Welcome to E nglish 10

Welcome to English 10 Ms. Russo 2013-2014

American Literature: an overview of English 10 • Unit 1:POWER & THE AMERICAN DREAM • identifying, evaluating and navigating power structures in society on the path to your dreams Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (whole class) • Unit 2:ORDER vs. FREEDOM • examining social structures and inherent contradictions as they impact the individual and the community The Crucible by Arthur Miller (whole class) Culminating Text: A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry /The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (online blog in small groups)

American Literature: an overview of English 10 • Unit 3:CULTIVATING IDENTITY: THE JOURNEY TO SELF-DISCOVERY • looking at myself now; exploring the coming-of-age process so I have a stronger awareness of where I want to go in the future The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger & America by ER Frank (split class literature circles) • Unit 4: AMERICA: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE • with a stronger understanding of myself and of society, how can I be an agent of change? To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee ~Also, throughout the year, we will read and study other short texts including works of nonfiction, poems, short stories, etc. ~Our writing in this course will be primarily persuasive in nature. Therefore, the final exam will be a research project to demonstrate the culmination of skills practiced throughout the year.

Thinking about your life… • What is the American Dream? • How is it achieved? • Who do you know that has achieved it? • What are your dreams for the future? • What qualities and skills do you need to make your dreams come true? • What are your strengths? • What are your weaknesses? • How do you know? • What can get in the way of achieving your dreams?

Thinking about literature… • How do the stories of others influence us? • How can literature allow us to explore the changes in our society? • In what ways does literature become a vehicle through which we engage in critical thinking? • What is critical thinking? • What are some other ways you use critical thinking skills?

Let’s review!!! Literary Terms

CHARACTER-ization • Direct Characterization • When a writer uses this method, we do not have to figure out what a character’s personality is like—the writer tells us directly. • Indirect Characterization • When a writer uses this method, we have to exercise our own judgment, putting clues together to infer what a character is like—just as we do in real life when we are getting to know someone. • Characters are often classified as static or dynamic. • A static character is one who does not change much in the course of a story. • A dynamiccharacter, on the other hand, changes in some important way as a result of the story’s action.

Characterization, contd. • WHERE? …in the structure of the text • Narration • What he does, etc. • Dialogue • What he says, what others say to him or about him • Note: Other structures such as stage direction and narrative essays will exist when studying a play • HOW? …with his or her craft elements • Setting (including historical context) and Mood • Tone, Diction, and Style • Connotative and Figurative Language

Setting & Historical Context What do we need to do to learn the historical context of a piece of literature? • RESEARCH • …the time period; use the internet and other resources • ANNOTATE • You have to sift through and find the important “stuff” • CONNECT • …what you learn about the time period to the characters in the story-their conflicts, their motivation, their choices, etc. (text to world, text to self, text to text)WHY? …to enhance your understanding of the story and of American life in the present by comparing, contrasting, and stepping into the shoes of the characters’ of our past. • APPLY • …what you learned to the context of the story told using visualizing, questioning, inferencing, predicting and synthesizing strategies.

Motivation & Mood • MOTIVATION: The reasons for a character’s behavior. • In order for us to understand why characters act the way they do, their motivation has to be believable, at least in terms of the story. At times a writer directly reveals motivation; in subtler fiction we must use details from the story to infer motivation. It is helpful to understand the setting and historical context of a story to better understand conflict and motivation . • MOOD: The overall emotion created by a work of literature. • Mood can usually be described with one or two adjectives such as bittersweet, playful, or scary. All the elements of literature, including sound effects, rhythm, and word choice, contribute to a work’s mood.

Tone • TONE: The attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or the audience. • In speaking we use voice inflections and even body language to show how we feel about what we are saying. Writers manipulate language in an attempt to achieve the same effect. Tone is dependent on diction and style, and we cannot say we have understood any work of literature until we have sensed the writer’s tone. Tone can usually be described in a single word: objective, solemn, playful, ironic, sarcastic, critical, reverent, irreverent, philosophical, cynical, and so on.

Diction & Style Tone is dependent on diction Tone is dependent on style STYLE : The distinctive way in which a writer uses language. Style can be plain, ornate, metaphorical, spare, descriptive, and so on. Style is determined by such factors as sentence length and complexity, syntax, use of figurative language and imagery, and diction. • DICTION: A speaker’s or writer’s choice of words. • Diction can be formal, informal, colloquial, full of slang, poetic, ornate, plain, abstract, concrete, and so on. Diction depends on the writer’s subject, purpose, and audience. Some words, for example, are suited to informal conversations but are inappropriate in a formal speech. Diction has a powerful effect on the tone of a piece of writing.

Connotation • CONNOTATION: The associations and emotional overtones that have become attached to a word or phrase, in addition to its strict dictionary definition. • The words determined, firm,rigid, stubborn, and pigheaded have similar dictionary definitions, or denotations, but widely varying connotations, or overtones of meaning. Determined and firm both suggest an admirable kind of resoluteness; rigid suggests an inability to bend and a kind of mindless refusal to change. Stubborn and pigheaded, on the other hand, have even more negative connotations. Stubborn has associations with a mule, and pigheaded with the pig, which, wrongly or not, is an animal often associated with mindless willfulness. Words with strong connotations are often called loaded words or suggestive words. • Here are some other words that are more or less synonymous but which have vastly different connotations: fastidious and fussy; day-dreamer and escapist; scent, odor, smell, and stink

Symbol • Something that stands for something else. Typically it is two things that are not typically synonymous with one another. • A dove is a symbol for peace • The two items below are not symbols for peace. WHY?

Theme • A common thread or repeated idea that is incorporated throughout a literary work. A theme is a thought or idea the author presents to the reader that may be deep, difficult to understand, or even moralistic (like a lesson to be learned). Generally, a theme has to be extracted as the reader explores the passages of a work. The author utilizes the characters, plot, and other literary devices to assist the reader in uncovering the theme(s).

Welcome to E nglish 10