American Identity Unit
English 11B
Unit goals
Major assessments
This unit is a bit unique. You will choose from a list of five novels and work through unit activities with a small group of classmates who are reading the same book as you. The books to choose from, along with their descriptions, are below.
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman: (Fiction) This book follows the journey of a girl formerly known as Ticey, who changes her name to Jane, all the way from slavery to the civil rights movement. She lives to be over 100 years old, so her journey is quite long and she experiences many generations of African Americans fighting for their rights on different levels. As you're reading through her story, you also get a more personal account of our nation's history and how the treatment of blacks in the south evolved, yet stayed the same, over many generations.
The Joy Luck Club: (Fiction) This book is written by Amy Tan, the author of the short story I read with my classes in 11A, Mother Tongue. If you recall, she mentioned this book in Mother Tongue because she wrote it with her mother in mind. The way she tells her stories is somewhat simplified so that her mother could easily read it. The story focuses on a group of Chinese women in America who meet weekly to eat, share, and play a game called mahjong together. The chapters switch perspectives between the women, and eventually we learn about their difficult pasts as well as their current struggles adapting to life in America and seeing their daughters succeed or fail in their work and personal lives. It is a story about family, culture, and perseverance.
Black Elk Speaks: (Nonfiction) This novel covers the life of Black Elk, a Native American holy man and healer. As he grows up, the white Americans are beginning to force their way west and take away his peoples' land. The story reveals some unspeakable acts made by the Americans from the perspective of the victim, which we don't get to hear often enough. At the same time, Black Elk (as a young boy) is trying to wrap his mind around the visions he is beginning to have. Some chapters detail his visions, which can take some work to understand, but the novel is incredibly rich in Native American culture and gives a first-hand account of this part of our nation's history.
Code Talkers: (NonFiction) Code Talkers combines the themes of war with Native American culture. It is about a boy named Ned Begay, a Navajo Indian, who is eventually recruited with other Navajos to create a special code for the United States marines that cannot be cracked by the Japanese. The story takes Ned through his childhood, when he and his family are mistreated by the US government and forced to take on American culture, to his life after the war, trying to adapt back to life after an incredibly taxing war.
The Scarlet Letter: (Fiction) The Scarlet Letter is a book set in America in the mid 1800s, in a community of Puritan settlers (aka, a bunch of SUPER SUPER conservative people). A young woman named Hester Prynne is being shamed because she was found pregnant while her husband was away, and she refuses to identify the father. She even has to wear a read A (for Adulterer) sewed to the front of her dress at all times so people know what she has done. The novel follows her journey as she and her baby are treated as outcasts in society and her husband obsessively seeks revenge.
To bring some variety to this unit, we will also be creating our own blogs and working on them two days per week. You will choose the topic of your blog based on your interests. Your blog posts can be narrative, persuasive, or informative!
- I can interact with a novel independently to gain understanding of plot, characters, symbols and themes.
- I can participate successfully in group discussions and activities.
- I can use narrative, persuasive, and informative writing skills to produce publish-worthy writing on a topic of interest
Major assessments
- Reading quiz
- Blog posts
This unit is a bit unique. You will choose from a list of five novels and work through unit activities with a small group of classmates who are reading the same book as you. The books to choose from, along with their descriptions, are below.
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman: (Fiction) This book follows the journey of a girl formerly known as Ticey, who changes her name to Jane, all the way from slavery to the civil rights movement. She lives to be over 100 years old, so her journey is quite long and she experiences many generations of African Americans fighting for their rights on different levels. As you're reading through her story, you also get a more personal account of our nation's history and how the treatment of blacks in the south evolved, yet stayed the same, over many generations.
The Joy Luck Club: (Fiction) This book is written by Amy Tan, the author of the short story I read with my classes in 11A, Mother Tongue. If you recall, she mentioned this book in Mother Tongue because she wrote it with her mother in mind. The way she tells her stories is somewhat simplified so that her mother could easily read it. The story focuses on a group of Chinese women in America who meet weekly to eat, share, and play a game called mahjong together. The chapters switch perspectives between the women, and eventually we learn about their difficult pasts as well as their current struggles adapting to life in America and seeing their daughters succeed or fail in their work and personal lives. It is a story about family, culture, and perseverance.
Black Elk Speaks: (Nonfiction) This novel covers the life of Black Elk, a Native American holy man and healer. As he grows up, the white Americans are beginning to force their way west and take away his peoples' land. The story reveals some unspeakable acts made by the Americans from the perspective of the victim, which we don't get to hear often enough. At the same time, Black Elk (as a young boy) is trying to wrap his mind around the visions he is beginning to have. Some chapters detail his visions, which can take some work to understand, but the novel is incredibly rich in Native American culture and gives a first-hand account of this part of our nation's history.
Code Talkers: (NonFiction) Code Talkers combines the themes of war with Native American culture. It is about a boy named Ned Begay, a Navajo Indian, who is eventually recruited with other Navajos to create a special code for the United States marines that cannot be cracked by the Japanese. The story takes Ned through his childhood, when he and his family are mistreated by the US government and forced to take on American culture, to his life after the war, trying to adapt back to life after an incredibly taxing war.
The Scarlet Letter: (Fiction) The Scarlet Letter is a book set in America in the mid 1800s, in a community of Puritan settlers (aka, a bunch of SUPER SUPER conservative people). A young woman named Hester Prynne is being shamed because she was found pregnant while her husband was away, and she refuses to identify the father. She even has to wear a read A (for Adulterer) sewed to the front of her dress at all times so people know what she has done. The novel follows her journey as she and her baby are treated as outcasts in society and her husband obsessively seeks revenge.
To bring some variety to this unit, we will also be creating our own blogs and working on them two days per week. You will choose the topic of your blog based on your interests. Your blog posts can be narrative, persuasive, or informative!