Unit+1_American+Thought


 * Essential Questions:**

How does literature reflect American political foundations? What is the rhetorical purpose of language in early American literature?


 * Unit Goals:**

In addition to answering the essential questions above, we will use this unit as an introduction to the arts of persuasion, including the elements of rhetoric and satire. Students will use these new skills when completing this unit's summative test and research-based essay.


 * In order to explore the essential questions and accomplish our goals, we will read the following:**

Excerpts from these speeches, sermons, declarations, essays, and autobiographies: - Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards - Common Sense by Thomas Paine - The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin - Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson - Civil Disobedience & Walden by Henry David Thoreau - Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson - The Narrative of Frederick Douglas by Frederick Douglas - The Narrative of Sojourner Truth by Sojourner Truth

These important foundational documents and speeches will be read in their entirety: - The Bill of Rights - The Declaration of Independence - The Preamble to the Constitution - Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address - Gettysburg Address by Lincoln - “Ain’t I a Woman” by Sojourner Truth

We will read these novels: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Poetry will be read during many classes, including the following poem: “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes


 * Assessments:**

In addition to short written pieces, graded discussions and seminars, quizzes, persuasive writing pieces, and other text-dependent activities, we will have one major paper for this unit:

- Persuasive thesis-based research essay, using at least 3 sources (including Scarlet Letter) addressing on a topic of the students' choosing

We will also have a project based on transcendentalist poetry.

Guidelines for these assessments will be uploaded on the file page as they are handed out.