HS ELA Guide

●​ How did Native American and British colonists culturally clash? ●​ How did the Protestant Reformation influence colonial immigration? ●​ What were the main motivating factors of British colonists for coming to America? ●​ What role did religion, particularly Puritanism, play in developing American culture? ●​ How can understanding literary devices help modern readers better understand colonial American writers? A New Nation ●​ How did the philosophy of the Enlightenment and the Age of Reason influence the founding of America? ●​ How do the founders use rhetorical devices to persuade others? ●​ What are the most effective devices to use in argumentation? ●​ “The Iroquois Constitution” ( Mirrors and Windows , p. 24) ●​ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards ( Mirrors and Windows , p. 54) ●​ “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano” by Olaudah Equiano ( Mirrors and Windows , p. 62) ●​ “The Mayflower Compact: A first step on the road to independence” by History.com (Newsela) ●​ “Speech in the Virginia Convention” by Patrick Henry ( Mirrors and Windows , p. 80) ●​ Common Sense by Thomas Paine ( Mirrors and Windows , p. 87) ●​ Declaration of Independence , National Archives ●​ Bill of Rights , National Archives ●​ “Letter to John Adams by Abigail Adams ( Mirrors and Windows , p. 101) ●​ “The Salem Witch Trials” by EyeWitness to History ●​ “Freedom of Religion in the New World” by National Geographic Society (Newsela) Media Texts ●​ The Crucible directed by Nicholas Hytner ●​ Primary Source Documents for the Salem Witch Trials - University of Virginia Informational Texts

Literary Texts

Unit 1 in Mirrors and Windows : American Tradition . Novels ●​ The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne ●​ Excerpts from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin ( Mirrors and Windows , p. 71) Native American Myths ●​ “The Osage Creation Account” ( Mirrors and Windows , p. 11) ●​ “The Navajo Creation Myth” ( Mirrors and Windows , p. 12) ●​ “Coyote and the Earthy Monster” ( Mirrors and Windows , p. 21) Plays ●​ The Crucible by Arthur Miller Short Stories ●​ “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving Poetry ●​ “Song of the Sky Loom” ( Mirrors and Windows , p. 15)

●​ Iroquois Creation Myth , BigMyth ●​ Navajo Creation Myth , BigMyth

●​ “Prayer to the Pacific”

( Mirrors and Windows , p. 17)

●​ “On Being Brought from

Africa to America” by Phillis Whatley ( Mirrors and Windows , p. 66)

Theme

Essential Questions

●​ What philosophies influenced American individualism? ●​ What is American Romanticism? ●​ What characteristics do American Romanticism and Transcendentalism share and how are they different?

American Romanticism

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Last Updated

High School ELA, Page 92

Jun 2, 2025