American lit survey launch; Puritan → Enlightenment prose · Classroom

1. Hook

How to do this lesson online

Read (or listen to) what you’re learning. Don’t jump to the quiz.
Walk the worked example. Then use the interactive lab on this page.
Guided set → independent set → mastery check → teach-back.
If you write a paper, stay on campus: Citation Helper, Source Library, Paper Studio.

This is self-paced homeschool on Life Academy. Everything you need is on this page.

Today's puzzle

American lit survey launch; Puritan → Enlightenment prose. Early American writers argued about sin, self-improvement, independence, and government, and their arguments still shape how Americans persuade.

Then: lab → guided → quiz → teach it back. The lab is the lesson, not a decoration.

2. Teach

What you're learning

Analyze rhetoric in Puritan, Enlightenment, Revolutionary, and ratification-era texts (CCSS RI.11-12.6, RI.11-12.8, RI.11-12.9).

Standards alignment: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12 (domain-level; works with any state’s standards)

STEM in this lesson

A line you can point to is evidence. This week's job: American lit survey launch; Puritan → Enlightenment prose.

Hold onto these

Jonathan Edwards's sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" (1741), from the Great Awakening, uses vivid imagery (a spider held over a fire) to move listeners to repentance; Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography (written 1771–1790) presents a plan of 13 virtues for self-improvement, reflecting Enlightenment faith in reason.
Thomas Paine's Common Sense (January 1776) used plain language to argue for independence and sold widely; his The American Crisis (December 1776) opens "These are the times that try men's souls." Loyalists published rebuttals.
The Federalist Papers (85 essays, 1787–88, by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay as "Publius") argued for ratifying the Constitution. Federalist No. 10 argues a large republic controls factions; No. 51 says "If men were angels, no government would be necessary." Anti-Federalists such as "Brutus" warned of a distant, too-powerful government and helped win the Bill of Rights.

This week’s lesson

Paired reading: Edwards appeals to fear and divine judgment (pathos and ethos of the minister); Franklin appeals to practical reason and self-discipline (logos).

Close rhetorical reading: identify audience, purpose, key images, and one sentence-level choice (repetition, parallelism, rhetorical question) and explain its effect.

Watch one worked example

Text: Federalist No. 51.
Claim: government must control itself as well as the governed.
Strategy: logical reasoning about human nature.
Counter: Brutus I fears consolidated power.

Now you try — with me

Annotate passages from Edwards and Franklin, analyze Paine's appeals in Common Sense, and debate Federalist No. 10 or 51 against Brutus I, ending with a 600-word rhetorical comparison.

This week's text job: American lit survey launch; Puritan → Enlightenment prose. Copy one line from the campus excerpt or assigned reading. Then write what the line does (invoke, contrast, define, undercut) — not a plot list.

The usual mistake

Treating "Puritan" and "Enlightenment" writers as having the same view of human nature.

Why this shows up in real life

Debates over federal power and individual rights in the news echo the ratification arguments.

No classroom teacher today — this page is the lesson. Follow the how-to, then the lab, then the quiz. Follow Lesson Studio, then the lab, then the quiz. Open Transcripts for credits and grades.

Quick check · from this week’s lesson

Tap the answer that fits. Every item comes from this week’s lesson.

Your work — type it here

Read the passage on this page. Then type your answers. Save when you are done.

1. Pen name of the Federalist authors

2. Federalist paper about factions (number)

3. Revival movement of Edwards's era (two words)

3. Guided practice

Try these with me — type the missing word, then check.

Author of Common Sense (last name)

Number of Federalist Papers

Year of "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"

Reveal the thinking

Audience → purpose → appeal → choice → effect.

4. Independent practice

Work the set. Check when finished — this is practice (mastery quiz is next).

5. Mastery check

Scored quiz — results save to your gradebook.

English I–IV: literature, papers, citations

High school English is a writing pathway. Literature on campus, then a paper with named sources. Today: American lit survey launch; Puritan → Enlightenment prose.

Paper StudioDraft the assigned paper. It saves to Official Records on this device.Citation Helper (MLA & APA)Build a Works Cited / References line here — not an off-site machine.Campus Source LibraryPublic-domain literature and founding documents hosted here.English I → II → III → IVPapers, research, and citations across four high-school years.

Research Desk · Transcripts · Gradebook

Honest limit: We did not film a custom movie for every core lesson. The teach-back, the on-page lab, and the campus library are the curriculum. The teach-back, the on-page lab, and Lesson Studio are the lesson.

6. Reflection / teach-back

Teach-back: Explain American lit survey launch; Puritan → Enlightenment prose in your own words. Give one example and name the usual mistake.

Your teach-back