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High School
English 4/English 4 Honors
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Description: In English 4 students will study the motives that have driven people’s actions for centuries. Along the way, students will encounter epic heroes defying danger, tormented minds succumbing to the power of greed and ambition, enlightened thinkers striving for individual rights and freedoms, sensitive souls attempting to capture human emotion, and determined debaters taking a stand on critical issues. Students will read to analyze the way language is used to express human motivation and research to examine the results of actions in the real world. Students will gain insight and use tools from lessons and texts to apply knowledge and participate in creative and analytical writing.
Major Topics and Concepts
Forces of Nature
- Readings: Excerpts of Beowulf, Macbeth, and “Heroism”
- Concepts
- Character development
- Plot analysis
- Theme
- Tone
- Mood
- Literary devices
- Syntax
- Thematic analysis
- Six Traits of Writing
- Narrative writing process
- Proper use of conventions
- Skills
- Reading Shakespeare
- Conducting literary analysis
- Writing to address multiple texts
- Incorporating direct quotes
- Planning a narrative
- Writing a narrative
Carousel of Progress
- Readings: Preamble to the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and excerpts from various articles and court cases
- Concepts
- Interpretations of the Bill of Rights
- Theme
- Domain-specific language
- Precise language
- Transitions
- Conventions
- Six Traits of Writing
- Informative/Explanatory writing
- Skills
- Analyzing informational texts
- Researching to support an informative/explanatory topic
- Creating an annotated bibliography
- Using MLA citations
- Writing an informative/explanatory article
An Empire Divided (Honors)
- Readings: Land of Hope and Glory,” “Song to the Men of England,” and The Man Who Would Be King
- Concepts
- Figurative language
- Poetic forms and devices
- Elements of Fiction: plot, character, conflict, theme, setting, point of view
- Tone
- Mood
- Diction
- Connotation and denotation
- Syntax
- Skills
- Experiencing and analyzing poetry
- Analyzing literary text
- Writing an informative/explanatory essay
Expressions
- Readings
- Selected poems, “The Story of an Hour,” “A Jury of Her Peers,” excerpts of pieces written by Benjamin Franklin and Judith Sargent Murray, and selected newspaper and magazine articles.
- Concepts
- Figurative language
- Figures of speech
- Poetic forms and devices
- Tone
- Mood
- Diction
- Connotation and denotation
- Imagery
- Allusion
- Symbolism
- Character development
- Historical context
- Thematic analysis
- Summary
- Skills
- Experiencing and analyzing poetry
- Writing poetry
- Reading and analyzing informational text
- Identifying and understanding different perspectives
- Summarizing
Proof or Satire
- Reading
- Selected political speeches, selected closing arguments from well-known court cases, selected newspaper and magazine articles, “Advice to Youth,” and “Burlesque Autobiography”
- Concepts
- Basic elements of persuasion
- Compare and contrast
- Argument analysis
- Characteristics of an effective claim
- Appeals to logic, emotion, and ethics
- Logical fallacies
- Research skills
- Ethical researching and writing practices
- Six traits of writing
- Argument writing process
- MLA format
- Domain-specific language
- Precise language
- Humor and satire
- Proper use of conventions
- Skills
- Analyzing arguments
- Identifying appeals to logos, pathos, and ethos
- Researching multiple sides of an issue
- Stating a claim
- Interpreting visual representations of data
- Creating an infographic
- Identifying satire
- Analyzing satirical works
Fall of the Empire (Honors)
- Readings
- “Shooting an Elephant,” “Speech at Calicut,” “To Every Englishman in India,” and various news articles
- Concepts
- Characteristics of nonfiction texts
- Theme
- Figurative language
- Tone
- Mood
- Diction
- Connotation and denotation
- Syntax
- Conventions
- Skills
- Analyzing traits of a personal essay
- Research to support writing a news article
- Analyzing traits of professional writers
- Writing an inverted pyramid news article
Competencies
Informational Writing Techniques
Students will demonstrate an understanding of informational writing techniques by analyzing text structures, evaluating author’s purpose, and creating an informational presentation.
Classic Literature
Students will demonstrate an understanding of classic literature by explaining the elements of literature, analyzing author’s style, and formulating a literary review.
