World Studies Humanities English 9 Course Syllabus and Expectations
Mr. Sarossy: [email protected] 614.365.5491
Mrs. Shilling: [email protected] 614.365.5491
Course Introduction & Overview
Welcome to Centennial High School! Humanities combines Honors English and Social Studies into a single two-period block
(110 minutes). The course is team taught, Mr. Sarossy teaches English and Mrs. Shilling teaches Social Studies. This course
will challenge you to develop your critical thinking skills, further develop written and oral expression and the fundamentals of
proper research.
The Humanities course will be taught both chronologically and thematically with a multidisciplinary focus. That is, we will link
history, literature, art, music and science to obtain a holistic understanding of the past in its proper context. It is important to
remember that history is not a timeline of predetermined events. People in the past, as today, did not know the outcomes of
their decisions. Additionally, historical events and decisions evolved in response to multiple social, political, economic,
ideological, and technological forces.
Please begin following current events in both U.S. and World news. Historical events we study in class continue having an
impact on current events and it is critical to your understanding of the world to follow the news. How can you do this? Read
the news headlines online daily, click on and read any you find interesting. Listen to the radio and/or tune in on T.V. If you find
you’re not interested in U.S. and world events, you might reconsider taking this elective course.
To ensure we set you up for success, we encourage students with SRI Lexile scores of 1100 and above to take Freshman
Humanities. If your SRI Lexile score is below 1100, you are reading below ninth grade level. The reading level and pace of
this course will be a challenge for you and we advise you contact the school counselor to change your schedule for next year.
The best thing you can do to improve your reading skill . . . is to read, a lot!
Required Works of Literature
This course requires that you obtain paper copies of the following texts. We will announce when the texts will be used. Please
do not purchase texts in advance of the unit as changes may be made.
Candide, or Optimism Voltaire –ANY COMPLETE EDITION WILL DO, MANY EXIST (summer reading assignment)
Frankenstein Mary Shelley
A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens
The Turn of the Screw Henry James
Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare (No Fear Shakespeare edition)
Summer Reading Assignment:
Obtain your own copy of Candide, or Optimism by Voltaire. I always suggest checking Half-Price Books or Amazon (used
book section) before buying new. It’s best for you to have your own paper copy so that you may write notes in your book—this
is an essential part of active reading.
The summer assignment is divided between English and Social Studies. The English portion will be turned in to Mr. Sarossy
and the Social Studies portion to Mrs. Shilling. Please save each assignment as a separate document on your computer
and/or flash drive. There are seven sections of the assignment. Each section should start on a new page within your
document.
1. (English) Author Biography Using your book, the library, and/or the internet research the author, Voltaire. Write
down any interesting, quirky or surprising information about him. Once you finish your research, write a short
biography (10-15 sentences). List all of your sources at the end of your paragraph.
2. (English) Satire Define satire, then find and explain 3 contemporary (modern day) examples. Look at news
articles, newspapers, political cartoons etc. Summarize the article/political cartoon and then explain what is satirical
about it. Please include a copy of the example you’re writing about. Examples from TV/Radio/Film do not count for
this assignment.
3. (English) Chapter Summaries While reading, highlight and write notes about interesting aspects of the reading,
the characters, examples of satire used throughout the work, and connections to the Enlightenment (see below).
When finished, for each chapter, write a summary including the information listed above (5-10 sentences per chapter).
Do not use Sparknotes, Cliff’s Notes, Wikipedia etc. You will be turning all of your work in to an online antiplagiarism website. Any plagiarized work will be given a zero and formal disciplinary action will follow. If
you’re unfamiliar with what constitutes plagiarism, please research the topic before beginning your work. The
chapter summaries must be in your own words and reflect your understanding of the text.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4. Socratic Seminar This event will be held the first Friday of the first week of class. Please answer and save the
questions as a separate document ‘Socratic Seminar’. The Socratic Seminar questions are listed at the end of this
document (see: https://www.nwabr.org/sites/default/files/SocSem.pdf for more information about Socratic Seminar).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5 (Social Studies) Enlightenment Research the topic of the Enlightenment (focus your research on Europe) and
focus on 3 main ideas/philosophies/philosophers from this era. To get you started, research these two ideas first, then
research 3 of your own (the total will be 5):
1. What are natural rights?
2. Who was Thomas Hobbes?
Write 2-3 sentences on each of the 5 categories you researched.
6. (Social Studies) Application In 5-10 sentences predict what changes in society will occur because of the
ideas/philosophies/philosophers of the Enlightenment.
7. (Social Studies) Connections After reading the book and researching the Enlightenment write 5 connections
you’ve made between Candide and The Enlightenment and write an 8-10 sentence paragraph for each connection.
Formatting
All typed work must be in MLA format (see: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ ). For this assignment
use 12 point, Times New Roman or Calibri font, double space the entire document. Do not include a cover page, fancy title or
any other font types. The heading of your page must be located in the top left corner as follows:
Your Name
Mr. Sarossy / Mrs. Shilling
Humanities 9
Date
This assignment is mandatory. Non completion will force us to remove you from the class—no exceptions will be made.
The assignment is due and will be collected at the beginning of the first day of class. We will need a hard copy (paper copy)
and it will be saved to your flash drive. You will not be able to print the assignment during class. Do not hesitate to contact us
via email should you have any questions. We’ll be checking email once weekly; if you do not have a response right away—be
patient!
Materials
You will need the following supplies the first day of class:
5 subject spiral notebook (with perforated pages).
3 ring binder
Highlighters
Scissors / glue
Flash/thumb drive (your summer assignment will be saved here)
Pens/pencils
You will be provided a school planner
Socratic Seminar Questions
We will have a Socratic Seminar the first Friday of class for which these questions must be answered. Please come to class
with the answers to these questions typed on the first day of class.
Answer 8 out of 10 questions below, however, question number 10 is mandatory, using your book and notes as
evidence for your opinions. Write 2 of your own questions and provide in-depth answers for them.
1. How is Pangloss’ optimism ironic? Is he living in the “best of all possible worlds”?
2. How does Voltaire feel about or reconcile the place of philosophy versus real life experience or facts (Empiricism)?
3. What role does optimism play in Candide?
4. Based on Candide’s experiences after acquiring his wealth, how do you think Voltaire feels about money? Is it important?
Does it lead to happiness/unhappiness? Do his ideas still hold relevance today?
5. Religion and its effects on many of the characters is a recurrent theme in the novel. What contradictions or hypocrisies exist
in the religious characters and what message might Voltaire be sending to his readers about how he feels about the role and
power of the church at the time of the Enlightenment?
6. Describe the importance of the garden at the end of the novel and the role of work. What is Voltaire’s message about work
and its importance? Which is more important industry/labor or philosophy? When are the characters most happy? Why?
7. How did the events Candide experience disprove his belief that all men have free will? Do people have free will in modern
society?
8. How are Candide’s travels influenced by the power of the church? Who is holding the power?
9. What different types of government or government leaders did Voltaire describe? Based on your reading which type of
government would Voltaire most support?
10. Consider revolutions and major social movements taking place in the world today and choose one to focus on (research
current events). How are these revolutions/social movements similar to the uprisings during the Enlightenment? How are they
different?