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.
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)
English Language History
http://www.englishclub.com/english-language-history.htm
http://www.englishclub.com/english-language-history.htm
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
Text in old English and modern English, characters, history and other links
Beowulf - Tales
Grendel, Grendel's Mother, and The Fire Dragon
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)
*The General Prologue:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/CT-prolog-para.html
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/canterbury.htm
http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/canterbury.htm
Audio recordings of the Canterbury Tales
http://librivox.org/the-canterbury-tales-by-geoffrey-chaucer/
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
https://www.ted.com/talks/christopher_bell_bring_on_the_female_superheroes
*The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale:
http://ummutility.umm.maine.edu/necastro/chaucer/translation/ct/07wbt.html
http://ummutility.umm.maine.edu/necastro/chaucer/translation/ct/07wbt.html
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)
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.