Novels
Animal Farm
I like to focus on revolutions in this unit and show similarities, looking at Russian, French, and Iranian revolutions.
Night
With this novel we use a lot of annotated articles as well. It is easy to paint the Nazis as monsters, but it is more difficult to look at the psychology behind it.
Catcher in the Rye
We look at the psychology in this novel as well. Holden makes some rash decisions, so we tried to understand that a little more.
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Lord of the Flies
The psychology and symbols in this novel are amazing. We use a lot of nonfiction articles to stress the main points.
Of Mice and Men
This novel is one of my students' favorites. I like to stress pecking order and look at the characters involved. It leads to great persuasive topics: sexism, racism.
Great Gatsby
I love this novel. It is a great opportunity to talk about success and the American Dream. The symbols also spark close inspection and weighty discussion.
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Plays
Raisin in the Sun
We spend a lot of time on the historical background to put the Younger's struggles against racism in perspective.
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The Crucible
This is a strong play that covers personal and political struggles. We segue into McCarthyism and the 1950s.
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The Odyssey
This unit is so rich that it doesn't need to share billing with any other unit or genre. You really can do a number of activities with this unit. All you need is time.
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