Jefferson Classical Academy of Colorado at Peyton

The Trivium Rhetoric Stage

Grades 9-12: Understanding and Communicating Impact

High School (Grades 9–12)

Core Rhetoric Stage Reading

TitleCategoryAuthorYear
After Twenty YearsShort StoryO. Henry1906
The Gift of the MagiShort StoryO. Henry1905
Dr. Heidegger’s ExperimentShort StoryNathaniel Hawthorne1837
The Road Not TakenPoetryRobert Frost1916
The Tragedy of Romeo and JulietDramaWilliam Shakespearec. 1595
O Captain! My Captain!PoetryWalt Whitman1865
The Colored SoldiersPoetryPaul Laurence Dunbar1895
The Gift of IndiaPoetrySarojini Naidu1917
Beowulf (excerpt)Epic Poetry (Old English)Anonymousc. 700–1000

Additional Reading: Poetry, Speeches, and Historical Documents

TitleCategoryAuthorYear
The Odyssey (excerpt)Epic PoetryHomer (attrib.)c. 8th c. BC
Ain’t I a Woman?SpeechSojourner Truth1851
What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?SpeechFrederick Douglass1852
The Union as It WasSpeechHenry Grady1874
Atlanta CompromiseSpeechBooker T. Washington1895
Plessy v. Ferguson (excerpt)Legal DocumentU.S. Supreme Court1896
The Cop and the AnthemShort StoryO. Henry1904
Rip Van WinkleShort StoryWashington Irving1819
A Dream Within a DreamPoetryEdgar Allan Poe1849
The Machine StopsShort StoryE. M. Forster1909
We Wear the MaskPoetryPaul Laurence Dunbar1895
If We Must DiePoetryClaude McKay1919
Transcendentalist Poetry SelectionsPoetryVarious authors19th century
Romantic Poetry SelectionsPoetryVarious authorsLate 18th–19th c.
MacbethDramaWilliam Shakespearec. 1606
The Progressive Era, Social Movements, and ReformHistorical/InformationalVarious sources–
Case Study: The West Virginia Mine WarsHistorical/InformationalVarious sources–
Political Cartoons on Child Labor and Workers’ RightsHistorical/InformationalVarious sources–

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