Who are we? Who shapes our identity? What makes us? Our interests, our personality and our values are part of our identity but how we have found them, or discovered them, or defined them depends on the community surrounding us and with whom we live and share. Myriad factors affect our identity: race, cultural background, gender, political and/or economic circumstances. They all contribute to our identity and are the reflections of what we usually define as society or community. My goal is to study what a community is, what its values and rules are, and who or what really holds power next to how the members of the community react, think, or feel.
In this unit, we will read
Heart of Darkness
by Joseph Conrad,
Lord of the Flies
by William Golding, and other texts. The unit will culminate with a research project of a community close to my students. Beyond considering the concept of community, my goal is to teach my students to become active thinkers and members of the community, to analyze causes and effects, to be aware of what happens in their surroundings, to understand who they are, and to learn how to contribute to social solutions.
(Developed for AP English Literature and Composition, grades 11-12, and English, grade 10; Recommended for AP English Literature and Composition, grades 11-12, and English, grades 10-11)
