Grade 11 English

ENG3U1 – ENGLISH, GRADE 11, UNIVERSITY PREPARATION

Note: This is a chronological overview of the course. 
Individual handouts and assignments will be distributed in class and via the Google Classroom.



UNITS OF STUDY


History of the English Language

“The History of English in Ten Minutes” (Video)




1. Foundations of Culture

This unit will make an exploration of some of the foundational texts in the history of English/European literature, and their continuing effect on modern day culture. Specifically, it is through an examination of these texts that students will come to understand the largely white, hetero, English/Western, male power structures upon which modern English speaking cultures have been built, and how these foundational texts still have power today. It will also include an introduction to Critical Theory (Feminist/Gender), and the notion of reading texts through various lenses. 

Texts: Beowulf, and Selections from Canterbury Tales.

Beowulf - Introduction
Text in old English and modern English, characters, history and other links

Beowulf - Tales
Grendel, Grendel's Mother, and The Fire Dragon

Beowulf - Themes, Symbols, Analysis

Beowulf - Audiobook in modern English - mp3

Beowulf - Animated Epics (1998 TV Movie)



*Geoffery Chaucer: The Founder of Our Language (video)

Audio recordings of the Canterbury Tales
http://librivox.org/the-canterbury-tales-by-geoffrey-chaucer/


Glossary of Poetic Devices

Glossary of Literary Terms



*Critical Theory - Gender/Feminist Criticism

”We should all be feminists” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (TED Talk) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6ufvYWTqQ0

“Bring on the Female Superheroes” (TED Talk)
https://www.ted.com/talks/christopher_bell_bring_on_the_female_superheroes





2. Culture Reinforced

Through a study of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, this unit will explore how dominant and non-dominant cultures and ideas are presented in literature, and how cultural norms are created and reinforced. Student understanding of Critical Theories is also expanded, including the Feminist (gender) Freudian, Marxist (Social Class), and Post-Colonial (Race) approaches.

Text: Macbeth

Macbeth by William Shakespeare (eBook)

Macbeth (Audiobook - mp3)


Macbeth - Characteristics of a Shakespearean Tragic Hero

Macbeth - Themes, Symbols, Analysis

Macbeth Navigator - Themes, Motifs, etc.
This site contains famous quotes, scene summaries, character reviews, themes and motifs and other resources for exam review.  Just follow the links.

The Themes of Shakespeare - Macbeth (video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlI88kkX_7Y

Macbeth Movie by Roman Polanski (movie trailer)

Macbeth Mock Trial (Manual)
Instructions, from the Ontario Justice Education Network, for the Macbeth Mock Trial




3. Cultural Pushback - The Voices of Dissenters

The dominance of one culture over another leads to inevitable questioning of or revolution against the dominant culture. This unit will study early examples of the rise of dissent within English/Western society, through an examination of earnest and satirical texts.


1. Social Class & Marxist Criticism
A) "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift (1729)
- Satire: definition, techniques, examples
* Assignment: Write a Satire on a modern social problem

B) "The Communist Manifesto" by Karl Marx (1848)
- Marxist Criticism

C) "How America's Public Schools Keep Kids in Poverty" by Kandice Sumner 
(TED Talk, 2015) - TED Talk analysis


2. Race & Post-Colonial Criticism
A) "Appeal" by David Walker (1829) 

B) "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" by Frederick Douglass (1845) 

C) "I Have a Dream" by Martin Luther King (1963) 
- speech analysis


3. Gender & Feminist Criticism
A) "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" by Mary Wollstonecraft (1792)

B) "Women's Rights are Human Rights" by Hillary Clinton (1995)
- speech analysis

C) "What the Gay Rights Movement Learned from the Civil Rights Movement" by Yaruba Richen (TED Talk, 2014) - TED Talk analysis


4. Modern Dissenters 
A) “Bad Feminist” by Roxanne Gay
B) “Typecast as a Terrorist” by Riz Ahmed
C) “I Went from Grad School to Prison” by Cecily McMillan
D) “Chicken in the Henhouse” by David Sedaris





4. Living the Struggle (Memoirs)

There have been many combatants in the fight to break open dominant Western culture. In this unit, students will read memoirs from various people who lived through and fought back against that culture in various ways. In this unit, students will be choosing a memoir/biography to read in a reading circle group, and will be performing various tasks to analyze the texts and connect them to the course within their group meetings.

Text Options: 


(Social Class)

- The Book of Emma Reyes by Emma Reyes


(Race)

- Maus by Art Spiegleman

- Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates



(Gender)

- I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai




5. Culminating Activity

Selecting an independent novel, students will write a literary essay analyzing their chosen text. You will be encouraged to consider issues of power when developing your analysis, and will prepare and deliver a combined oral and media presentation that discusses it. We will work together on the skills required and share our explorations as a class.