Welcome to American Literature B. I am very excited to teach this class which will include a 5-8 page
research paper. We sure have quite a bit of material to cover, but I am confident we will all learn a great
amount about American Literature and writing.
Please come to class each day with the textbook, a notebook, and a pen.
Monday 3/5 , Tuesday 3/6, and Wednesday 3/7
I know it will be different than other trimesters, but we are going to be taking the ACT/MME tests right
at the beginning of this term. On Monday, we can talk about the class and go over the syllabus, but we
really won’t start any course content until Thursday.
We will be taking the ACT test in individual classrooms. Please check with me if you are not sure where
you need to take your ACT on Tuesday. Please make sure get a good night’s sleep on Monday. We want
to see you do well on this test that colleges are going to use for admission and scholarship purposes.
Thursday, 3/8 and Friday 3/9
Walt Whitman and A New American Poetry
Whitman’s Life and Times
“Miracles”
“Song of Myself”
“When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer”
“I Hear America Singing”
“Song of Myself”
CRISS: Anticipation Guide, RAFT, Reverse Word Expansion, and Think/Pair/Share
Monday 3/12
Whitman’s “Song of Myself” activity / I Celebrate Myself and I Sing Myself
“I Hear America Singing”
Whitman Writing Assignment
Whitman Biography
CRISS: Think/Pair/Share, One sentence summary, Context Clues, Reverse Word Expansion
Tuesday 3/13
Whitman’s “Song of Myself” activity / I Celebrate Myself and I Sing Myself
“I Hear America Singing”
Whitman Writing Assignment
Whitman Biography
Wednesday 3/14
Emily Dickinson Biography
“Heart !We will forget him”
“If you were coming in the Fall”
“The Soul selects her own Society”
“Some keep the Sabbath going to Church”
CRISS: Think/Pair/Share, One sentence summary, Context Clues, Reverse Word Expansion
Slant rhyme, off rhyme, half rhyme, and approximate rhyme
CRISS: Anticipation Guide, RAFT, Reverse Word Expansion, and Think/Pair/Share
Thursday 3/15
“Much Madness is divinest Sense” “ I taste a liquor never brewed”
“Apparently with no surprise”
“Tell al the Truth, but tell it slant”
“Success is counted sweetest”
“Because I could not stop for Death”
“I heard a Fly buzz- when I died”
“I died for Beauty – but was scarce”
CRISS: Think/Pair/Share, One sentence summary, Context Clues, Reverse Word Expansion
Friday 3/16
WHITMAN/DICKINSON Creative Writing Assignment and Workshop
CRISS: Think/Pair/Share Writing Templates
Monday 3/19
Dickinson Bio continued
Analyzing Dickinson Poems from the text
Creating text with parallel structure
Tuesday 3/20
Dickinson Bio continued
Analyzing Dickinson Poems from the text
Creating text with parallel structure
Wednesday 3/21
Twain Biography
Humor can come from a place of great pain
Thursday 3/22
“Life on the Mississippi”
“Mark Twain’s Humor”
CRISS: Think/Pair/Share, One sentence summary, Context Clues, Reverse Word Expansion
Friday 3/23
Whitman/Dickinson/Twain Writing Assignment and Workshop
CRISS: Think/Pair/Share and Writing Templates
3/26 Monday Test over Whitman/Dickinson/Twain
Introduction to “The Glass Menagerie”
3/27 Tuesday “The Glass Menagerie”
Brainstorming for Research paper topics
CRISS: Think/Pair/Share
3/28 Wednesday “The Glass Menagerie”
Brainstorming for Research paper topics
CRISS: Think/Pair/Share and Once Sentence Summary
3/29 Thursday “The Glass Menagerie”
Brainstorming for Research paper topics
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4/9-4/13 In Lab Researching Research Topics and Reading Ch 1 and 2 of Great Gatsby.
4/16 GG Vocab Quiz over chapter 1 and 2
CRISS: 10 Minute Study
Questions and Discussion over Great Gatsby Chapters 3,and 4
Research Paper: Primary and Secondary Source Information
4/17
Questions and Discussion over Great Gatsby Chapters 4 and 5
Research Paper: Primary and Secondary Source Information
4/18
Questions and Discussion over Great Gatsby Chapters 3,and 4
Research Paper: Primary and Secondary Source Information
4/19 and 4/20
Students will have their research sources checked and start on their research paper outlines.
CRISS: Writing Templates
4/23 – 4-27
Students will have an in class writing workshop to study their sources and make cited notes from those
sources. Notes will be checked on Friday. The Great Gatsby test will also be Friday.
CRISS: Writing Templates
4/30 – 5/4
Students will have an in class writing workshop in the computer lab. The rough drafts of their research
papers are due typed on Friday, 5/4.
The Rough Draft
This week, we are going to write the rough draft of the paper. Try to make this rough draft your
absolute best effort. Write a thoughtful introduction that ends with the thesis sentence you have
carefully written for this paper. Follow your outline carefully to write the body of your paper. Make sure
that any information in the body of paper is either general information that can be found in four sources
or specific information that you have quoted and cited properly. See the following sample quote and
citation taken from the Purdue Owl’s “MLA Formatting and Style Guide” page.
Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings"
(263).
Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263).
Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).
(Stolley, et.al)
These examples show you that the information you do not put in the text of the paper must be cited at
the end of your quote.
Remember, even if you are putting an author’s words into your own words (paraphrasing), you must cite
that information properly. Also be sure to use a good variety of your sources for the quotes and
citations in your paper. You do not want to rely ON ONLY ONE OR TWO SOURCES for the information in
your paper.
There are different ways to cite the different sources you may have. First, look on Purdue Owl. It is a
great site with examples of just about any situation you might have with an MLA paper. If you still are
not sure about how to cite information, ask me for help. I will be in the lab with you all week.
Please work hard this week! Stay focused on your paper and your topic, and ask for help if you need it.
Please do not bother other people who are also working in the lab. We will be working in the lab all
week which will give you over FIVE HOURS to write this rough draft. It should be a time for you to use
your research to prove your thesis. On Friday, a complete rough draft is due. Below is the rubric for a
complete rough draft.
Research Paper Rough Draft – Due May 4th
INTRODUCTION: Your paper needs to have at least a well-written paragraph length
introduction. Start your paper with some well-crafted general sentences, and narrow the focus down to
your thesis. The last sentence of your introduction should be the thesis sentence.
BODY: The body of your paper should clearly follow your outline. Your writing should reflect
the research you did on your topic. All specific facts that were quoted from your sources should be
properly cited. Try to make each section of your paper equal in length. Do not use too many quotes.
For a paper of this size 1-3 short quotes per page would be proper. Remember: Properly citing your
quotes will make the preparation of your final paper easier.
CONCLUSION: Your paper should have a well-written conclusion that is at least one complete
paragraph. Your conclusion should start with a restatement of your thesis statement.
WORKS CITED: Your paper should have an accurate Works Cited sheet. Please look at the
sample Works Cited sheet. If you have questions about how to write a source on your Works Cited
sheet, please ask Mrs. Rogers for help.
The rough draft of this paper is due on Friday. It will be corrected for grammatical/spelling
errors, citation errors, and structural errors. I am not going to correct these errors. I am going to refer
you to the resources you should use to correct these errors.
Please sign below that you have read and understood these instructions. You will return these sheets to
Mrs. Rogers, but she will give you another copy of this informational sheet.
TYPED AND COMPLETE ROUGH DRAFT DUE 5/4