World Literature Scope and Sequence, Spring 2024

Unit 1: Fear of Short Stories

• Theme: What am I afraid of?
• Students will read a survey of short stories centered around a motif of “fear” (see list).
• Students should be able to identify the following concepts in a given short story:
o Plot
o Setting
o Characterization
o Tone
o Conflict
o Theme
• Students will write a constructed response about their greatest fear.
• Students will write a 500–750-word original short story about a character confronting their fear OR an original scary story. Stories must contain vivid imagery and sensory details and properly formatted dialogue.
• Priority standards:
o ELAGSE9-10RL4
o ELAGSE9-10RL5
o ELAGSE9-10W3

Unit 2: Novel Study – The Alchemist

• Theme: How can I understand myself and my place in the world?
• Students will read and analyze one novel of the teacher’s choosing (see list for options).
• This unit is intended to be a broad survey of novel conventions and a study of theme.
• Students should understand the following concepts:
o The Hero’s Journey
o Theme
o Motif
o Character development
o Flashback
o Foreshadowing
o Proverbs
o Omens
• Students will participate in extensive class discussion over the novel.
• Students will complete a character art project.
• Students will write a 500–750-word essay analyzing a theme in the novel.
• Priority standards:
o ELAGSE9-10RL1
o ELAGSE9-10RL2
o ELAGSE9-10W1
o ELAGSE9-10L4

Unit 3: Novel Study – The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

• Theme: What do we have in common?
• Students will read The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
• Students should understand the following concepts:
o How limited resources inspire innovation
o Critically evaluating sources for reliability
o Researching a global issue
o Presentation skills
• Students will work in partners to create a TedTalk-style presentation. Groups will be given five options for presentation topics. We will collaborate with other World Lit classes.
• Priority Standards:
o ELAGSE9-10RI1
o ELAGSE9-10RI3
o ELAGSE9-10W2
o ELAGSE9-10W8
o ELAGSE9-10L4
o ELAGSE9-10SL1

Unit 4: Greek Mythology

• Theme: What makes a story last forever?
• Students will read either The Iliad or The Odyssey.
• Students should understand the following concepts:
o Greek Gods and Goddesses
o Characteristics of an epic (Epic Similes, In medias res, epithets, etc.)
o Characteristics of an epic hero (heroic flaw, epic conflict, divine inspiration, etc.)
• Students will analyze poetry using the TOASTTT strategy.
• Students will understand and use poetic devices (metaphor, simile, personification, allusion, etc.)
• Students will write a narrative constructed response about a fictional Greek monster.
• Priority Standards:
o ELAGSE9-10RL3
o ELAGSE9-10W3
o ELAGSE9-10L4
o ELAGSE9-10L5

Unit 5: Novel Study – When the Emperor Was Divine

• Theme: How can I harness the power of language for myself?
• Students will read and analyze a text of the teacher’s choosing (see list for options), looking specifically at rhetorical or linguistic elements.
• This unit is intended to analyze language (including figurative language) and rhetoric.
• Students should understand the following concepts:
o Literary devices
o Figurative language
o Diction and word choice, including denotative, connotative, and figurative meanings of words
o Rhetorical strategies
• Students will write a 500-750 word essay based on a previous AP Lang or Lit essay prompt.
• Priority Standards:
o ELAGSE9-10W1
o ELAGSE9-10RI6

Anchor Texts for Unit 2 and 5 (teacher’s choice):

• Alighieri, Dante – Inferno
• Coelho, Paolo – The Alchemist
• Dumas, Firoozeh – Funny in Farsi
• Ibsen, Henrik – A Doll’s House
• Jones, Diana – Howl’s Moving Castle
• Kafka, Franz – The Metamorphosis
• Otsuka, Julie – When the Emperor Was Divine
• Rivera, Lillian – Never Look Back
• Shakespeare, William – Julius Caesar
• Shelley, Mary – Frankenstein
• Wiesel, Elie – Night

Short Story Unit Texts:

• Adiche, Chimamanda Ngozi – “Olikoye”
• Chekhov, Anton – “The Bet”
• Gaiman, Neil – “Click Clack the Rattlebag”
• Garcia Marquez, Gabriel – “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World”
• Mahfouz, Naguib – “Half a Day”
• Murakami, Haruki – “The Wind Cave”
• Quiroga, Horacio – “The Feather Pillow”
• Tan, Amy – “Two Kinds” (from The Joy Luck Club)
• Tellez, Hernando – “Lather and Nothing Else”

Additional Texts (whole class readings):

• Homer – The Odyssey or The Iliad
• Kamkwamba, William and Bryan Mealer – The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
• Rama Rau, Santha – “By Any Other Name”

Possible Movies (based on time/teacher’s novel choice):

• Grave of the Fireflies
• Howl’s Moving Castle
• O Brother Where Art Thou?
• The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
• Troy