Unit+Four

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Book Choices

__ENGLISH 11 SYLLABUS #4__ __Unit 4: “The Spirit of Self”__ __ Overview __ : It was 1869. Ten men in four boats were about to embark on a journey that would cover almost 1,000 miles through uncharted canyons, and change the west forever. Three months later only five of the original company plus their one-arm Civil War hero-leader would emerge from the depths of the Grand Canyon at the mouth of the Virgin River. In his junior year, a young man left Harvard to devote his energies to Microsoft, a company he had begun in 1975 with his childhood friend Paul Allen. Guided by a belief that the computer would be a valuable tool on every office desktop and in every home, they lived in a run-down, drug and hooker infested hotel in New Mexico. Working tirelessly, Bill Gates developed a three billion dollar business. What do these two men share in common? Many things, probably, but one of the main things connecting them is that they represent a form of what is commonly called //the rugged individual//: individualism in social and economic affairs; belief not only in personal liberty and self-reliance but also in free competition. The United States of America is, indeed, united, but we celebrate the individual more than maybe any other place in the world. In this unit, you’ll have the opportunity to explore two different themes: Images of the Self—Public and Private and Adaptation and Survival: The Rejuvenation of the Human Spirit. Both explore how individuals define and redefine themselves during times of adversity. You group’s book will help dictate your focus, but ultimately you and the group will choose what to focus on. __ Images of the Self—Public and Private __ · Why do people create public images? · How do public images differ from private? · What things do most people hold privately? · What masks are created to hide private feelings? __ Rejuvenation of the Human Spirit __ · How does the past influence a person’s perception of the present? · How does one persevere in the face of adversity? · How do people’s changing identities affect their lives? · Can injustices of the past ever fully be righted? · When does it become necessary to break ties with the past? Good luck! We're all countin' on ya!
 * Here are the essential questions for each theme:**

Mr. Mullen