11th - 12th Grade Reading: Literature

For eleventh and twelfth graders, this Common Core area helps students gain mastery of the deeper tasks involved in reading a fictional text. No matter what they are reading, the standards require students to increase the complexity in the texts they read and deepen their understanding of the connections within and between texts. Among the complete standards for this grade, eleventh and twelfth graders will be asked to: support a textual analysis with direct textual evidence and explicit inferences, determine the theme of a text and how it develops within the text as well as what the text leave as uncertain, be able to give an objective summary of a text, be able to analyze complex word and phrase choices in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings, begin to define how the aesthetics and beauty of language and structural choices by the author change the way in which a text conveys meaning, analyze multiple recorded or live versions of a story, drama or poem including at least one drama by Shakespeare and one by an American dramatist, demonstrate knowledge of, and ability to compare and contrast, at eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and early twentieth-century works of American literature, read text appropriate to grade level while increasing in the level of text complexity throughout the year to prepare for college and career readiness.

Edgar Allan Poe and the Fall of the House of Usher

In this activity, students read a passage from Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and write what they think the underlined words mean.

Irony in Poetry

Two poetry passages from classic literature are the focus of this irony worksheet.

Situational Irony vs. Dramatic Irony

Your student will determine which passage shows situational irony and which shows dramatic irony.

Visual Irony

Can your student spot the visual irony in the pictures in this worksheet?

Warm Up to Irony!

Here is a worksheet to print out for your students learning about irony! irony is a statement where the actual meaning is different from the literal meaning or a situation where the result is different than expected. WIth different examples given, students are asked to explain the irony in different phrases as well as come up with examples of their own.

A Tale of Two Cities: The Beginning

Charles Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities which was published in 1859. Students read the passage and answer questions.

Cyrano de Bergerac: Poetic Speech

Edmund Rostand wrote Cyrano de Bergerac in 1897. It is a play about a French musketeer who is a man of many gifts and talents. Students read from the play and answer related questions.

Great Expectations: Pip Meets a Criminal

Charles Dickens published Great Expectations in 1860. It is the story of Phillip Pirrip, called Pip, growing up from a young boy to a man. Students read a passage and answer related questions.

Irony in Prose: The Diamond Necklace

In this worksheet your student will discuss the irony in a passage from “The Diamond Necklace.”

Paradox in Literature

This worksheet features some paradoxes in literature.

Reading Comprehension: Uncle Tom’s Cabin

In this activity, students read an excerpt from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and answer related questions.

Shakespeare’s Henry V: Once More Unto the Breach

In this activity, your students will read an excerpt from “Shakespeare’s Henry V” and answer questions related to the topic.

Shakespeare’s Macbeth Reading Comprehension

Help your students improve their reading comprehension with this “Shakespeare’s Macbeth” activity.

Using Inference in Writing

Your student will take the next step in understanding inference in this writing worksheet.

What Can You Infer?

This inference worksheet spotlights text from “The Gift of the Magi.”