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English III
by Cecilia Neiman
May 22, 2007
The English III class focus was on American Literature. The text book we used presented the literature of the United States in a historical context. However, it also offered our students a multicultural education, due to the many diverse people and genres of literature we read. The students not only affirmed their own culture and traditions, but also recognized the diversity of our nation.
The units we covered the first semester were: The New Land, The Revolutionary Period, A Growing Nation, The New England Renaissance, and Division, War, and Reconciliation. Second semester we explored units covering Realism and the Frontier, The modern Age, and Contemporary Writers and poets. We also read “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and wrote a research paper that was either persuasive or informative in nature.
There were many different types of activities and writing assignments we completed and will continue to work with next year. Some important factors for understanding literature are to make connections, inferences, practice critical thinking, and then analyze the selected reading. I tried to provide many different ways for the students to do this successfully. We often complete assignments that require the students to respond to the selected readings, write essays and journal responses, conduct and participate in class discussion, work with a group or partner, conduct research, interpret literature, and do lots and lots of reading. I also tried to make things fun whenever possible, by completing different projects and activities. One of example of this would be making our own war posters. Another example would be when we watched the movie “Moby Dick” and “The Fall of the House of Usher.” The kids loved following up their reading selections with the movies. This not only helped them with their compare and contrasting skills, but also appealed to visual and auditory learners.
The student’s did a wonderful job this year as a whole and I look forward to watching their continued growth, development, and success.
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