My Colonialism Text Set-Rationale

Main Topic: Colonialism/Imperialism/Empire.

Intended Audience: This is for an accelerated junior English class.

Why is it important?: The legacy of empire and colonization is one that still exists today, even decades after the British Empire lost the majority of their power. Even though we may not always see the effects of colonization and imperialism, it still exists, especially in literature. It affects the ways that writers wrote, it determined what could be written, and it influenced the content of numerous novels across various eras of literature. Imperialism can be at the forefront of the novel, or it can be hidden in the background, only brought to the surface by close analysis. By reading text with colonial context to it, as well as looking at it from a post-colonial perspective, our readers will be able to gain a better understanding about how Empire affected the literature that we still read today.

What standards would this text support?: This text set, and the lessons that will be included within it, touch on many Common Core standards, including but not limited to:CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.4,CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.9. It also will support critical thinking skills as we will be reading examples of literary criticism and use those examples to guide our own analysis of the texts.

What are the essential questions?: How does empire/colonialism affect how the story is told? Who gets to tell the story? Who has the power in the story? How does this affect our understanding of the novel? How is empire still present today? Why is it important to look at thinks from the post-colonial perspective? Who is in power and who is subject to that power?  How do these relationships work?