Unit+IV+Materials

Dear Students and Parents:

Our upcoming unit of study will be Unit IV: Division, Reconciliation, and Expansion (1850 to 1914). This unit covers fascinating literature from the Civil War and Reconstruction historical periods in the United States. We will begin our study, as always, with the historical introduction on page 460 of the textbook. Our in class activity that will go along with this unit is as follows:



The next group of writings will include Stephen Crane's short story "An Episode of War" and a lovely ballad by Stephen Foster entitled "Willie has Gone to the War" about a young girl's sorrow after her love, Willie goes off to war. These readings can be found on pages 476 and 481 of the textbook. A power point that might help students better understand the literary movements of Realism and Naturalism is as follows:



Another power point that covers Realism and Naturalism (and Edith Wharton) is as follows:



Both of these will help clear up any doubts students may have over the genres of realism and naturalism. The next group of readings we will study together are the African American Spirituals. Here is a power point explaining both the African American and Afro Cuban Spirituals:



Some of the spirituals we will cover are "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" and "Go Down Moses". Concepts we will cover that are related to the spirituals are the literary and musical device refrain, call and response format, covert or hidden meanings present in the spirituals, shouts, bembes, and other fascinating combinations of African culture and American faith. The students will sing and dance with the spirituals.After our study of the Spirituals. we will read an excerpt from Frederick Douglass's //My Bondage and My// Freedom which can be found on page 496 of the textbook.

We will proceed with reading Ambrose Bierce's short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and a study of stream of consciousness (page 508 of the textbook). We will explore a modern example of stream of consciousness in Suzanne Vega's song "Tom's Diner" and compare this technique Bierce's and Crane's writings. Here are some lyrics and some definitions of stream of consciousness:



After Ambrose Bierce, we will go on to study Mark Twain's "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and details of Twain's life. The students will first race match box cars for prizes to gain a better understanding of how people entertained themselves before television and other electronic devices. We will then complete the reading and the following classroom activity:



Our next reading will take us back to the Wild West and the American Frontier with Bret Harte's "The Outcast of Poker Flats" which is on page 580 of the textbook. Our next reading will be Willa Cather's short story "A Wagner's Matinee" which is on page 676 of the textbook. After this short story, we will take a look at Kate Chopin's brilliant use of irony in her short story "The Story of an Hour" which is on page 634 of the textbook. A closer look at feminist literary theory can be seen in the following power point:



A look at three different types of irony present in Chopin's work:



We will conclude Unit IV with the study of two poems. "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson and "Lucinda Matlock" by Edgar Lee Masters. We will use the following graphic organizer to help students decode meaning in the two poems:



I hope this page helps give both students and parent a better idea of what we will be studying. Let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.

Sincerely, Tina Pennell :)