BHS ELA Instructional Guide

Sample Theme

Sample Essential Questions

●​ How does a speaker use language to persuade or accomplish a purpose? ●​ What are the purposes of communication? ●​ What are the components of effective rhetoric and literary expression? ●​ What is the role of social media in shaping perception? ●​ How does social media affect communication styles and relationships? ●​ What ethical considerations should guide our use of media and technology? ●​ In what ways does academic language foster and convey clear, analytical, critical thinking in all subject areas? ●​ How does the ability to communicate affect our social, economic, and academic opportunities? ●​ How does language evolve over time? ●​ Patton’s speech to the 3rd Army by General George Patton ●​ Letter from Gandhi to Hitler (Example of weak, ineffective speech) ●​ Jenny Horne: Republican who helped banish Confederate flag by BBC ●​ 2015 AP Language and Composition Synthesis Prompt: The Place for Polite Speech ●​ “Ordeal by Cheque” by Uther Crue ●​ “Speech to the Troops at Tilbury” by Queen Elizabeth I ( Mirrors and Windows , p. 238) ●​ “How Propaganda Works” (Newsela) Informational Texts situation), and is he/she right? ●​ Good and Evil: Is man inherently good or evil? Somewhere in between? ●​ Nature vs. Mechanistic World: Is technological progress always good? (Were the hippies right?) ●​ The Fall From Innocence: Is experience necessary? Is ignorance bliss? ●​ Fate vs. Free Will: Are we in control of our own destinies? ●​ “Opinion: "Black Panther" celebrates strong black characters” by Christian Science Monitor (Newsela) ●​ “How the Ancient Greeks Colonized the Mediterranean” by Ancient History Encyclopedia (Newsela) ●​ “All about the knights of old” (Newsela) ●​ “Learning Shakespeare and writing sonnets in youth prison” by Madeline Buckley (Newsela) Media Texts ●​ What makes a hero? by Matthew Winkler (TED-Ed) ●​ Power in Literature, Short Stories Part 5: Characterization and Archetype by Shmoop ​ ●​ Everything you need to know to read Homer's "Odyssey" by Jill Dash (TED-Ed) Informational Texts Sample Essential Questions ●​ What is (author) arguing about (archetypal

The Power of Words

Literary Texts

Novels ●​ The Poet X by Ellizabeth Acevedo ●​ The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Plays ●​ The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

Sample Theme

Archetypes in Life and Literature

Literary Texts

Plays ●​ Hamlet by William Shakespeare ●​ MacBeth by William Shakespeare ( Mirrors and Windows , Unit 4) Myths and Legends ●​ “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” ( Mirrors and Windows, p. 177) ●​ The Odyssey by Homer Poetry ●​ Beowulf ( Mirrors and Windows , p. 22)

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Last Updated

High School ELA, Page 112

Jun 4, 2026