1

CONTENT ORGANIZER: 12.3C

Content Organizer
Curriculum Framework Essential Understandings

“Virginia Standard of Learning-English 12.3c:

The student will relate literary works and authors to major themes and issues of their eras”
(Virginia Board of Education, 2003).

FOCUS:
At the twelfth-grade level, students will analyze British literature and literature of other cultures
with emphasis on the many classic works that may be studied. In addition, students will read
informational and technical texts and continue to develop their own reading-process skills.
Students will apply these reading skills in other content areas, including history and social
science, science, and mathematics” (Virginia Board of Education, 2004).

“ESSENTIAL UNDERSTANDINGS:

All students should

• recognize the literary characteristics of the major chronological eras.

“ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND PROCESSES:

To be successful with this standard, students are expected to

• identify the literary characteristics of specific eras, such as Romantic and Victorian
periods” (Virginia Board of Education, 2004).

Materials and Lesson Preparation

The Characteristics of Romanticism hand-out and a hand-out of William Wordsworth’s poem
“The World is Too Much with Us”
Print out and copy for number of students in the class and add a few extra copies just in case.
• I am going to re-read chapters the Characteristics of Romanticism hand-out,
Wordsworth’s “Introduction” to Coleridge’s Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth’s poem “The
World is Too Much with Us,” and William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of
Experience in preparation for 90 minute block period.

Content Information and Vocabulary

Vocabulary words:
Go over vocabulary words that are written on the white board for the Characteristics of
Romanticism hand-out and William Wordsworth’s “The World is Too Much with Us,” as well as
Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience.

1. Spontaneous
2. Overflow
3. Boon
 2
CONTENT ORGANIZER: 12.3C
4. Pagan
5. Creed
6. Lea
7. Forlorn
8. Mead
9. Vales
10. Bereave
11. Fen
12. Dale
13. Beguile
14. Beadle
15. Ruddy
16. Bard
17. Woe
18. Dell
19. Heath
20. Manacle

Students need to write an original sentence using the words in the correct context as part
of their homework. These sentences will be shared the next day in class.

Lesson plan modified from the National Council of Teachers of English’s Read, Write,
Think web site.

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/exploration-
romanticism-through-poetry-1142.html?tab=4

