Essential Questions for 1st 9 Weeks



Essential Questions for 1st 9 Weeks

|Beowulf |Hamlet & Macbeth |The Medieval Period: |

| | |1066-1485 |

|(1) How does the poet use the elements of |(1) Elements found in a tragic hero - main |(1) How does, if at all, the historical |

|the epic hero to develop the character |character in a tragedy whose error in |fact that these stories began in the oral |

|Beowulf? (2) What mythical influences can|actions leads to his/her downfall: tragic |tradition (since the printing press was not|

|be found in Beowulf? (3) What is the |flaw in hero is usually hubris; hero |created till the mid 15th century & prior |

|underlying theme of Beowulf? How is it |usually of noble birth; hero learns from |to that literacy was common only among the |

|revealed throughout the poem? |the mistake; suffering is not wholly |upper class) impact the each story? (2) |

|(4) Epic poem – a long, serious narrative |deserved; see his/her fate too late to |Setting in stories from this time period is|

|poem celebrating the heroic achievements of|reverse it: fate is usually death; hero |usually of the fantasy realm much unlike |

|its hero. Based on this definition, |elicits sympathy from the reader. Based on|the world in which the writer lived. |

|identify the aspects of Beowulf that meet |this definition, how do the characters of |Identify proof to support this in each of |

|this definition. (5) Epic hero – the main |Hamlet & Macbeth exemplify the tragic hero?|the stories. (3) These stories were |

|character of an epic (poem or novel) whose | |intended to help people forget their |

|legendary, heroic actions are central to |(2) What elements of tragedy are found in |horrors of their everyday lives, horrors |

|his/her culture, race, or nation. Based on|these plays? (3) In Macbeth, how does |such as the Black Death. Find proof in |

|this definition, identify aspects of the |Shakespeare’s development of the character |each story to support this attempt. |

|poem’s protagonist that support the |Lady Macbeth advance the plot? Impact the |(4) How is each story representative of |

|definition. (6) What tone and mood is |conflict? Impact Macbeth’s role as the |literature from this period? Identify |

|created in Beowulf through the poet’s word |tragic hero? How does the playwright use |elements in each. (5) What is the theme |

|choice? What words support your answer? |the multiple meanings of madness (anger & |of Le Morte d’Arthur? Sir Gawain & the |

|(7) What is the theme of the poem, and how|insanity) to enhance the character, Hamlet?|Green Knight? Federigo’s Falcon? Each of |

|is it revealed? |Lady Macbeth? (4) How does Shakespeare |The Canterbury Tales? (6) Where can |

|(8) How does the story told in Beowulf |use soliloquy to provide insight into the |evidence of irony be found in each of the |

|represent a universal view of life? (9) |characters, Hamlet & Lady Macbeth? Into |aforementioned stories? |

|What aspect of the poem are representative |their motivation? What, if any, | |

|of literature from the Anglo-Saxon period? |contradictory information is revealed | |

|(10) What is a kenning? Identify examples|through soliloquy? What information is | |

|of it in the poem? (11) What was the |revealed that supports their roles in their| |

|poet’s purpose in writing Beowulf? |perspective plays? | |

Essential Questions for 2nd 9 Weeks

|Othello |Poetry Unit |Satire |

|(1) Explain how Othello can be described as|(1) How is each of the poems, from each of |Literature defined as satire may also use |

|a tragic hero? What was his tragic flaw? |the 5 historical periods highlighted in |rhetoric to move an audience to action |

|(2) How does the use of soliloquy develop |this unit, representative of its time |often related to public or political |

|Iago’s character as the foil to Othello? |period? (2) Identify the following in each|topics. Satire holds the vices, follies, |

|(3) Where, in the play, can examples of |poem: sound, form, & figurative language. |abuses &/or shortcomings of a person or |

|foreshadowing be found? (4) Where can |(3) What if the underlying meaning, as |society up to criticism by means of |

|examples of dramatic irony be identified? |revealed through explication, of each poem?|ridicule in order to bring about |

|(5) How can a present-day reader of |(4) What examples of symbolism are found |improvement. |

|Othello draw comparisons between the |in each poem? |(1) What role does Swift’s use of irony |

|character and events of the play today’s |(5) Identify literary elements more |play in Gulliver’s interactions with the |

|political scene? |commonly associated with prose, such as |inhabitants of the lands he visits? (2) |

| |conflict and resolution, in each poem. |What is the underlying meaning of each |

| |(6) Poems also have characters. Though |selection – Gulliver’s Travel’s? A Modest |

| |they may not be as well developed as those |Proposal? Candide? |

| |portrayed in short stories & novels, due to|(3) What comment(s) on society does |

| |the usually shorter length of poetry. |Swift/Volatire make in their stories? (4) |

| |Identify the main characters of each poem, |How does the authors’ word choice advance |

| |and trace his/her development throughout |the theme in each selection? (5) To what |

| |the stories being told in the poems. |historical events is A Modest Proposal |

