In 9th Literature and Composition we will cover four units this semester:
Unit 1: Coming of Age Materials covered in this unit: “Spotlight,” from Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson; "Marigolds,” by Eugenia Collier; from Always Running by Luis J. Rodriguez; “‘Race’ Politics,” by Luis J. Rodriguez; “WMDs” by Brian O’Connor; “Chuck Liddell,” by Steven Yaccino; “Education Still Pays” Remarks by the President in a National Address to America’s Schoolchildren, by Barack Obama; “An Early Start on College” by the Star Tribune; “Why College Isn’t (And Shouldn’t Have to Be) For Everyone,” by Robert Reich; and “Actually, College Is Very Much Worth It,” by Andrew J. Rotherham
Unit 2: Coming of Age in Changing Times Materials covered in this unit: “Jim Crow: Shorthand for Separation,” by Rick Edmonds; “Jim Crow Laws,” Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site; “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” by Martin Luther King, Jr.; Civil Rights Timeline Excerpts from Scout, Atticus and Boo: A Celebration of To Kill a Mockingbird, by Mary McDonagh Murphy; To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee; Excerpt from “In Defense of To Kill a Mockingbird,” by Nicholas J. Karolides et al.
Unit 3: Exploring Poetic Voices Materials covered in this unit: “Poetry,” by Pablo Neruda; Essay from poemcrazy, by Susan Wooldridge; “Nikki-Rosa,” by Nikki Giovanni; “We Real Cool,” by Gwendolyn Brooks; “Fast Break,” by Edward Hirsch; “Identity,” by Julio Noboa Polanco; “Ego Tripping,” by Nikki Giovanni; “Hanging Fire,” by Audre Lorde; “Ode to My Socks,” by Pablo Neruda, translated by Robert Bly; “Abuelito Who,” by Sandra Cisneros; Sonnet 18, by William Shakespeare; “In Response to Executive Order 9066: All Americans of Japanese Descent Must Report to Relocation Centers,” by Dwight Okita; “Young,” by Anne Sexton; “Combing,” by Gladys Cardiff; “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” by William Wordsworth; “Harlem,” by Langston Hughes; “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers,” by Emily Dickinson; “Scars,” by Daniel Halpern; “Ozymandias,” by Percy Bysshe Shelley; “American Hero,” by Essex Hemphill; “Prayer to the Pacific,” by Leslie Marmon Silko; “In Cold Storm Light,” by Leslie Marmon Silko
Unit 4: Coming of Age on Stage Materials covered in this unit: Excerpt from As You Like It, by William Shakespeare; Prologue from Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare; Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare; “On the Bard’s birthday, Is Shakespeare Still Relevant?” by Alexandra Petri; “Britain Puts on a Shakespeare Marathon as World Arrives for the Olympic Games,” from The Washington Post/Associated Press; “On Love and War, Iraq Learns From Shakespeare,” by Shelina Zahra Janmohamed; Excerpt from How Shakespeare Changed Everything, by Stephen Marche; “Kentucky Inmates Turned Actors Explore Selves Through Shakespeare Play,” by Sean Rose; “Why It’s Time to Give the Bard the Heave-ho!” by Brandon Robshaw