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Portraits, Pears, and Perfect Landscapes: Investigating Genre in the Visual Arts
Young scholars define genre in the visual arts, particularly in Western painting and explain the differences between subject and genre. The genre of a variety of works of art is identified.
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Following the Great Wall of China
Learners investigate the building of the Great Wall of China during the Ming Dynasty and utilize the story of the wall to examine some of the history of China.
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The Emergence and Evolution of the Cuneiform Writing System in Ancient Mesopotamia
Students explore the parallel development and increasing complexity of writing and the growth of civilization in the Tigris and Euphrates valleys in ancient Mesopotamia.
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"World enough, and time"-Andrew Marvell's Coy Mistress
Discuss tone and imagery with Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress." In an attempt to get his fair lady to consummate their relationship, he write a poem urging her to seize the day! Introduce the author to your high school class,...
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Shaping the View: Symmetry and Balance
Students explore the symmetry and balance in the composition of a variety of art works and note how the viewer's eye is guided to the important components of the image. How these elements affect the tone of the painting and communicate...
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In Depth with the Full Spectrum
Students explore the basic color wheel and the ways that artists use color to guide the viewer's attention through a painting's composition. A creation of a sense of depth in a two dimensional space and the effect of color on mood and...
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Color Me Happy: Color, Mood, and Tone
Young scholars examine how artists use color to set the tone of a painting. They analyze and discuss various paintings, complete a chart comparing the artists' color schemes and tones, and write a paragraph comparing two images.
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"The Proper Application of Overwhelming Force": The United States in World War II
Young scholars examine the role that the U.S. played in bringing about victory in the two major theaters of the war in the Pacific and Europe. How the various military campaigns contributed to the war's successful conclusion forms the...
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Turning the Tide in the Pacific, 1941-1943
Students explore the overall strategies pursued by the Japanese and the Allies in the initial months of World War II. What each side hoped to accomplish what what actually happened forms the basis of a comparison made in this lesson.
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Turning the Tide in Europe, 1942-1944
Students explore the overall strategies pursued by the Americans and their British allies in the initial months of World War II in Europe. By examining military documents, students examine the decision to invade North Africa instead of...
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Victory in Europe, 1944-1945
Students examine the overall strategy pursued by the Allies in the final moths of World War II in Europe by examining military documents and consulting an interactive map of the European theater.
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Victory in the Pacific, 1943-1945
Students examine the military campaigns of the Pacific theater, tracing the path of the Allied offensives. The lesson presents what the Allies were trying to accomplish and why.
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Crane, London, and Literary Naturalism
Students analyze "To Build a Fire" by Jack London and "The Open boat" by Stephen Crane. They write an essay in which they compare and contrast the narrators and plots in each story.
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William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury: Narrating the Compson Family Decline and the Changing South
Students analyze the novel, "The Sound and the Fury," written by iam Faulkner, tracing the changing South. Through the narrative structure, the point of view, and the relationship between change and characterization, students view the...
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Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury: April Eighth, 1928: Narrating from an 'Ordered Place'?
High schoolers analyze a character of Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury to catch a glimpse of a family and the changes they, and the Old South, undergo. The use of time as it relates to the structure of the plot is covered in this...
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Introducing Jane Eyre: An Unlikely Victorian Heroine
Students investigate the expectations and limitations placed on Victorian women and evaluate Charlotte Bronte's position and desire for literary achievement in using the male pseudonym, Currer Bell.
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Having Fun: Leisure and Entertainment at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
Students explore how the innovations in culture and technology influenced the development of a leisure industry in America at the turn of the twentieth century.
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Carl Sandburg's "Chicago": Bringing a Great City Alive
Students examine the historical and cultural context in Sandburg's poem. The poetic devices of personification and apostrophe are utilized in the poem and identified by Students.
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The War in the North, 1775-1778
Students investigate the hardships and difficulties that the Continental army faced in the early years of the American War for independence. the battles of Lexington and concord and the expectations of the Continental Army forms the...
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The War in the South, 1778-1781
Students explore the major terms of the Franco-American alliance and their importance to the cause of independence. The most important military engagements in the South are discussed and their significance for the outcome of the war noted.
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Ending the War, 1783
Students investigate how successful they were in obtaining their goals in the Revolutionary War. The peace feelers of 1775 are examined and the reasons for the British rejection of them explored. the main provisions of the Treaty of...
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The American War for Independence
Students complete a unit of lessons that examine the goals of the Americans during the Revolutionary War. They explore an online interactive map of major campaigns, read and analyze primary source documents, and analyze diplomatic and...
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"The Missiles of October": The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
High schoolers investigate the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba in 1962 and how that presence triggered an international crisis. The options available to the president as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each are...
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"Police Action": The Korean War, 1950-1953
Students investigate facts about the war in Korea in the 1950's and attempt to classify American foreign policy as a triumph or a failure. Why the U.S. became involved and the unpopularity of the war in America forms the focus of this...