| | |referring? How did the reign of Henry VIII|

| | |& the battle between Catholics & |

| | |Protestants create the situation Swift |

| | |satirizes in A Modest Proposal? (6) On |

| | |what historical events is the story Candide|

| | |based? (7) Through allegory (communication|

| | |of meaning through symbolic figures that |

| | |appeal to one’s imagination), what societal|

| | |structures does Voltaire ridicule? (8) |

| | |What universal views are evident in |

| | |Candide? (9) What is the theme/underlying |

| | |message of Candide? (10) How is Candide |

| | |similar to/different from the satire of |

| | |Swift? (11) How is Candide’s search for |

| | |“the best of all possible worlds” satirized|

| | |by Volatire through his criticism of the |

| | |philosophy known as Leibnizian optimism? |

| | |*Volataire was a French, 18th century Age |

| | |of Enlightenment philosopher and a strong |

| | |voice for the freedom of expression, |

| | |alongside his championing of reason. He |

| | |wrote many satires on what he saw as the |

| | |abuse of power by society's elite. |

| | |*Leibniz was a German philosopher & |

| | |mathematician who believed in optimism |

| | |which was that “God assuredly always |

| | |chooses the best.” |

Essential Questions for 3rd 9 Weeks

|Frankenstein |Jane Eyre & Wuthering Heights |

| |(1) What themes do Charlotte and Emily Bronte reveal in Jane Eyre|

|(1) What elements of romanticism can be found in Frankenstein? |& Wuthering Heights? How so? (2) What comments on life/society |

|(2) What Biblical references can be found in the novel? (3) |does Emily Bronte make by developing Jane’s character in the way |

|What mythical comparisons can be made to the novel? (4) What is|she does? (3) What ahead-of-her-time feminist messages does Emily|

|the theme of Frankenstein? (5) How does Shelley’s character |Bronte explore in Jane Eyre? (4) What major elements of |

|development of the monster elicit sympathy for him from the |literature from The Victorians and Modernism can be found in Jane|

|reader? (6) What is the major conflict in the novel, and how is |Eyre & Wuthering Heights? (5) How can we see that the |

|it resolved? (7) What views of science does Shelley seem to |novelists both included ideas of the time into their works as |

|reveal in Frankenstein? (8) Why is her inclusion of science |well as snubbed their noses at what was deemed acceptable in the |

|relevant to the time period in which she lived & wrote the novel?|minds of society at the time? Identify specific portions from |

| |each novel. |

Essential Questions for the 4th 9 Weeks

The spirit of Modernism—a radical and utopian spirit stimulated by new ideas in anthropology, psychology, philosophy, political theory, and psychoanalysis.

|Cry, the Beloved Country |Pygmalion |

|(1) How does Paton use the archetypal journey of initiation to |(1) How does Shaw use language as a part of the conflict in the |

|further the development of the character, Stephen Kumalo? To |play? (2) How does his development of the character, Eliza, serve|

|develop the conflict? To lead the reader through to the |as a foil for Higgins? (3) What is ironic about Higgins desire |

|resolution? (2) What symbolism is found in Paton’s inclusion of|to turn Eliza into an acceptable lady? (4) What is the theme of |

|such powerful historical persons as Christ and Abraham Lincoln in|the play? (5) How can the message revealed in the play apply to |

|juxtaposition to Arthur Jarvis? (3) What elements of Modernism |modern-day life? (6) What elements of comedy are found in the |

|can be found in Cry, the Beloved Country? (4) What comments on |play? |

|society in South Africa during Apartheid does Paton make in the | |

|novel? How so? | |

Essential Questions for the 4th 9 Weeks Continued

|Lord of the Flies |And Then There Were None |

|(1) Around what likely historical events is the novel centered? |(1) What themes are found in the novel? (2) What symbolism in |

|(2) How doe the events on the island parallel the events taking |found in And Then There Were None? (3) What purpose is served, |

|place in the world at the time? (3) What is ironic about the |what comments on society does the author make by having the main |

|boys’ behavior and actions when one considers the reason they |characters come from such varied social classes? (4) What |

|were on the plane in the first place? (4) What is the theme of |Biblical reference/allusion is made in Wargrave’s death? (5) How |

|the novel? (5) What symbolism is found in the story? (6) What|does Christie’s use of plot twists advance the plat and involve |

|characteristics of the literature from this period are found in |the reader more in the events of the story? (6) How do the |

|the novel? (7) How does Jack serve as a foil to Ralph’s |elements of logic and evidence (as customarily found in |

|attempts to lead the boys? (8) How does Golding’s character |non-fiction) impact this piece of fiction? |

|development of the boys advance the plot? Impact the conflict? | |

|(9) What imagery is created by the setting in which the main | |

|events of the story occur? (10) What comment on society/life | |

|does the author make in the underlying meaning of the story? | |

|(11) How does the character, Piggy, represent the rational side | |

|of civilization? (12) What does the sow’s head/ the lord of the | |

|flies symbolize? | |

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