Narrative Techniques
Students will demonstrate an understanding of narrative techniques by describing narrative pre-writing, explaining the narrative writing process, and creating a multimedia text.
Comparative Poetry
Students will demonstrate an understanding of comparative poetry by explaining poetic terms, analyzing historical poetry, and comparing elements of poetry.
Evidence-Based Arguments
Students will demonstrate an understanding of evidence-based arguments by explaining the components of an argument, creating an argument outline, and formulating an argumentative text.
Persuasive Oration
Students will demonstrate an understanding of persuasive oration by analyzing rhetorical appeals, formulating a persuasive speech, and integrating oration skills into a presentation.
Open
Projects allow students to demonstrate competence and understanding of concepts and skills by completing a career-related task. For example, the assignment might be to create a mural, a package design, a speech, a film review, or a movie set – you name it! These creative projects are about applying your learning acquired through in-depth research to real-world career tasks.
Each competency will be addressed through a project that is based on a real-life career task. Here are the careers you will explore: Actor, Editor, Paralegal, Lawyer, Poet, Sociologist, and Psychologist.
Please also review the competency statements to learn more about the major topics and concepts covered in this offering.
Projects
Actor
You will take on the role of an actor for a national theater company, tasked with creating a character study from any play.
Paralegal
You will take on the role of a paralegal for a law firm, tasked with creatingP an annotated bibliography for a case.
Poet
You will take on the role of a poet, tasked with creating an original poem to be read at a politician’s inauguration.
Psychologist
You will take on the role of a psychologist writing for a teen magazine, tasked with creating an argumentative article.
Competencies
Open
Experiences allow you to explore a career field you’re curious about while mastering competencies for school credit. Through experiential learning, you will learn skills and apply them to tasks you would complete as part of a career rather than completing traditional assessments like essays or tests. During your Experience, you’ll work with a professional in the field to support your learning whom we call a “mentor.” You’ll earn a badge for your accomplishments to share on social media and higher education platforms, or with colleges, potential employers, peers, and colleagues to display your qualifications.
Here’s how Experiences work:
- Each competency you work on is addressed through a separate deliverable predetermined by you and your instructor.
- Guided learning for each module consists of research and/or work with a professional in the field. Your instructor will coach you through this process.
- Each module culminates in a final demonstration of understanding, which includes a deliverable and a discussion-based assessment with your instructor.
- Here’s an example:
Let’s say you’re curious about a career in healthcare. You decide you’d like to learn about this career area, make a professional connection, earn a badge, and meet competencies for your 9th-grade English requirement. While enrolled in English 1 Experiences, you conduct research to better understand language and structure in writing. Then you may work with an Occupational Therapist to help apply your writing skills to the creation of an informational video about adaptive equipment for patients. The video aims to advise family members of patients regarding the use of accommodations and equipment to help patients perform daily tasks. Now you’ve earned the Language and Structure in Writing competency! This is just one example of the many ways Experiences can bridge competencies to careers.
Obtaining a Mentor: Prior to enrollment, please have an idea for a mentor in mind. We have partnered with hundreds of mentors you can work with during your Experience, who you can find in our Career Mentor Catalog here. Or, you may consult with our counseling department by emailing [email protected] for help in identifying one.
*A parent/guardian permission form and background check of the mentor are both required to work with mentors without parental supervision.
Competencies
Storytelling in Literary Texts
Students will demonstrate an understanding of storytelling in literary texts by describing the development of characters and plot, explaining the impact of word choice on literary texts, evaluating interpretations of a source text, and creating a narrative using the six traits of storytelling.
Explanatory Writing
Students will demonstrate an understanding of explanatory writing by explaining the constitutional principles and legal reasoning in seminal United States texts, evaluating source relevance, integrating source information into a text, and creating a structured explanatory text following an outline.
Poetry and Perspectives
Students will demonstrate an understanding of poetry and perspectives by analyzing the impact of structural and literary devices on a poem’s theme, creating a poem incorporating structural elements and poetic devices, and comparing eighteenth-century American cultural perspectives.
The Argumentative Writing Process
Students will demonstrate an understanding of the argumentative writing process by creating an outline with research following an organizational pattern, creating a written argument strengthened by evidence and audience awareness, presenting a revised argument supported by an infographic, and explaining the importance of understanding point of view.
