English III Honors Academic Library (1st Semester)
This junior-year honors English course invites students to delve into American literature from early American Indian voices through contemporary works. Students will engage in literary analysis and inferential evaluation of great texts, including the full length novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin.

While critically reading fiction, poetry, drama, and expository nonfiction, honors students will master comprehension, use evidence to conduct in-depth literary analysis, and examine and critique how authors develop ideas in a variety of genres. 

A copy of the English III Honors Course Overview. 
Students should see our statement about these courses which are not authored from a biblical worldview. Students uncomfortable with these courses should enroll in our courses from a biblical worldview ​

english iii honors

Unit 1: American Roots: From Native Traditions to the American Revolution
  1. The Iroquois Creation Myth: "The World on Turtle's Back" Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - What is a creation myth, and how can it reveal the values of a culture?
    3. Assignment - Read "The World on Turtle’s Back" to learn its explanation of creation and cultural values.
    4. Instruction - What is a creation myth, and how can it reveal the values of a culture?
    5. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    6. Quiz Answers 
  2. Jonathan Edwards’s "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How did early American writers use word choice and rhetorical techniques to appeal to an audience?
    3. Assignment - Read "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" to interpret Edwards’s word choice.
    4. Instruction - How did early American writers use word choice and rhetorical techniques to appeal to an audience?
    5. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    6. Quiz Answers
  3. Female Colonial Poetry Guided Notes
    1. Warm Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How do female colonial poets use poetic devices to impact the audience?
    3. Assignment - Read “To My Dear and Loving Husband” and “To the King’s Most Excellent Majesty.”
    4. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    5. Quiz Answers
  4. Thomas Paine Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How did colonial writers inspire the American colonists to fight for independence?
    3. Assignment - Read "The Crisis," No. 1 by Thomas Paine to examine his choice of language and decide on his purpose.
    4. Instruction - How did colonial writers inspire the American colonists to fight for independence?
    5. Assignment - Read an excerpt from Common Sense to examine rhetorical technique and language.
    6. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    7. Quiz Answers 
  5. The Declaration of Independence Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How does the structure of the Declaration of Independence reflect its reasoning?
    3. Assignment - Read the Declaration of Independence and evaluate how each section develops the structure of the argument.
    4. Instruction - How does the structure of the Declaration of Independence reflect its reasoning?
    5. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    6. Quiz Answers
  6. Sentence Fluency Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How can understanding sentence elements and patterns make you a better writer? 
    3. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    4. Assignment - Practice revising sentences for better fluency.
    5. Quiz Answers
  7. Writing Workshop: Summary
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How can you write an objective and engaging summary of a text?
    3. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    4. Assignment - Summarize an excerpt from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano.
    5. Quiz Answers
  8. Unit Test
    1. Unit Test Review Answers
    2. ​Unit Test Answers
Unit 2: ​Bright Romanticism: American Individualism
  1. Fireside Poets Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How can word choice, imagery, and structure be compared in two poems?
    3. Assignment - Read “Auspex” and “A Psalm of Life” to observe word choice, imagery, and structure.
    4. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    5. Quiz Answers
  2. Ralph Waldo Emerson Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How can you use the central ideas of a text to determine and assess the author’s argument?
    3. Assignment - Read an excerpt from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Nature to determine its central ideas.
    4. Instruction - How can you use the central ideas of a text to determine and assess the author’s argument?
    5. Assignment - Read an excerpt from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Society and Solitude to assess his argument. 
    6. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    7. Quiz Answers
  3. Henry David Thoreau - "Civil Disobedience" Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How can knowledge of historical events be used to evaluate a text’s significance?
    3. Assignment - Read Henry David Thoreau’s essay "Civil Disobedience" to understand his beliefs.
    4. Instruction - How can knowledge of historical events be used to evaluate a text’s significance?
    5. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    6. Quiz Answers
  4. Walt Whitman’s "Song of Myself" Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How does Whitman use word choice, tone, and structure to express themes in his poetry?
    3. Assignment - Read an excerpt from Whitman’s "Song of Myself" to examine word choice and tone.
    4. Instruction - How does Whitman use word choice, tone, and structure to express themes in his poetry?
    5. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    6. Quiz Answers
  5. Emily Dickinson's Poetry Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How do structure and language create meaning in Dickinson’s poetry?
