Force” is this medical piece from the Smithsonian.
Unit Five: Whose Dream?
Many teachers break up larger texts, but putting two famous stories together has allowed for rich discussions and beautiful writing assignments. Therefore, unit five contains both The Great Gatsby and A Raisin in the Sun.
First, the American dream is ubiquitous with American literature classes, and many language arts or history standards require a discussion of the concept. Second, a critical reading of two different families striving for the American dream is the perfect start to a research paper about American culture.
As we work through these different stories, students raise critical questions and ask whom the American dream belongs to.
The Great Gatsby
I won’t write much about The Great Gatsby here because I have an entire post devoted to Fitzgerald’s novel.
Teaching Gatsby takes me four to five weeks, and you can grab my pacing guide (free, editable) to see more details.
A Raisin in the Sun
Hansberry’s play works so well with high school readers. They understand the plot, they are interested in the time period, and they have strong opinions about the characters. Plus, A Raisin in the Sun is an American classic.
Again, I won’t write much here because you’ll find my guide helpful! You can download my pacing guide (free, editable) for A Raisin in the Sun.
Informational texts.
Nonfiction is an important part of any high school English course. Depending upon your ordering of time periods (Transcendentalism, the romantic period), you might add texts like letters from the Civil War, Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience,” or W. E. B. Du Bois’ essays.
It’s easy to fit informational texts into literature. Consider texts about redlining, class systems, and medical advancements. Use resources like Facing History, Common Lit, and News ELA to beef up interest in literature.
College entrance exams.
My American literature class is for juniors, so we review for college entrance exams like the ACT and SAT. Our bell ringers cover common concepts on the English portion. We work through these on Tuesday and Thursday of each week.
As we shift into the 1900s, we begin studying a poem Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We work through the Harlem Renaissance which neatly ties The Great Gatsby and A Raisin in the Sun together.
Balancing a year-long course takes patience, reflection, and tweaking. After you have worked through a class a few times, you’ll sub material in and out, so I’m thankful you read my post for inspiration!
Do you need the first nine weeks of American literature?
