Unit 1: Shifting Perspectives
In this unit, students will build on their knowledge of the role of culture in defining the beliefs, values, and roles of individuals within a specific group. Students will read a variety of texts
to explore the role of traditional and modern beliefs and roles in conflict. Informational texts and art forms will be studied to provide students opportunities to consider universal themes in order to broaden their understanding and appreciation for cultural differences. They will also have the opportunity to examine values, themes, and issues that link all cultures. Finally, students will compose a literary analysis of the development of a theme through characterization.
Text options:
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Nectar in a Sieve, A Doll's House, Oedipus
Unit 2: Words and Style
In this unit, students will analyze how an author's choices affect purpose, meaning, and style in text. Students will spend time analyzing mentor texts in order to imitate the author's style and create original narratives. Students will use mentor texts as a basis to compose an original narrative that connects meaningfully to the existing plot, characters, and themes of a novel or short story studied in the unit.
Text options:
Purple Hibiscus, The Alchemist, Things Fall Apart
Unit 3: Confronting Oppression and Cultivating Hope
In this unit, students focus on literary selections that address experiences of oppression, the impact of these experiences on individuals or groups of people, and the different ways that humans confront oppression by cultivating hope. Through the study of various texts and related non-print texts, students will develop a deeper understanding of the relationship between an author's purpose, text structure, and literary/rhetorical choices. The unit ends with students analyzing various argumentative positions to develop their own stance in response to a given topic.
Text options:
Night, In the Time of Butterflies, Long Way Gone, Maus I and II
Unit 4: The Limits of Power
In this unit, students explore the overarching theme of power and the misuse of power. Students will spend significant time analyzing the structure of literary and informational texts, focusing on the development of an author's point of view through the use of rhetoric and argument. Students will examine themes in multiple forms of text and defend their universal relevance. Students will synthesize literary analysis and argument to respond to a prompt evaluating the validity of another's position.
Text options:
Macbeth, Oedipus the King, Othello
Click on the image above to see the Table of Contents for the Collections Grade 10 anthology.
Note: The BCPS ELA curriculum provides teachers and students with choices that allow for personalized, responsive, and engaging instruction. Students should read the majority of the unit's novel-length work(s) outside of class time. The suggested unit sequences and text options may vary.