This unit is primarily focused on the understanding and interpretation of democracy and its related imperfections -- corruption and/or manipulation -- through a series of different literary and visual documents from Aristotle up to now. It will start with the following essential questions: What is your interpretation of democracy? What is the most important aspect of democracy? The students will study the concept of “democracy” and will be authentic researchers whose goal is to become independent thinkers aware of their own environment. The unit will include:
An Agent, a Green Card, and a Demand for Sex
by Nina Bernstein, excerpts from Aristotle’s
Politics
and
Julius Caesar
by W. Shakespeare, George Caleb Bingham’s election paintings,
America
and
Let America Be America Again
by Langston Hughes,
Waiting for Lefty
by Clifford Odets, one excerpt from
The Grapes of Wrath
by Steinbeck, and
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
by Frank Capra. The unit will also require various writing activities -- quick writes, class discussions, analytical essays, written responses, revisions by peers and editing activities -- and a final project that will be in the form of a documented essay and a presentation, or a simple documented visual for those students who have special needs.
(Developed for College English and AP English Literature, grades 11-12; recommended for College English and AP English Literature and Language, grades 11-12)