    3. Assignment - Read two Dickinson poems to analyze the poet’s style using structure and language.
    4. Instruction - How do structure and language create meaning in Dickinson’s poetry?
    5. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    6. Quiz Answers
  6. Writing Workshop: Narrative Writing
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How can you write a personal narrative to share a significant event with an audience?
    3. Pre-Writing - Plan to write your narrative essay.
    4. Instruction - How can you write a personal narrative to share a significant event with an audience?
    5. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    6. Assignment - Write a narrative essay.
    7. Drafting - Draft your narrative essay.
    8. Assignment - Evaluate your narrative essay draft.
    9. Revising - Revise your narrative essay.
    10. Assignment - Evaluate your narrative essay revision.
    11. Quiz Answers
  7. Unit Test
    1. Unit Test Review Answers
    2. ​Unit Test Answers
Unit 3: ​Dark Romanticism: American Gothic
  1. Suspense and Horror: Gothic Writing across Time Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How do American gothic texts use suspense, and how do they affect contemporary stories?
    3. Assignment - Read Washington Irving's "The Adventure of the Mysterious Picture” to analyze suspense.
    4. Instruction - How do American gothic texts use suspense, and how do they affect contemporary stories?
    5. Assignment - Read an excerpt from Stephen King’s Danse Macabre to recognize Irving’s influences.
    6. Instruction - How do American gothic texts use suspense, and how do they affect contemporary stories?
    7. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    8. Quiz Answers
  2. The Scarlet Letter Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How can an author’s choice of words convey the setting and mood of a fictional plot?
    3. Assignment - Read chapters 1 and 2 of The Scarlet Letter to analyze setting and mood.
    4. Instruction - How can an author’s choice of words convey the setting and mood of a fictional plot?
    5. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    6. Quiz Answers
  3. The Scarlet Letter, Part 2 Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson. 
    2. Instruction - In what ways can an author use characterization to make a story more effective?
    3. Assignment - Read chapters 3 and 4 of The Scarlet Letter to uncover clues about characters.
    4. Instruction - In what ways can an author use characterization to make a story more effective?
    5. Summary - Review and connect what you learned.
    6. Quiz Answers
  4. Symbols in Moby-Dick Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How does Melville use symbols to convey themes in Moby-Dick?
    3. Assignment - Read “Ahab,” a chapter from Moby-Dick, to draw conclusions about its themes.
    4. Instruction - How does Melville use symbols to convey themes in Moby-Dick?
    5. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    6. Quiz Answers
  5. Choosing Vocabulary Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How can you use vocabulary to address specific situations and develop style and tone?
    3. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    4. Assignment - Practice choosing vocabulary that is appropriate for the task, purpose, and audience.
    5. Quiz Answers
  6. Unit Test
    1. Unit Test Review Answers
    2. ​​Unit Test Answers
Unit 4: ​A Nation Dividing and Expanding: Civil War, Regionalism, and Realism 
  1. Abolition and Women’s Rights Movements, Part 1 Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - What types of reasoning and rhetorical devices make a persuasive argument effective? 
    3. Assignment - Read Douglass’s speech “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” to evaluate his reasoning. 
    4. Instruction - What types of reasoning and rhetorical devices make a persuasive argument effective?
    5. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    6. Quiz Answers
  2. An Inner Story of the Civil War Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How can predicting plot and summarizing themes aid in understanding a short story? 
    3. Assignment -Read “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” and make predictions about the plot.
    4. Instruction - How can predicting plot and summarizing themes aid in understanding a short story? 
    5. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    6. Quiz Answers
  3. The Mississippi River Runaways Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - What role do dialect and humor, including irony and satire, play in Twain’s writing? 
    3. Assignment - Read excerpts from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to analyze use of dialogue and dialect.
    4. Instruction - What role do dialect and humor, including irony and satire, play in Twain’s writing?
    5. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    6. Quiz Answers
  4. American Indian Issues Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - What are the central ideas of a speech, and how does tone affect the meaning?
