LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

English I

Goal 5: The learner will demonstrate understanding of various literary genres, concepts, elements, and terms.

Objective 5.01. Read and analyze various literary works by:

  • using effective reading strategies for preparation, engagement, reflection.
  • recognizing and analyzing the characteristics of literary genres, including fiction (e.g., myths, legends, short stories, novels), non-fiction (e.g., essays, biographies, autobiographies, historical documents), poetry (e.g., epics, sonnets, lyric poetry, ballads) and drama (e.g., tragedy, comedy).
  • interpreting literary devices such as allusion, symbolism, figurative language, flashback, dramatic irony, dialogue, diction, and imagery.
  • understanding the importance of tone, mood, diction, and style.
  • explaining and interpreting archetypal characters, themes, settings.
  • explaining how point of view is developed and its effect on literary texts.
  • determining a character's traits from his/her actions, speech, appearance, or what others say about him or her.
  • explaining how the writer creates character, setting, motif, theme, and other elements.
  • making thematic connections among literary texts and media and contemporary issues.
  • understanding the importance of cultural and historical impact on literary texts.
  • producing creative responses that follow the conventions of a specific genre and using appropriate literary devices for that genre.

Additional related resources

We’re in the process of aligning our content for students to the Standard Course of Study. As we do, you’ll find it here.

General resources

Aligned lesson plans

Thematic and organizational patterns in McLaurin's "The Rite Time of Night"
Students will learn to identify and color-code thematic and organizational patterns found in the narrative and then use two-column note-taking to highlight how these patterns helped McLaurin give his story focus and organization. As a suggested follow-up activity, students are given ideas for writing their own narratives, using similar techniques as McLaurin.
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts)
By Vickie Smith.
Tableaux tour of texts
Students express their empathy for characters and events from books read in small groups by creating tableaux (freeze-frames) of key scenes to present to the class.
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 English Language Arts)
By Kim Bowen.
Story tellers and poets
Students will examine the style, purpose, and organization of folktales and poetry in order to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of both genres. With this knowledge, students will use the word choice and repetition of traditional folktales to transform them into modern poetry.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8–10 English Language Arts)
By Heather Bower and Michele Hicks.
Slave narratives: A genre study
In this lesson, students will read selected excerpts from slave narratives, determining common characteristics of the genre. Students will then write their own slave narratives as a slave from their region of North Carolina, researching for historical accuracy and incorporating elements of the slave narrative genre to demonstrate understanding.
Format: lesson plan (grade 9 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
By Dayna Durbin Gleaves.
Romeo! Why do you have to be a doggone Montague?
Students will interpret and comprehend Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," Act 2, Scene 2 (the balcony scene) through translating the original text and preparing a dramatic presentation of the scene for the class.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8–10 English Language Arts)
By Amanda Rowland.
Romeo and Juliet: The Balcony Scene (Act 2, Scene 2)
O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Lesson will help struggling readers to comprehend figurative language and overall meaning in the famous balcony scene. It will also compare text to two media depictions. This lesson has been created with exceptional children and limited English proficient (novice low) students in mind.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8–10 English Language Arts and English Language Development)
By Elizabeth Mackie and Vicki Moats.
A renaissance of jazz and poetry
The Harlem Renaissance was the birth of a creative plethora in all fields of art for African Americans. The poetry and jazz composed during or inspired by this era naturally complemented each other. Furthermore, many of the themes from the musical and literary worlds are universal and provide a great lesson on how two different works can have a parallel theme.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8–10 English Language Arts and Music Education)
By Janet Fore.
Just like Brian Wilson did: Using allusion to teach imagery & theme
Beginning ENG I students are introduced to the general concepts of imagery (including symbolism) and theme in short literature in a lesson that features two contemporary pop songs and their lyrics. Serves as a useful attention getting exercise for low-level ENG I students who must become familiar with general literary concepts and terms for the ENG I EOC.
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 English Language Arts)
By Jeffrey Weeks.
Introduction to Animal Farm
This lesson introduces students to Orwell's Animal Farm. They will summarize and reflect on reading and connect the novel to life in a meaningful way.
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 English Language Arts)
By Mary Lou Faircloth.
India's path to independence
This interdisciplinary plan includes the study of the effects of imperialism and India's struggle for independence through history texts, literary works, and online resources. Activities include a seminar, research, and a news broadcast. Although this unit is designed for integrated English II and World Civilizations, lessons can be adapted to other class structures.
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
By Marian Johnson.
How ironic!
This lesson will introduce students to the concept of irony. Verbal, situational, and dramatic irony will be defined, but the focus of the lesson is situational irony. This lesson can be used prior to teaching longer, more complex short stories that contain situational irony. This lesson is modified for an English Language Learner (ELL) who reads at the Intermediate Low (IL) level.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts and English Language Development)
By Ann Gerber and Tericia Summers.
Diction in Maya Angelou's poem "Remembering"
The class will annotate and discuss Angelou's poem. Then they will select specific words and complete a webbing that asks them to explore the connotations of the word as well as consider the author's purpose in using it.
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 English Language Arts)
By Vickie Smith.
"The Cask of Amontillado"
The short story "The Cask of Amontillado," by Edgar Allan Poe is an effective venue for teaching English I literary terms. The following lesson plan is designed to engage the reader in a deeper than superficial reading of the text. It is also designed to elicit discussion and written critical-thinking responses. This lesson assumes that the literary terms have already been introduced. However, if they have not, the teacher may use this lesson to introduce these terms in the context of the literature.
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 English Language Arts and English Language Development)
By Guy Hill and Crystal Brown.
Analyzing significant events in Jim the Boy
This activity, to be completed after reading Tony Earley's Jim the Boy, helps students identify examples and details and then analyze them effectively. The class will brainstorm examples of life-changing events in Jim's life. The teacher will select one of the events, find the pages in the novel where it is discussed, and show the students how to annotate the text by marking details and commenting on them. Using a "T" chart, the class will then select three of the details to analyze.
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 English Language Arts)
By Vickie Smith.
To Kill A Mockingbird role-play: A Maycomb pig pickin'
Somewhere near the middle of reading the novel, students start to become confused about characters. This fun role-play activity works especially well just after Chapter 21 and allows students to get to know characters beyond Jem and Scout. It also can be a springboard into further discussions of point of view, theme, and stereotypes.
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 English Language Arts)
By David Ansbacher.
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Students study the symbolism, setting, and characterization in Kafka's work.
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 English Language Arts)
By Laura Rose.

Resources on the web

Writing about writing: An extended metaphor assignment
In this writing assignment, students have the opportunity to reflect on their writing process, and the teacher learns more about their habits and techniques as writers. Students use Richard Wilbur’s poem “The Writer” as an inspiration as they... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 English Language Arts)
Provided by: ReadWriteThink
Weaving the multigenre web
Students analyze literature and create a multigenre project to be published on the Internet. After reviewing the elements of fiction, students meet in groups to select a novel they will read. Over the next few sessions, students discuss self-selected novels... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 English Language Arts)
Provided by: ReadWriteThink
Varying views of America
Students will study tone and perspective while reading and analyzing Walt Whitman's “I Hear America Singing,” Langston Hughes' “I, Too, Sing America,” and Maya Angelou's “On the Pulse of the Morning”. The teacher begins... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–11 English Language Arts)
Provided by: ReadWriteThink
Using technology to analyze and illustrate symbolism in Night.
This lesson integrates technology with the exploration of symbolism in Night, by Elie Wiesel. A series of activities introduces students to modern narratives of hate crimes, genocide, and ethnic cleansing and prepares students... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 English Language Arts and Information Skills)
Provided by: ReadWriteThink