Dark Romanticism

Christian Keener
11th Grade English/Language Arts

Common Core Standards:

RL.11-12.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says

explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves

matters uncertain.

RL.11-12.2 Analyze literary text development.

a. Determine two or more themes of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text,

including how they interact and build on one another.

b. Produce a thorough analysis of the text.

RL.11-12.3 Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements

of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are

introduced and developed).

RI.11-12.6 Determine an author’s perspective or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly

effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness, or beauty of the

text.

W.11-12.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and

shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
SL.11-12.5 Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive

elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add

interest.

Lesson Summary:

This lesson was created to instruct the class about Dark Romanticism, one of the historical
periods in American Literature, generally an 11th grade English class. Following our
discussion on the Romantic writers, we will begin discussing Dark Romanticism. Beginning
with a powerpoint that explains what Dark Romanticism is, but also building off of what
the students know from our previous discussion, then heading into reading “Fall of the
House of Usher”, “The Black Cat”, and “Annabelle Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe, and “Dr.
Heidegger’s Experiment” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. After we complete the readings and the
associated discussion board assignment, students will take a short quiz on each of the
readings for comprehension purposes. Then for the last three days of the unit, students will
complete a small mini-project (2 days) and an in-class writing sample (1 day), which
together, shows mastery over the unit and its concepts.

Estimated Duration:

This unit will best be completed within 6 40-minute class periods.

Commentary:

As we begin this unit, which immediately follows the Romanticism movement unit, I will
ask the class if they’ve ever heard of Edgar Allan Poe, or any of his more well-known works,
as many students have read some of his works in previous classes. To “hook” in the student,
I will also ask them if any of them like scary movies or horror books, and if they do, what are
the parts that keep them engaged or makes it extremely scary. I will then explain what the
key elements of Dark Romanticism are, and the students will tie in their favorite movie in
with those parts and see if their favorite movies could be considered Dark Romanticist. We
will use the smartboard or a collaborative sharable document to create our answers. This will
flow into our main lesson on day 1: What is, and the history, of Dark Romanticism? Also,
during this period, a pre-assessment (in the form of a quick 3 to 5-question quiz) of the unit
will be given which covers what the main elements of the Romanticist movement were, and
what the goals/objectives were of that unit.
Instructional Procedures:

Day 1: At the start of class, I will begin with a little pre-assessment/warm-up quiz (3-
questions) that assesses the students’ understanding of the previous unit. This quiz will cover
the main elements of that literary movement and the goals and objectives. This should take
no more than 5 minutes, as it is completely multiple-choice. After this quiz, I will spend the
next 10 minutes going over the answers, ask the students to raise their hands if they got at
least 2 of the 3 questions right, and leading a class discussion on a discussion about what
makes a scary movie, “scary”. This will lead into our 25-30 minute class presentation (on
google slides) about Dark Romanticism, its history, and the major authors, and of which will
be viewable from our google classroom page. For homework, the students must read “The
Fall of the House of Usher”, “The Black Cat” and “Annabelle Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe. The
students will learn that there will be a quiz during the second day over these readings. The
instructor needs to make sure that they also introduce the vocabulary for this unit during this
day’s instruction.

Day 2: After a short 15-minute discussion over the readings, the students will take a quiz
(10-15 questions, split into three sections-Characters, Plot, and Theme). This will be
completed on a google form-with automatic feedback enabled. After this quiz, we will
read “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” in small groups while I check in with each group
individually. This should take 15-20 minutes. After we are done with this reading, we will
spend the remainder of the period (15-20 minutes) completing a class organizer on the
smartboard over all of the readings. We will discuss similarities and differences between the
readings and how all of the readings are considered Dark Romanticist. A question the
instructor might ask the students is “What are the themes of these writings, and how do these
themes fit into the Dark Romanticist literature?” “Could they fit into other groups as well?”
For homework, students will complete a discussion activity using google classroom about
all of the readings and will respond to students with original critical thinking evident in all of
their posts.

