American Literature Curriculum | 11th-Grade English | FULL YEAR of Lesson Plans!

Full-Year Curriculum! Diverse Authors! Discussion-Based! This MEGA-BUNDLE has everything you'll need to teach a year-long course on American Literature. The curriculum features 10 UNITS that focus on CANONICAL literary texts written by DIVERSE authors. Each text-focused unit comes with reading quizzes, higher-order discussion questions, vocabulary lists, literary device exercises, writing assignments, and more. Every page of every print-and-go lesson is fully EDITABLE so that you can customize the materials to meet the needs of your students!

Save hundreds of hours of prep time! Reclaim your weekends!

Deliver top-quality lessons! Make every class equal parts edifying & engaging!

Here are the 10 units featured in this chronological course on American Literature:

1. Native Americans: History, Culture, & Modern Identity

• Tommy Orange, There There

2. Colonial America: The Puritans & Salem Witch Trials (1630-1776)

• Arthur Miller, The Crucible

3. Slavery & Emancipation (1800-1865)

• Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

4. New England Poetry (1860s-1900s)

• Emily Dickinson, Selected Poems

• Robert Frost, Selected Poems

5. Westward Expansion (1829-1900)

• Willa Cather, My Ántonia

6. The American Dream & Roaring Twenties (1918-1929)

• F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

• Ernest Hemingway, "Hills Like White Elephants"

7. The Harlem Renaissance (1918-1939)

• Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God

• Langston Hughes, Selected Poems

8. World War II & the Holocaust (1939-1945)

• Art Spiegelman, The Complete Maus

9. The Civil Rights Movement (1945-1969)

• Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun

• Gwendolyn Brooks, Selected Poems

10. New Immigrant Literature (1965-2000)

• Jhumpa Lahiri, "A Temporary Matter"

Writing Instruction Tools

• Introducing Quotations: How to Properly Embed Textual Evidence

• How to Write an Analytical Essay

• How to Write a Personal Narrative (College Essay)

Discussion Tools

• Discussion-Based Teaching Toolkit: Socratic Seminar Rubrics

Statement on Diversity: This curriculum was designed to be inclusive and intersectional with respect to race, class, gender, and sexuality. In order to center the experiences of Native Americans, the curriculum opens with Tommy Orange's award-winning novel, There There. The curriculum also features literary texts by authors who identify as African-American, Asian-American, Jewish-American, and LGBTQ+. By studying literary texts written by diverse authors, students will deepen their appreciation for the diverse fabric of American society while developing empathy for a broad spectrum of fellow citizens. 

Genre Analysis: In addition to surveying a national literary tradition, this curriculum equips students with the terminologies and techniques for analyzing a wide range of literary genres. The curriculum includes unit plans for 4 novels, 2 plays, 1 graphic novel, 1 memoir, and 50+ poems. The abundance of text options is intended to let you pick and choose which texts will make the most sense for your class!

Mix & Match: Again, this curriculum features a total of 10 units, each of which runs for 3-4 weeks and centers on a core text such as a novel, play, memoir, or set of poems. While the curriculum does not include a day-by-day calendar for the entire year, each unit does come with its own pacing guide. As a result, you will have the freedom to re-order and/or skip any units to keep pace with your school's calendar and schedule. Feel free to sprinkle in the supplementary writing lessons whenever you see fit!

Rigor & Fun: This curriculum was designed by a 20-year teacher with a Ph.D. in American Literature. In addition to publishing academic articles on American authors, I have taught more than a dozen high-school and college courses in American Literature. My goal as a curriculum designer is to help students become attached to the thrill of reading, discussing, and writing about complex American literary texts. In short, to make intellectual inquiry feel exciting and fun!

Previews: Because I believe that teachers should be able to see exactly what they'll be getting before they make a purchase, the previews for my units provide direct access to sample pages from every section of the unit. Click on the previews for individual units to see exactly what you’ll get!

Savings: If purchased separately, these teaching resources would cost more than $255. This bundle, which also includes a syllabus, is being made available for just $129 – saving you over 40%!

If you have any questions about this bundle, please don't hesitate to get in touch via the email address below. I'm eager to do everything I can to make sure you have an amazing experience with teaching American literature. Thank you for choosing “Rigorous Resources”!!

Happy teaching,

Adam Jernigan

[email protected]

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