    3. Assignment - Read Chief Joseph’s speech “An Indian’s View of Indian Affairs” to determine central ideas. 
    4. Instruction - What are the central ideas of a speech, and how does tone affect the meaning?
    5. Assignment - Read Satanta’s speech “My Heart is Bursting” to determine tone and central ideas.
    6. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    7. Quiz Answers
  5. Reality and Cynicism in Poetry Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How can analyzing irony help readers infer and compare themes in naturalist poetry? 
    3. Assignment - Read Dunbar’s poem “We Wear the Mask” to determine how it is an example of naturalism.
    4. Instruction - How can analyzing irony help readers infer and compare themes in naturalist poetry?
    5. Assignment - Read “A Man Said to the Universe” to determine how it reflects naturalism. 
    6. Instruction - How can analyzing irony help readers infer and compare themes in naturalist poetry?
    7.  Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    8. Quiz Answers
  6. Pronoun Agreement and Reference Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How can you use pronouns and subject-verb agreement correctly when you write?
    3. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    4. Assignment - Practice pronoun usage and subject-verb agreement by completing a paragraph.
    5. Quiz Answers
  7. Writing Workshop: Effective Professional Communication
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How do you organize and write an argumentative letter?
    3. Pre-Writing 
    4. Instruction - How do you organize and write an argumentative letter?
    5. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    6. Assignment - Write an argumentative letter.
    7. Drafting 
    8. Assignment - Evaluate the draft of your argumentative letter.
    9. Revising -
    10. Assignment - Evaluate the revision of your argumentative letter.
    11. Quiz Answers
  8. Unit Test
    1. Unit Test Review Answers
    2. ​Unit Test Answers
Unit 5:Make it New!: Early Modernism
  1. Early Stream of Consciousness and Feminism in Fiction Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How can viewpoint and gothic elements convey social context and attitudes?
    3. Assignment - Read “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Gilman to analyze social attitudes about women.
    4. Instruction - How can viewpoint and gothic elements convey social context and attitudes?
    5. Assignment - Read “Why I Wrote ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’” by Gilman to grasp her purpose for writing.
    6. Summary-Review and connect what you have learned.
    7. Quiz Answers
  2. Meta Poetry: Poetry about Poetry Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How do modernist poets use free verse to communicate the themes of their poems?
    3. Assignment - Read Marianne Moore’s poem “Poetry” and analyze how poetic form communicates theme.
    4. Instruction - How do modernist poets use free verse to communicate the themes of their poems?
    5. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    6. Quiz Answers 
  3. Robert Frost’s Poetry Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How is Frost’s “Mending Wall” both a modern poem and a formal poem?
    3. Assignment - Read “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost to analyze its form.
    4. Instruction - How is Frost’s “Mending Wall” both a modern poem and a formal poem?
    5. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    6. Quiz Answers
  4. Reflecting on World War I Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How can an author use structure and key terms to express a viewpoint?
    3. Assignment - Read “How We Entered World War I” to focus on central ideas, viewpoint, and structure. 
    4.  Instruction - How can an author use structure and key terms to express a viewpoint?
    5. Assignment - Read Woodrow Wilson’s war message to Congress to analyze the use of key terms.
    6. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    7. Quiz Answers
  5. Speaking and Listening: Evaluating a Speaker Guided Notes
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How can listening skills help you evaluate a speech’s effectiveness and its techniques?
    3. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    4. Assignment - Practice listening critically to evaluate a speaker.
    5. Quiz Answers
  6. Writing Workshop: Literary Analysis
    1. Warm-Up - Get ready for the lesson.
    2. Instruction - How do you use the writing process to write and support a critical lens literary analysis?
    3. Pre-Writing - Plan to write your analytical essay.
    4. Instruction - How do you use the writing process to write and support a critical lens literary analysis?
    5. Summary - Review and connect what you have learned.
    6. Assignment - Write a critical lens literary analysis essay.
    7. Drafting - Draft your analytical essay. 
    8. Assignment - Evaluate your critical lens draft.
    9. Revising - Revise your analytical essay.
    10. Assignment - Evaluate your critical lens essay revision.
    11. Quiz Answers
  7. Unit Test
    1. Unit Test Review Answers
    2. ​Unit Test Answers 
​Unit 6:Cumulative Exam
  1. Cumulative Exam Review Answers
    1. ​​Cumulative Exam Answers