Modernism AP Literature Unit

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Your Students Will Love This Comprehensive AP® Literature Modernism Unit!

Teach Modernist literature with this meticulously crafted 4-week unit. I’ve done ALL the work for you! Just put it in motion!

This resource empowers AP® Literature students with a profound understanding of key literary works that define the Modernist movement. It’s perfect for facilitating engaging discussions and rigorous analysis!

Use them all or pick and choose! The unit covers an array of 15 renowned texts:

The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber by Ernest Hemingway
Araby by James Joyce
Chicago by Carl Sandburg
Dawn by William Carlos Williams
The Snow Man by Wallace Stevens
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot
As I Walked Out One Evening by W. H. Auden
a total stranger one black day by e. e. cummings
Futility by Wilfred Owen
Acquainted with the Night by Robert Frost
The Hollow Men by T. S. Eliot
Musée des Beaux Arts by W. H. Auden
Sweeney Among the Nightingales by T. S. Eliot
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas
Dulce et Decorum est by Wilfred Owen

Each text is carefully selected to highlight the defining characteristics of Modernism—alienation and isolation, fragmentation and disillusionment, time and memory, identity and self-reflection, urbanization and modernity, existential angst and absurdity, and WWI and its aftermath!

Students will engage deeply with these themes through various resources, designed with differentiation and rigor in mind!

⭐️75 Thought-Provoking Reading Questions: Designed to stimulate literary analysis covering structure, imagery, diction, tone, characters/speakers, shifts, sound devices, figurative language, and more. Use these questions as classwork, homework, or to drive class discussion. Plus, the packet includes six further ideas for differentiation, so you can differentiate as you see fit!
⭐️Complete Poetry Charts: Detailed charts for all nine primary poems, filled out to aid students in comprehension and analysis, or use them yourself to get the FULL rundown on each poem before you teach it—save yourself 100s of hours of research!
⭐️Discussion Guides: Comprehensive discussion guides for Acquainted with the Night and The Hollow Men, to help you as you let go of the reigns a bit, moving away from reading questions and guiding students through small group discussions or perhaps a full class discussion of each poem.
⭐️Poetry Analysis Assignments: Eight analytical questions for each of the final four poems, fostering independent study and critical thinking. You may ask students to simply choose one of the poems and answer the questions that go with it, or perhaps they use the questions to help drive a typed poetry analysis essay of their own!
⭐️Unit Tests and Study Materials: A well-rounded approach to this unit means you’ll be provided with a Modernism Unit calendar to help you with planning and pacing, a Modernism context reading document offering differentiated scaffolding (an easy version, a college-level version, and a re-cap/study guide), a Modernist Art and Architecture PowerPoint for deeper contextual understanding (75 slides), and a focused study guide for the concluding unit test (THREE versions are provided with six short answer/paragraph response questions for each test).
⭐️Note that answers will vary for the unit tests, so there is no rubric or answer key. I use this one when I grade.

This unit is crafted to meet the rigorous standards of both the Common Core State Standards (Reading Literature) and the AP® Literature exam (Big Ideas and Enduring Understandings), ensuring that your students will develop the essential skills in literary analysis and interpretation you know they need!

Equip your students with the tools to navigate the complexities of Modernist literature and to excel in their academic journey. Unlock the world of Modernism today with this comprehensive AP Literature unit!

Why You’ll Love This Unit!

It’s the perfect blend of classic, old-school rigor & fresh, creative questions to engage your students.
It’s designed for teachers who demand excellence and want to challenge their students to reach new heights of literary analysis.
Showcase your expertise and dedication to your craft, and your students will remember this unit as a transformative experience in their literary education. It’s a favorite in my class each year, and it’ll help you make your kids feel confident, capable, and insightful!

Don’t let your kids feel like Modernism is too hard, boring, or a giant mystery for one second longer! Grab this unit & watch as students start “cooking”!

⭐️Try this Modernist Art & Architecture PowerPoint–Kids LOVE this! Build their schema further by exploring art & architecture in the Modernist vein!