Day 3: The teacher will go over and finish our class discussion from the day before. (<15
minutes) The teacher will then go over the class project and in-class writing assignment (25
minutes), and answer questions about what is expected of them for these assignments.

Day 4: The teacher will allow a work day for class projects. They will also meet with
students one-on-one to make sure they are understanding this unit. The homework will be to
finish the project by the end of the next meeting day, as well as filling out a reflection piece
for this unit on a google form.
Day 5: Course projects are due at the end of class. Allow students to ask the instructor
questions. Make sure the students know that there will be a 30-minute timed writing the next
class period. NOTE: As course projects start coming in, the instructor should begin
posting them to google classroom, for other students to observe. The homework for
tonight is to fill out a google form while analyzing AT LEAST 5 of the turned in projects.
This allows for some peer grading experience, and for everyone to gain some more
understanding about Dark Romanticism/and will also act as a study guide for the timed
writings.

Day 6: In-class timed writing (30 minutes). Allow students to utilize computers word
processing software to work on writing. If students choose this option, they must use
google docs, post the assignment in the google classroom turn in, and SHARE THE
DOCUMENT with the instructor. The instructor will show them how to do this before
beginning the timed writing. Allow 10 minutes for debriefing the unit and showing some of
the completed projects from previous years’/other classes.

Pre-Assessment:
Students will complete a short google form that assesses their skills learned from the
previous lesson. This short assessment will cover the highlights of the Romanticist unit, such
as:
- What were the goals of this movement?-2 points
- What were the three inter-connecting people/places/objects/ideas that were in every
piece of literature during this movement?-3 points

The second portion of this pre-assessment is engaging the students in a conversation about
their favorite horror movie (if they have one). The question that I want them to answer is
“What makes scary, scary?”

Scoring Guidelines:

The first part of this pre-assessment, the quiz, will have its data collected by me asking who
got 4 out of the 5 questions right. For pre-assessment purposes, I will consider 4 out 5
questions right, showing mastery of the material. However, I will take note of the students
who got 3 right, as well as the students who got 0-2 right as these students are almost
mastering and not showing mastery of the material, respectively.
The second part of this pre-assessment will be graded at the instructor’s discretion. However,
the student MUST be an ACTIVE participant during the class discussion.

Post-Assessment:
The post-assessment is broken up into two parts:
- The first part will be a student-created project (technology-based, so that I can post it
on google classroom) showing what the student has learned throughout this unit. This
project will have specific components as described below:
- Describe at least two of the readings, one MUST BE “Dr. Heidegger’s
Experiment” that we read during this unit. Explain and describe the characters,
setting, plot, and any other information that affected the storyline in some way.
- From the first question, create a way to compare and contrast the readings
effectively. Could both of these be considered Dark Romanticist?
- Explore the lives of the authors. Could their own lives been reflected in their
work? Explain using complete sentences. Write at least two paragraphs
paraphrasing the information you gathered on their lives. NO DIRECT QUOTES
SHOULD BE USED. Remember to cite correctly.
- Include a works cited in the correct MLA Format.
The second part of the assessment is a timed 30-minute writing over the readings. For this
assignment the student is allowed to use ALL notes and supplemental materials, but must
cite correctly in the MLA format. Failure to do so will result in no grade being given. The
writing prompt will be:
During this unit, which readings stood out to you? Why? Choose at least two readings and
discuss how the elements of Dark Romanticism are or are not evident in the text. Could all of
the readings be considered Dark Romanticist? Explain using complete sentences, direct
quotes, and paraphrasing. Cite using MLA Format. Secondary sources are NOT acceptable
for this assignment, however please use the readings to supplement your work. No formal
works cited is required for this writing, since you have limited time. Please still use
parenthetical citations.

Scoring Guidelines:

The project will be graded along the following guidelines:

- Are all the prompts evident on the project in some way? 60 points
- Is the project technology-based (website, online poster, powerpoint, blog)? 10 points
- Is there a works cited area that cites all resources used for the assignment? 10 points
- Is the project creative/does it look like effort was put into it? 10 points
- Is everything grammatically and mechanically correct? 10 points
 - Total points for the project: 100 points
As long as the project maintains an 80/100, the student is showing mastery over the content
covered in the project.

