Enroll in English 7 with Dolphin STEM Academy
Course Overview
English is the study of the creation and analysis of literature written in the English
language. In English 7A, you will explore different elements of fiction such as theme,
characters, setting, and plot. You will also improve your writing by developing skills
required for academic writing. You will evaluate how change affects society and an
individual’s personal growth by analyzing various informational texts. In addition, you
will conduct a group discussion on the topic of change. In the latter part of the course,
you will examine various poetic devices and elements of drama. You will also compare
a dramatic text to its film version. In the final unit, you will analyze elements of writing
such as tone, audience, purpose, and structure in informational texts.
Course Goals
This course will help you meet these goals:
Explore different elements of fiction such as theme, characters, setting, and plot.
Develop skills for planning, organizing, drafting, and editing academic writing.
Evaluate the topic of change in informational texts.
Prepare for and conduct a group discussion on the topic of change.
Examine how to form and develop a main idea in academic writing.
Analyze literary devices such as literal and figurative language and sound in poetry.
Evaluate common forms and structural elements found in poetry.
Explore the main literary characteristics of drama.
Compare and contrast a dramatic text with its film adaptation.
Investigate elements of writing such as tone, audience, purpose, and structure in
informational texts.
Develop skills needed to present ideas to an audience.
General Skills
To participate in this course, you should be able to do the following:
Complete basic operations with word processing software, such as Microsoft Word or
Google Docs.
Complete basic operations with presentation software, such as Microsoft PowerPoint or
Google Docs Presentation.
Perform online research using various search engines and library databases.
Communicate through email and participate in discussion boards.
For a complete list of general skills that are required for participation in online courses,
refer to the Prerequisites section of the Plato Student Orientation document, found at
the beginning of this course.
Credit Value
English 7A is a 0.5-credit course.
Course Materials
Notebook
Pencil Or Pen
Computer With Internet Connection And Speakers Or Headphones
Microsoft Word Or Equivalent
Microsoft PowerPoint Or Equivalent
Course Pacing Guide
The following course description and pacing guide is intended to help you stay on
schedule with your work. Note that your course instructor may modify the schedule to
meet the specific needs of your class.
Unit 1: What Can We Learn from Change?
Summary
This unit focuses on various elements of fiction. In the opening lesson, you will
investigate theme in O. Henry’s short story A Retrieved Reformation. In the next lesson,
you will examine types of characters in The Open Window by H. H. Munro. You will then
evaluate how setting can influence plot and characters in reading selections such as
The Caterpillar by Ellen Robena Field and The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan
Poe. You will also analyze the common features of plot development in Guy de
Maupassant’s The Necklace. In the final lesson of this unit and the unit activity, you will
develop skills for planning, organizing, drafting, and editing academic writing.
Unit 2: When Is Change Beneficial?
Summary
This unit focuses on the topic of change and how it is reflected in informational texts. In
the first lesson, you will explore topics of social change in Patrick Henry’s speech Give
Me Liberty or Give Me Death. Later, you will evaluate how writers discuss personal
change by reading Robert Louis Stevenson’s essay titled On the Enjoyment of
Unpleasant Places. In the third lesson of this unit, you will prepare for and conduct a
group discussion on the topic of change. In the last lesson, you will examine how to
form and develop a main idea in academic writing.
Unit 3: How Do We Communicate an Idea?
Summary
This unit focuses on the genres of poetry and drama. First, you will analyze literary and
figurative meaning in Emily Dickinson’s poem The Railway Train and Robert Frost’s
poems Fire and Ice and Design. Next, you will analyze the importance of sound in the
poems Winter-Time by Robert Louis Stevenson and Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert
Frost. In the third lesson, you will evaluate common forms and structural elements in
Amy Lowell’s poem Lilacs. You will then examine important literary features of drama in
Anton Chekhov’s The Proposal. In the last lesson, you will compare George Bernard
Shaw’s drama Pygmalion to its film adaptation.
Unit 4: How Do We Communicate with an Audience?
Summary
This unit focuses on the features of literary writing as they appear in informational texts.
In the first lesson, you will consider how writers modify their tone to fit their audience by
reading Henry Petroski’s Design out of a Paper Bag. Next, you will evaluate various
writing purposes in the essay Taming the Bicycle by Mark Twain. In the third lesson,
you will examine various writing structures in the reading selection Collecting Rocks by
Rachel M. Barker. In the final lesson of this unit, you will develop skills needed to
present ideas to an audience.
