ENG3U emphasizes the development of literacy, communication, and critical and creative thinking skills necessary for success in academic and daily life. Students will analyse challenging literary texts from various periods, countries, and cultures, as well as a range of informational and graphic texts, and create oral, written, and media texts in a variety of forms. ENG3U equips students to think critically, communicate effectively, and navigate the complexities of text. An important focus in ENG3U will be on using language with precision and clarity and incorporating stylistic devices appropriately and effectively. The ENG3U online course is intended to prepare students for the compulsory Grade 12 university or college preparation course.
Course curriculum
Inside %course-code%: reading with theory, writing with control
The step before ENG4U
ENG3U is the compulsory Grade 11 English on the university pathway and the prerequisite for ENG4U, the one Grade 12 credit every Ontario university program requires.
Literary theory from the first unit
Psychoanalytic and other critical lenses applied to short stories such as Cortázar’s The Night Face Up, then carried through the play and the novel.
Macbeth and Life of Pi
A full study of Shakespeare’s tragedy, including whether Macbeth fits the tragic hero archetype, and Yann Martel’s novel read through the hero’s journey.
Essays, interviews and adaptations
A comparative literary analysis essay, a multi-perspective interview assignment on a current issue, an infographic study guide and a media adaptation of the novel.
ENG3U Course outline
Full unit-by-unit breakdown.
Review and extend the literary terms and elements of fiction, examine how those elements work together in a short story to create impact and communicate meaning about life and human nature, apply the most common literary theories, and complete several analyses that build to a comparative literary essay.
Key topics
Elements of fiction and literary devices · theme and message · literary theories including psychoanalytic criticism · thesis statements · comparative literary analysis
Assessed by
Short story analysis presentation · literary theory research chart · comparative literary analysis essay (16% combined)
Read, evaluate and discuss a wide range of nonfiction in print and digital form using rhetorical strategy, argumentation techniques and the key concepts of media literacy, keep a nonfiction reading log, and produce an information text from primary and secondary sources.
Key topics
Rhetorical strategies and argumentation · key concepts of media literacy · nonfiction forms · primary and secondary sources · discussion posts
Assessed by
Interview assignment · nonfiction analysis 7 · revised discussion post (17% combined)
Investigate tragedy and the tragic hero through Macbeth, using historical context and dramatic devices to deepen understanding of the play, and decide with evidence whether Macbeth fits the archetype. Demonstrate learning through act questions, analysis charts, reading tests and a literary project.
Key topics
Macbeth · tragedy and the tragic hero · dramatic devices · historical context · character and theme tracking
Assessed by
Acts 1–2 test · Acts 3–5 test · tragic hero investigation · act study guide infographic (16% combined)
Read Life of Pi by Yann Martel, practise comprehension and analysis while reading the text critically against the themes of the course, adapt a component of the novel into a second media form, and present the novel through the pattern of the hero’s journey.
Key topics
Life of Pi · the hero’s journey · novel analysis · media adaptation · presentation skills
Assessed by
Media adaptation assignment · hero’s journey presentation (16% combined)
