The best Lang Arts Staff that I was on put together a 4 year plan that had essential readings as the skeleton of matriculating to graduation. Freshman year: Intro to Lit; Sophomore: American Lit; Junior Year: World Lit; senior year; British Lit. We also agreed that because Shakespeare was at the center of the Canon, freshman: "Romeo and Juliet," sophomore: "Hamlet," Junior: "Macbeth,"; Senior: "The Tempest." "Hamlet" is an English play, of course, but it described all the collective struggle of a disturbed American teenager. Even though it's the longest play, the students embrace the learning--and it made a difference when we attacked some other cultural gems from the rest of the world and British Lit. The basic question is "How do I go on when there are so many problems facing me?" Hamlet gives them a little practice to the sever troubles of identity and purpose. Lesson plans: 62 pages: 11,1101 words, visuals
