Brief Course
Description:
In this yearlong course, students
read an overview of British literature from the Anglo-Saxon period through the
20th century. Students will familiarize themselves with the
historical, social, and political atmospheres within a variety of classic
British texts. All types of literature will be included: poetry, drama, the
novel, short stories, and the essay. Students participate in literary
discussions and write formal analysis of the works studied. The course also
integrates the complete senior writing seminar curriculum.
Senior Writing Seminar, an
advanced course in the writing of non-fiction, helps students develop their
unique voices as writers. Students
prepare for college and future professional work by writing to the different
essay forms: reflection, argumentation, narrative, informational, analysis, and
research. Students are expected to
complete weekly writing; engage in the writing process of drafting and
revising; work in small groups on peer editing; read and respond to non-fiction
writing; and refine grammar, usage, and language skills.
Course Objectives:
- Students will complete writing pieces which will display their ability to think critically regarding one or multiple texts.
- Students will also read and complete literary analysis assignments on a number of British fictional works along with nonfiction pieces that correlate with these novels, poems, and plays.
- Students will be able to properly merge nonfiction sources with their own ideas to produce research essays.
- Students will be able to engage confidently and respectfully in class discussions and debates.
Supplies
- Filing system: 3 Ring binder with at least two sections (Reflective Write Ups and Notes). Lined Notebook paper in the binder. No spiral bound notebooks!!
- Writing utensils. Avoid blue pens.
- The English Tradition textbook.
- Bring the literature we are working on every day during that unit.
Class Grading
- The gradebook for this course will reflect a student’s mastery of the standards, according the various assessments completed. These will include homework, classwork, discussions, quizzes, and essays. All work is weighted the same, but all essays are worth 100 points with in class work and quizzes worth between 5-40 points. You can check the progress of your grade on School Loop.
- This class will use a standard grading scale: 90-100=A, 80-89=B, 70-79=C, 60-69=D, 59 and below=F.
- Tardiness: Unless it is an excused tardy, you will not be allowed to make up any work missed after class begins, this includes tests and quizzes.
- Late homework: I will not accept late homework unless it is excused.
- Late papers: Projects and essays may be turned in late for a penalty. You will lose 10% per day of the original points possible. After five days the highest possible score you can receive will be a 59%. This will remain for the remainder of the semester. All late essays must be turned in before finals week.
- All absent work is your responsibility. Find out what you missed and take care of it! If you know you will be absent please speak with me ahead of time so you may plan for any missed in-class work.
Three simple, logical
class rules:
- Respect the class
- Do not insult or diminish the value of others in the class. Accept that the class will be awkward no matter what, so there is no need to give another student a hard time if that awkwardness is apparent. This may turn into bullying.
- Respect the space
- The classroom is a safe environment for learning, please keep it that way. Do not leave trash on the shelves or floor. Make sure the desks remain in place according to the blue tape. Also, keep it clean! If you eat, I will get angry! No sugary drinks.
- Respect yourself
- Respect yourself enough to show up on time and put in effort to earn a good grade in the class. If difficulties arise, talk to me about it, don’t let your academic ambitions suffer because of challenges you are facing.
Habit Points:
At the beginning of each semester you will be given 10 Habit
Points. These are extra credit points that can be turned in at the end of the
semester. If you are tardy, you lose 2 of these points. They cannot be
redeemed. Do not expect that an 89.9% will be turned into an “A” if you have no
Habit Points. Habit points can also be taken away if I deem one of the three
class rules has been broken.
Cell Phones:
I do not want to see your cell phone out in class. In fact I
strongly dislike cell phones. If I see your phone out in class, it will be
confiscated and taken to the office where your parent or guardian can pick it
up after school. It does not matter if you are using your phone or not; if it
is on your desk, on your lap, or just hanging out in the palm of your hand, it
will be taken. This process will remain until I decide that your cell phone use
is impacting your learning, which will result in me calling home and possibly
convincing your parents that you are not ready to own a cell phone.
Tardiness:
If you are tardy and it is unexcused, you must sign the
sign-in sheet at the front of the room. You lose 2 of your Habit Points for
each tardy. Each tardy following the fifth one will result in another line of
memorization being added to your verbal final at the end of the semester.
Unexcused absences are equivalent to a tardy. Don’t be that person memorizing
30 lines of poetry during finals week!
Academic Conduct
Policy:
Academic dishonesty in any form will not be tolerated.
Cheating and plagiarism is viewed as a level 3 Discipline offense under the
Guidelines for Responsive Discipline in Secondary School set forth by the
district. It carries a potential for suspension. If your essay is flagged, you will
receive a zero on the assignment with no chance to make it up.
Course Outline:
Unit One: From Romans to Renaissance (Dream of the Rood, The Battle of Maldon, The
Wanderer, Canterbury Tales, Shakespeare)/
Reflection Writing (College Essay)
Unit
Two: Persuasion and Manipulation (Julius Caesar)/ Literature Analysis
Unit Three: 17th and
18th Century English Poetry (Paradise
Lost, Swift, Jonson, Donne, Dryden, etc…)/ Poet Project
Unit Four: Nineteenth Century
and Social Commentary (Pride and
Prejudice)/ Literature Analysis
Unit
Five: Hamlet
and the Interior Journey/ Literature Analysis Essay
Unit
Six: Victorian Era (Tale of Two Cities)/ Informal Research Essay
Unit
Seven: AWPE Writing
Unit Eight: Poetry from the
Romantic to the Modern Period (Wordsworth, Keats, Tennyson, Hopkins, Yeats,
etc…) / Formal Research Essay
Unit Nine: 20th
Century and Saying Goodbye (Wolfe, Joyce, Huxley, McCall Smith & The Tempest)/ Creative Writing
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.