Part 2 of 2 - 16 week courses.  It is highly recommended that you have IEW experience to take this course, if you do not have any experience,  I suggest starting with Writing About History Through Literature with IEW or IEW Beginners for High School..

While reading about history topics from 1870 to present times, students will develop advanced writing skills such as thesis statements, MLA format, persuasive essays, research papers, and more.  

I have chosen books written by people of the culture or experts on the topics so that we can gain the best perspective of the historical events of the time. We will dive into hard topics and history. Students will have two weeks to complete the book readings.

"History is not a random sequence of events.  Everything affects, and is affected by, everything else.  This is never clear in the present.  Only time can sort out events.  It is then, in persepctive that patterns emerge." - William Manchester

After the War 1945-1970
Week 1 - Introduce book and history - Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom:  My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March by  Lynda Blackmon Lowery 
Week 2 - Unit 8, Research Essay on a Civil Rights Icon
Week 3 - Introduce book and history - Fire From the Rock by Sharon M. Draper 
Week 4 - Literary Critique - This story tries to show how different forms of oppression are both similar and different. Discuss the differences and similarities in the struggles of women versus men, Black versus white, and Jewish versus Christian in this story.
Contemporary United States 1968 - Present 
Week 5 - Introduce book and history - Just Mercy (Adapted for Young Adults) by Bryan Stevenson
Week 6 - Unit 8, Persuassive Essay, What does Bryan Stevenson mean when he 
writes, “We are all implicated when we allow other people to be mistreated”? Do you believe that we have personal responsibility 
for how other people are treated? If yes, how should we be involved? If no, why not? Who does?
Week 7 - Introduce book and history - If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth 
Week 8 - Unit 9, Literary Critique  - Write book review discussing what you think the strengths and weaknesses of the book were.
Week 9 - Introduce book and history - Monster by Walter Dean Myers
Week 10 - Unit 9, Literary Critique - Why do you think the book is called Monster? 
Week 11 - Introduce book and history - Code of Honor by Alan Gratz
Week 12 - Unit 7, Inventive Essay, What is Kamran's definition of patriotic duty? How does it conflict with the ideas of
patriotism expressed by Jeremy Vacca, the man who spray-paints the Smith’s home, and the
FBI and CIA agents who interrogate Kamran? How does this measure up to your idea of partriotic duty? 
Week 13 - Introduce book and history - Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Week 14 - Interview someone who was alive and living in the US on Semptember 11th.  Write about their experience that day. 
Week 15 - Introduce book and history - Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Week 16 - Unit 8, Optional, research essay of New Orleans or Unit 9, Literary Critique - Considering carefully the last few chapters, what is the theme of Ninth Ward? 

*This course works through units 5-9 of the structural models of the IEW Syllabus.
*Each lesson gives a clear writing assignment with a detailed checklist of Structure and Style requirements.
Homework will be assigned weekly and should be uploaded to the classroom each week before class.