I taught AP English and Comp (junior English), which I taught as a survey of American literature, and I also assigned original texts that most people would consider "history" but which are rich in style as well as meaning.
I was lucky enough to have outside funding to buy a Norton Anthology of American Lit for each student. (it came in three volumes, but we bought only the first two).
We also read four complete essays by Emerson and selected chapters from Walden.
As I told the kids and their parents when they complained about the difficulty of the reading, if you can learn to read Emerson and Bradford and Jonathan Edwards and Mary Rowlandson, you can read anything.
I'm sure you have your hands full and I always hated it when other teachers suggested things for me to do, so pardon me for this: One thing I found in my research and used in class was the farewell letter John Robinson (the Pilgrims' minister in Leyden) wrote to his parishoners bound for the New World. (Robinson planned to join them later but died before he could.) The letter is difficult to read but so rich.
I also found this and used it in class: In 1775 Elizabeth Clarke was the twelve-year-old daughter of Jonas Clarke, minister of the small town of Lexington, Massachusetts. Her house was located about 400 yards from Lexington Green and she witnessed the battle and its aftermath.
On April 19, 1841, Elizabeth Clarke, still living in the old family home, wrote a letter to her niece describing what she remembered from that famous day so many years before.
I have those two sources typed up as Word documents along with questions about them related to meaning and rhetorical devices. I would be happy to email them to you if you feel comfortable sharing your email. You are free to use the material as your own. (I taught many workshops for College Board over the years and have shared these materials many times.)
In any case, keep up the good work! Have those kids read difficult texts! My students always come back to me from college and thanked me profusely for having them work so hard. Hope your year goes well.
