Welcome to

ENG3U

Have you reckon’d a thousand acres much? have you reckon’d the earth much?
Have you practis’d so long to learn to read?
Have you felt so proud to get at the meaning of poems?

Stop this day and night with me, and you shall possess the origin of all poems;
You shall possess the good of the earth and sun—(there are millions of suns left;)
You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the
dead, nor feed on the spectres in books;
You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me:
You shall listen to all sides, and filter them from yourself.
Walt Whitman
“Song of Myself”

Welcome to ENG3U! Stop this day and night with me, and you will come to understand the incredible, unfathomable power you all possess: language. We will explore both the creative and destructive power of language- its power to hurt and heal, move mountains and hearts, expose inequity and pronounce justice. You will refine hone your own linguistic skills and develop your powers of inquiry and argumentation. Language will be both our playground and battle-field. Our themes? They’re big ones: power, love, and freedom. Are you ready?

Course Outline:
Unit #1: Novel Study- Their Eyes Were Watching God
Unit #2: Poetry- The Sonnet
Unit #3: Drama- Macbeth
Unit #4: Prose nonfiction- The Essay as Genre,  Independent Study

Course Texts:

Their Eyes Were Watching God
Macbeth
Various stories, essays, poems (handouts)