HS ELA Guide

Sample Theme

Sample Essential Questions

●​ What philosophies influenced American individualism? ●​ What is American Romanticism? ●​ What characteristics do American Romanticism and Transcendentalism share and how are they different? ●​ What were the philosophies from this time period that inspired literary thought in the world and the United States? ●​ How do American writers differentiate themselves from British writers during the American Romantic movement?

American Romanticism

Literary Texts

Informational Texts

●​ “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau (Mirrors and Windows, p. 185) ●​ Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson (Mirrors and Windows, p. 158) ●​ “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson (Mirrors and Windows, p. 190)

Unit 2 in Mirrors and Windows : American Tradition . Novels ●​ Walden by Henry David Thoreau Short Stories ●​ “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe ( Mirrors and Windows , p. 221) ●​ “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne ( Mirrors and Windows , p. 244) Poetry ●​ “Thanatopsis” by William Cullen Bryant ( Mirrors and Windows , p. 128) ●​ “Old Ironside” by Oliver Wendell Holmes ( Mirrors and Windows , p. 136) ●​ “Hope is a thing with feathers” by Emily Dickenson

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Last Updated

High School ELA, Page 95

Jun 4, 2026