For the in-class writing sample, the instructor will make sure that all of the prompts asked in
the question are answered effectively, making sure that every source is cited. The instructor
should also be aware how much the student paraphrased and cited directly from the text. For
this portion of the assignment, the instructor should not take off a big amount of points for
grammar or mechanics. The instructor will give a grade of 1 through 5 to each response. A 1-
2 means “showing little to no mastery of the material. See me for help”. A 3 means “You’re
getting there, however either your ideas are not flowing or there isn’t enough information to
prove mastery”. A 4 means “You got it! Tweak some of the little comments I left on your
paper, and you’ll definitely get a 5 next time!”. A 5 means “Flawless! Little to no errors with
this response. You demonstrate expertise in this response! Keep it up!”. A 4 or a 5 will show
mastery for this assessment’s purpose. A numerical grade will also be assigned for
gradebook purposes, see conversions below.

Grading Scale:
1 0-40%
2 50-70%
3 70-82%
4 83-92%
5 92-100%

Differentiated Instructional Support

Describe how instruction can be differentiated (changed or altered) to meet the needs of gifted or accelerated
students:

The accelerated students will help peer-tutor other students during our small-groups on Days
1-2 of the unit. They will also be challenged to think more outside the box for their project at
the end of the unit, as well as discuss three or all of the readings covered during the unit.
They will be encouraged to read other authors that we can’t read due to time constraints.

Discuss additional activities you could do to meet the needs of students who might be struggling with the
material:

We will collaboratively work during our small groups on Days 1-2. We also will meet one-
on-one during our project work days to make sure everything is coming along nicely. I will
encourage them to seek help from their peers and me to make sure they are understanding the
material. If they aren’t understanding the material, we can meet as a small group and
discuss/go-over the readings in further detail.

Extension

http://arthistorynewsreport.blogspot.com/2013/12/dark-romanticism-from-goya-to-max-
ernst.html
This link provides Dark Romanticist Art to the readers. The students can go here to
determine why the art could be considered “Gothic” or “Dark Romanticist” as a study tool
for the in-class writing, and see how a blog could be used for their project.

Homework Options and Home Connections

-Day 2 HW: Discussion Activity. This activity is a cumulative activity after all the readings
have been completed. In this assignment, the student will respond to one of the readings in a
google classroom discussion post. They will explain what they liked about it, how it fits into
the unit, and if it shares similarities with the other readings, while answering the focus
question: What are the prevalent themes in all of these pieces? They then will respond to two
students (hopefully from my other English 11 course), responding to their discussion. Do you
agree, disagree? Do you have anything to add to further the conversation?

For Day 4’s HW: The student will complete a reflection form on google classroom. This
assignment will give me insight to if the student is understanding the information or not, and
if it’s being taught in the most effective way possible.

For DAY 5’s HW: The student will analyze 5 of the completed projects on google classroom.
The student will fill out a peer-review google form assessing the project and will determine,
using the prompts I’ve provided, if the project demonstrates an understanding of the unit.
This peer-assessment will count as a homework grade and may factor into the final project
grade.

Interdisciplinary Connections
- This unit can be tied to a connection analyzing the socio-political climate of the Dark
Romanticist movement, and see if that affected the writing style in any way.
 - This unit can also be tied to art by analyzing Dark Romanticist artwork and analyzing
it for indicators that it could be Dark Romanticist.

Materials and Resources:

For teachers
- Smartboard
- Google classroom
- Online copies of all 4 readings
- Dark Romanticism Powerpoint
- Examples of past student’s work
- Google Account

For students
- Laptops
- Smartboard
- Copies of all the readings
- Writing utensil
- Google Account
- Google classroom

Key Vocabulary
Dark Romanticism, Romanticism, Grotesque, Unreliable Narrator, self-destruction,
fallability

Additional Notes
No Notes