Unit+4+A+Troubled+Young+Nation

Unit 4: A Troubled Young Nation

Overview:

 * The range and depth of potential topics covered in this hefty unit might be tailored to suit various classroom populations. Building on the previous unit in which individualism figures as a prominent theme in American romanticism and transcendentalism, this unit explores the expanding idea of the American individual and the related idea of the pursuit of liberty in various forms. Teachers are encouraged to have students read //The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn//, a classic American novel that deals with issues of racism and slavery, and raises important questions about what America promises and to whom. Beyond //The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn//, teachers could select from among the other novels listed or ask different students to read different novels, such that the variety of their compelling themes may be shared and discussed as a class via oral presentations and seminars. Teachers are encouraged to sample heavily from the informational texts, as many are critical especially to understanding the era of the Civil War and the struggle to fulfill America’s promise.

Foucs Standards:

 * **RL.11-12.3:** Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
 * **RI.11-12.3:** Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.
 * **W.11-12.5:** Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1–3 up to and including grades 11–12 on page 54.)
 * **SL.11-12.2****:** Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) in order to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data.
 * **L.11-12.2:** Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Suggested Student Objectives:

 * Determine and analyze the development of the theme or themes in American literature of the nineteenth century (e.g., freedom, the American dream, racism, regionalism, survival, “individual vs. society,” and “civilized society” vs. the wilderness).
 * Compare the treatment of related themes in different genres (e.g., //The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn// and //Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave//).
 * Explain how characters in fictional in late nineteenth century America express the challenges facing America at the time, citing both textual evidence from both fiction and nonfiction to make the case.


 * Literary Texts **

Novels the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain The Awakening by Kate Chopin Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton Daisy Miller by Henry James The Call of the Wild by Jack London Sister Carrie by Jack London My Antonia by Willa Cather The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Welson Johnson

Folk Tales "Plantation Proverbs" by Uncle Remus

Short Stories "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" by Mark Twain "What Stumped the Bluejays" by Mark Twain "Roman Fever" Edith Wharton <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">**Informational Texts** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Letter to Albert G. Hodges by Abraham Lincoln <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Declaration of Sentiments, Seneca Falls Convention <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">"The Higher Education of Women" from A Voice from the South

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Autobiography <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Narrative of the Life of Federick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Up From Slavery: An Autobiography by Booker T. Washington <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">The Narrative of Sojourner Truth by Sojourner Truth and Olive Gilbert <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Twenty Years at Hull House by Jane Addams

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Speeches <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">"Gettysburg Address" by Abraham Lincoln <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">"A House Divided" by Abraham Lincoln <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">"Ain't I a Woman" by Sojourner Truth <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">"I will fight no more forever" by Chief Joseph the Younger of the Nez Perce Nation

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Essays <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">"Why I Wrote 'The Yellow Wallpaper'" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">"'The Yellow Wallpaper' and Women's Discourse" by Karen Ford <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">"'I Had Barbara': a Women's Ties and Wharton's Roman Fever" by Rachel Bowlby

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">**Art** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Winslow Homer, A Visit from the Old Mistress

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Spirituals <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">"Go Down, Moses" <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">"I Thank God I'm Free At Last" <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">"Lift Every Voice and Sing" <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">"All God' Children Had Wings" <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">"Promises of Freedom"

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Film <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Ed Bell and Thomas Lennon, dir., Unchained Memories (2003)