English Language Arts B30:
Sample Themes for Unit II

World Perspectives--The Social Experience

Once and for all you can know there's a universe of people outside and you're responsible to it.

                                                                                                             - A. Miller

Each individual is part of the larger social system and, to one degree or another, is shaped by it and responsible to it. Through the ages, people have dreamt of creating the perfect society that served the individual as well as the common good. One of the challenges highlighted in history and in literature is striking the balance between individual and societal rights and responsibilities; between personal goals and societal needs; between personal ambition and the common good; between personal values and social values. Out of this has grown conformity and rebellion, as well as causes and crusades.

For everything he did he served the Greater Community.

                                                                                                             - W. H. Auden

In this unit, students are asked to consider the society in which they live and the kind of society in which they would like to live. Students might consider the reasons for social criticism and action.

Beyond Personal Goals--Individual, Group, and Societal Responsibility

Guiding Question: What are our responsibilities to others?

Sample Related Questions:

• What is our place in society?
• What are our responsibilities to self? To society? To future generations?
• How do we balance self-preservation with concern for others?
• What are our individual rights and responsibilities? What might be our responsibilities and rights as members of particular groups within society?
• What are our societal rights and responsibilities? Does society count on us as individuals? If so how?
• What actions are expected of individuals within a society?

• How does society ensure there is respect for both individuals and for groups?

Dealing with Universal Issues, such as Truth and Justice

Guiding Question: What is "truth" and what is "justice"?

Sample Related Questions:

• How do we define "truth" and "justice"?
• What are the important truths in life?
• How do we find truth? How do we tell right from wrong?
• What are the rights of all?
• Why is justice often hard to achieve? Is justice fair? Infallible?
• Why does justice sometimes "sting"? How do we remedy injustice?
• Are there situations in which it is more just to treat people differently than to treat them the same?

Ambition, Power, and the Common Good

Guiding Question: What is the nature of ambition and power?

Sample Related Questions:

• What gives a person status? Is status achieved the same way in all societies? Within a society?
• How do ambition and power drive us? How do they challenge us?
• What is meant by "the common good"? Who decides what the common good is? Is the common good best for every individual in a society?
• What is the appeal of being in the position of "ruling" other people? What disadvantages accompany being the authority figure?
• How does lack of power affect particular individuals or groups?
• What is the reality of being colonized or "ruled"?
• What is the advantage in treating others as we wish they would treat us? Why is this often difficult?

Social Criticism--Conformity and Nonconformity/ Resistance

Guiding Question: What is social criticism?

Sample Related Questions:

• What societal issues concern us?
• What is the purpose of social criticism?
• What is conformity? What is nonconformity? What is meant by "the status quo"? What is rebellion? Do different people define these differently? Are they manifested differently in different societies?
• What is the role of the state in Canada? What is the role of the individual or groups within the state?
• How should the state treat its citizens? Is this the same in every country?
• What is the relationship between the individual and the state in Canada? In other countries?
• What are the shortcomings of Canadian society? How can we, as citizens, address them?
• Why do some individuals or groups challenge the system while others abide with it? What is political protest? How does Canadian society treat nonconformity? Rebellion? Is rebellion risky in Canada as compared to other countries? Why or why not?
• How does Canadian society respond to challenges?

Addressing the Issues--Causes and Crusades

Guiding Question: How can we make the world a better place?

Sample Related Questions:

• What matters most to us as individuals? As groups? As a society?
• Do all people tackle causes in their lifetimes? Why or why not? What causes might our generation tackle?
• What do people do when faced with a decision between advancing a cause and doing what they believe is right?
• Are there situations in which individuals might challenge authority? What are some responsible ways of challenging authority?

In the second 50-hour unit, it is assumed that the following objectives will be addressed.

Students will:

Speaking

• prepare and debate an issue
• present a toast
• practise the rules and procedures that govern business or community meetings
• other:

Possible Objectives from Unit I for Review and Reinforcement

• practice the behaviours of effective speakers
• recognize and adjust oral presentation elements effectively and in keeping with purpose, audience needs, and individual cultural and linguistic heritage
• review their own oral presentations for content, organization, delivery, style, and audience response
• function effectively as both a group member and a group leader
• develop and articulate defensible positions on individual, community, national, or world issues
• other:

• listen to analyze and evaluate
• evaluate logical development of an argument
• other:

• recognize listening as an active, constructive process
• anticipate a message and set a purpose for listening
• attend
• seek and check understanding by making connections, and by making and confirming predictions and inferences
• analyze and evaluate
• respond personally, critically, creatively, and empathetically
• evaluate ideas critically
• ask for clarification
• identify bias and fallacy in a speaker’s argument
• listen in order to understand and learn
• listen in order to assess positions on individual, community, national, or world issues
• other:

• produce an updated résumé and covering letter
• other:

