High School Literature Unit: American Gothic

This is the curriculum for you if:

• You’re a little nervous-cited about homeschooling middle and high school.

• You’re looking for decolonized secular homeschool curriculum and resources.

• You don’t want to lose the homeschool magic just because you’re in the homeschool home stretch.

This unit focuses on American Gothic literature—which is frankly one of my favorite genres because of its spooky weirdness. 

American Gothic stories aren’t scary while you’re reading them—they’re weird, uncanny, uncomfortable, and sometimes creepy—but later, when you’re trying to fall asleep, your brain keeps cycling back to them. All Gothic literature is a little like that, but while classic Gothic tales (think Dracula and Frankenstein) focus on the otherworldly, American Gothic posits its horror in the context of quotidian existence—in cozy small towns and quiet country villages, with people who could be your neighbors or your friends.

In this literature unit, we’ll look at several different short stories (plus some poetry and a movie) to build a nuanced definition of American Gothic literature.

What you’ll find inside:

• Files: Reading Guide

• 6-lesson reading plan with discussion questions and activities

• Introductions and discussion questions for every text

• Resources for further study

Table of Contents

4 Texts and Sources Covered in this Unit 

5 Essential Questions 

6 Additional Resources

7 Lesson 1 (American Gothic)

10 Lesson 2 (“The Cask of Amontillado”)

19 Lesson 3 (“The Yellow Wallpaper”)

25 Lesson 4 (Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl)

28 Lesson 5 (“The Lottery”)

31 Lesson 6 (“A Good Man Is Hard to Find”)

• Credit recommendation: 0.25 literature credit

• Placement recommendation: This is a high school level unit, designed for students who are already familiar with the basic elements of literature (plot, character, theme, setting, etc.) and who are comfortable applying those skills to texts. Like most high school level curricula, it includes works that could be rated M for Mature. If mature content is a concern for you with your student, I encourage you to preview texts to asses your personal comfort level. (I read these texts with my own high school student and teach them in high school classes, but comfort levels can be very personal things.) This is a completely secular program.

For secular homeschoolers who want a fun, decolonized, rigorous way to homeschool high school and middle school, home/school/life’s Deep Thought is the progressive high school curriculum that does the academic heavy lifting so that you can enjoy the fun stuff. Unlike other high school curriculum, home/school/life’s Deep Thought curriculum teaches students how to learn, not just what to learn and makes big academics surprisingly fun for the whole family.

All curriculum materials are digital and downloadable. Because of this, all sales are final. If you have questions, please ask before you buy.