• Introductory Set: I will ask students to write an in-class essay on what defines literature
as being Romantic. Students will have five minutes of introductory class time to respond
to this question in an informal essay. Then, I will have students volunteer to read their
essay responses aloud and invite discussion on the essays. Finally, I will give out the
Characteristics of Romanticism (NCTE, 2008). We will then discuss the qualities and
characteristics of the Romantic era of literature and the poets who wrote during this
period. I will have students discuss the five characteristics of Romanticism listed on the
hand-out and will have volunteers to explain in their own words the main tenets of
Romanticism (Wright, 2010). As a final introductory question on Romanticism, I will
ask the class for an open-ended response on whether they believe Romantic literature is
still significant to society today (Wright, 2010). I will call on students for responses to
this question, and will then ask why they feel the way they do about the importance or
significance of Romanticism.
• Lesson Development: I will read aloud a quoted phrase from William Wordsworth’s
“Introduction” to Samuel Coleridge’s Lyrical Ballads, “the spontaneous overflow of
powerful feelings” (Wright, 2010) and will ask for responses about how this quote relates
to the characteristics of Romantic literature that we just discussed. I will then introduce
Coleridge’s Lyrical Ballads as the first work in the Romantic era of literature and its
importance to Romanticism as a whole (Wright, 2010). I will give out Wordsworth’s
 3
CONTENT ORGANIZER: 12.3C
famous Romantic poem “The World is Too Much with Us” and have a student volunteer
to read it out loud to the class (Wright, 2010). I will then go line through line through the
poem and ask for the meaning of each line from different students.
• Closure: Finally, I will give students 15 minutes to write a formal five-paragraph essay
on Wordsworth’s “The World is Too Much with Us” and how Wordsworth exhibits the
characteristics of a Romantic poet using specific examples from the poem.
• Homework: Students will read the white board which has tonight’s assignment listed and
copy this down at the end of the class period. Also, vocabulary will be listed on the white
board to written down for homework. These words are for the unit on Romanticism and
will be found in Wordsworth’s poetry, the Characteristics of Romanticism (NCTE, 2008)
hand-out, and Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. Students will need
to write one original, creative sentence that features the vocabulary word in the correct
context after looking up the definition of the words in an online dictionary. The rest of
the homework listed will be to read Blake’s “Introduction to the Songs of Innocence” and
to respond to this famous introduction to his Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience
in a two-page typed essay response to how Blake exhibits Romanticism in this
introduction.
Assessment:
• Formative Assessment: I will be asking students to respond with an informal essay at the
beginning of class regarding what makes literature Romantic. Students asked to
volunteer to read their essays to the class and class commentary and response to other
students’ essays will be allowed. There will be a class question-and-answer section on
the five characteristics of the Romantic movement Characteristics of Romanticism hand-
out (NCTE, 2008). We will then read Wordsworth’s “The World is Too Much With Us”
and I will call on students to explain the meaning behind each line of the poem.
• Summative Assessment: Students will be graded fairly and equally based on if they fully
created an informal essay about the characteristics of Romanticism at the beginning of
class and if they then created a formal five-paragraph essay response to Wordsworth’s
“The World is Too Much with Us” with correct grammar, an introductory paragraph, a
concluding paragraph, and examples from the poem. Finally, the homework given has
the students beginning their reading of Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience by
William Blake by having them read the “Introduction to the Songs of Innocence” and
write a two-page typed essay about how Blake exhibits the characteristics of
Romanticism in this introduction.
• Grading Rubric: This is the grading rubric for the formal five- paragraph in-class essay
on Wordsworth’s “The World is Too Much with Us,” as well as for the formal two-page
typed homework essay on William Blake’s “Introduction to the Songs of Innocence”
(length is extended from the five-paragraph essay here, however, because it is two pages
in length).

A=93-100
B=92-89
C=88-79
D=78-70
F=69-0
 4
CONTENT ORGANIZER: 12.3C

Students will receive an A is their grammar is excellent, their thoughts are well-captured
in compound-complex sentences, they use a five paragraph essay format with an
introduction, body, and conclusion, and if they capture the main ideas of exclusion and
inclusion.

Students will receive a B if the grammar exhibited is good, their thoughts are organized,
they use a five paragraph essay format, and they capture some of the main concepts of
Romanticism.

Students will receive a C if they exhibit average grammar skills with some mistakes in
usage and mechanics, if some but not all of their thoughts are organized into paragraphs
that flow well, if they use a three paragraph essay format, and they capture at least two
relating main ideas to Romanticism.

Students will receive a D if they exhibit below-average grammar skills with many
problems in usage and mechanics, if their sentences and paragraphs are somewhat
disorganized, if they use a three paragraph essay format, and they capture only one
relating main idea to Romanticism.

Students will receive a grade of F if their grammar is very poor with numerous mistakes
in usage and mechanics, if they use fragments instead of complete sentences, if their
paragraphs are not organized, if they do not use at least a three paragraph essay format,
and if do not express any main ideas relating to Romanticism.

Connections – Cross-Curricular and Real-World

High school students need to master the characteristics and qualities of the Romantic era of
literature, and this period in British literature also relates to Goethe and other authors of world
literature going through the Romantic period of literature during the same time period. It is
important that students grasp the meaning behind poetry and the basic concepts of the Romantics
so that they will have a solid foundation of basic knowledge on the Romantic poets. Students
will need this solid background once they enter college and are required to take certain basic
World Literature and British Literature survey courses. It is also important that they understand
when they take Humanities courses in college (if they are choosing to enter a college in the fall)
how the Romantic Movement in literature affected the Romantic Movement in art and how
Wordsworth, Blake, Shelley, Coleridge were some of the founding writers in the Romantic
Movement. The Romantic Movement is considered one of the most important and basic in
literary history, and it is important, according to Virginia standard 12.3c., that all 12th grade
students have a grasp on the different literary movements in British literature. This is an area of
basic literary knowledge for most people and creates a great foundation for other world literature.