• practise the behaviours of effective writers
• use what is known as the writing process
• use appropriate pre-writing and planning strategies
• develop ideas previously explored into draft forms
• revise and polish compositions
• share, present, or publish compositions
• write and document a convincing argument using logical thought and persuasive language
• experiment with a variety of forms of writing such as a poem, play, short story, chapter of a novel, parody, or satire
• other:

• demonstrate an increased ability to interpret symbols and symbolic patterns in literature
• locate, assess, and summarize information from a variety of sources
• other:

• practise the behaviours of effective, strategic readers
• respond personally, critically, and creatively
• recognize major literary forms and techniques
• read to understand and appreciate an international literary heritage and world perspective
• develop and articulate defensible positions on individual, community, national, or world issues reflected in texts
• explore human experiences and values reflected in texts
• paraphrase a prose and/or poetry passage
• recognize satire
• other:

• present information on a topic with class members in a planned and focused group session using a variety of audio-visual strategies
• deliver a multimedia presentation for a specific audience and purpose (e.g., to inform, to influence, or to entertain)
• respond personally, critically, and creatively to visuals and multimedia presentations
• identify the purposes, intended audiences, messages, and points of view of visuals and multimedia presentations
• recognize language techniques and media conventions in visuals, films/videos, and multimedia presentations
• evaluate critically information obtained from viewing visuals and multimedia presentations
• other:

• create appropriate nonverbal aids and visual images to enhance communication
• communicate thoughts, ideas, and feelings using two or more media
• recognize nonverbal aids and visual representations as tools for communicating and learning
• recognize viewing as an active process that requires viewers to:
• anticipate a message and set a purpose for viewing
• attend
• seek and check understanding by making connections, and by making and confirming predictions and inferences
• interpret and summarize
• analyze and evaluate
• respond personally, critically, and creatively to films/videos
• identify the purposes, intended audiences, messages, and points of view of films/videos
• evaluate critically information obtained from viewing films/videos
• other:

(List key language concepts for this unit.)

See the chart on the following page for a list of sample resources for this unit. For contemporary texts, F (female) and M (male) indicate the gender of the author. Country of origin of the author is indicated, as is type of work.

Sub-issue	Contemporary (in addition to critical articles and audio or video versions)	Traditional (in addition to critical articles and audio or video versions)
Beyond Personal Goals—Individual, Group, and Societal Responsibilities	E.g., The Guest (Camus) [Algeria/ France] (short story) (M) The Metamorphosis (Kafka) [Austria/ Czech] (short story) (M) (Maugham) [England] (short story) (M) Amazons in Appalachia (Awiakta) [USA] (essay) (F) (Aboriginal)	E.g., No man is an Island (Donne) An Enemy of the People (Ibsen)
Dealing with Universal Issues, such as Truth and Justice	E.g., Golly, How Truth Will Out (Nash) [USA] (poem) (M) A Journey Along the Oka (Solzhenitsyn) [Russia] (poem) (M) The Ring (Dinesen) [Denmark] (short story) (F) The Lottery (Jackson) [USA] (short story) (F) from Kaffir Boy (Mathabane) [South Africa] (essay) (M) All My Sons (Miller) [USA] (play) (M) One-Hundred-Dollar Boots (Jacobs) [USA] (short story) (F) I/M	E.g., Excerpt from Of Truth (Bacon) Excerpt from On Liars (Montaigne) Excerpt from On Liberty (Mill) The Tables Turned (Wordsworth) Thou Art Indeed Just, Lord (Hopkins)
Ambition, Power, and the Common Good	E.g., Wind and Water and Stone (Paz) [Mexico] (poem) (M) Discoverers of Chile (Neruda) [Chile] (poem) (M) Thoughts of Hanoi (Thi Vinh) [Vietnam] (poem) (M) Thurl’s Machine (Lem) [Poland] (short story) (M) The Island of Woman (Glashan) [USA] (poem) (F) (Aboriginal)	E.g., Of Ambition (Bacon) Tartuffe (Moliere)
Social Criticism--Conformity and Nonconformity/Resistance	E.g., Lot’s Wife (Wilbur) [Russia] (poem) (F) The Pig (Kimenye) [Uganda) (short story) (M) By Any Other Name (Rau) [India] (essay) (F) Brave New World (Huxley) [England] (novel) (M) Grapes of Wrath (Steinbeck) [USA] (novel) (M) The Only Good Indian (Hale) [USA] (essay) (F)	E.g., A Modest Proposal (Swift) To a Skylark (Shelley)
>Addressing the Issues--Causes and Crusades	E.g., Telephone Conversation (Soyinka) [Nigeria] (poem) (M) Excerpt from Night (Wiesel) [Romania] (essay) (M) We Aim Not to Please (Bird) [USA] (essay) (F)	E.g., Utopia (More) The Chimney Sweep (Wordsworth) Ode to the West Wind (Shelley)