Sample Thematic Essential Questions & Multi-genre Text Sets Selected from Honors English 11 Cohort Units Unit Essential Question What do we owe society? What does society owe us? Does the Individual exist simply to support Society? Is Society simply a social contract individuals agree to for their mutual benefit? To what extent should our actions and decisions be driven by societal norms and values versus our own individual conscience? What is the role of shame (or the idea of sin) in a culture in general? What should it be? To what degree should we be governed by our own individual consciences as opposed to social norms, social pressure, or even laws? To what degree and in what ways are we responsible for others? Ideally, how should we prioritize our own needs and those of others? Should we sacrifice our own needs for others? If so, in what situations? Anchor Text The Scarlet Letter Multi-genre Text Set from by Tim The Things They Carried, “On Rainy River” chapter O’Brien (novel excerpt) by Nathaniel Hawthorne (short story) “Young Goodman Brown,” by Eudora Welty (short story) “A Worn Path,” Excerpt from by Plato (written The Trial and Death of Socrates, dialogue) Pie charts on federal, state, and county revenues and expenses Statistics on charitable giving by Bill Keller (article) “The Entitled Generation,” Draft Our by Thomas E. Ricks (article) “Let’s Kids,” Tragic Case of by Maia Szalavitz (article) “The Amanda Todd,” As by Elizabeth C. Payne “Gender Policing Bullying Ritual,” (article) the Web, by Elizabeth “Public Humiliation: It’s Not It’s Us,” Blair (article)
Sample Thematic Essential Questions & Multi-genre Text Sets Selected from Honors English 11 Cohort Units Unit Essential Question What do we owe society? What does society owe us? Does the Individual exist simply to support Society? Is Society simply a social contract individuals agree to for their mutual benefit? To what extent should our actions and decisions be driven by societal norms and values versus our own individual conscience? What is the role of shame (or the idea of sin) in a culture in general? What should it be? To what degree should we be governed by our own individual consciences as opposed to social norms, social pressure, or even laws? To what degree and in what ways are we responsible for others? Ideally, how should we prioritize our own needs and those of others? Should we sacrifice our own needs for others? If so, in what situations? Anchor Text The Scarlet Letter Multi-genre Text Set “On Rainy River” chapter from The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien (novel excerpt) “Young Goodman Brown,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne (short story) “A Worn Path,” by Eudora Welty (short story) Excerpt from The Trial and Death of Socrates, by Plato (written dialogue) Pie charts on federal, state, and county revenues and expenses Statistics on charitable giving “The Entitled Generation,” by Bill Keller (article) “Let’s Draft Our Kids,” by Thomas E. Ricks (article) “The Tragic Case of Amanda Todd,” by Maia Szalavitz (article) “Gender Policing As Bullying Ritual,” by Elizabeth C. Payne (article) “Public Humiliation: It’s Not the Web, It’s Us,” by Elizabeth Blair (article)
Honors%20Resource%20Guide.docx