Dual Enrollment FRESHMAN ENGLISH ENC1101
Middleton High School
MaryAnn Robertson and Jonathan Streeter
Welcome!
Welcome to Dual Enrollment FRESHMAN ENGLISH, Composition I (second semester is Composition II). In Dual
Enrollment, during first semester, we will study rhetorical and literary strategies and their effect on the reader as
reflection of a writer’s purpose. You will also write in a variety of modes. THIS IS A COLLEGE LEVEL CLASS,
SO ALL STUDENTS ARE EXPECTED TO WORK INDEPENDENTLY AND MATURELY AND BE
PREPARED FOR AND ENGAGED IN EVERY CLASS ACTIVITY. This is a Gordon Rule class; therefore, you
are required to write a minimum of 6,000 words (20 or more pages) during the semester. In addition, you will create
a photo essay and a power point presentation. And, you will read, read, read. Yeah! You will receive information
about ENC1102 in late November.
I congratulate you on your decision to join dual enrollment English class at Middleton High School. We will
discuss specific policies at the beginning of the year, but, as an early warning, we want you to know that we
consider effort and meeting deadlines to be extremely important. If you have any questions over the summer, you
may email us at [email protected] or [email protected].
For your summer reading assignment, you are to procure a copy of and read the novel Ragtime
by E. L. Doctorow by the opening of school. Additionally, you are to procure a copy of A River
Runs Through It by Norman Maclean so that you can finish reading that book by September 10,
2015.
As you read Ragtime, you should keep a record of your ongoing conversation with the author
and his/her writing in the form of a dialectical journal. The procedure for this is outlined below.
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As you read, choose passages that stand out to you and record them in the left-hand column of a Tchart (ALWAYS include page numbers).
In the right column, write your response to the text (ideas/insights, questions, reflections, and
comments on each passage)
If you choose, you can label your responses using the following codes:
– ask about something in the passage that is unclear
– make a connection to your life, the world, or another text
– anticipate what will occur based on what’s in the passage
– answer earlier questions or confirm/disaffirm a prediction
– think deeply about what the passage means in a broad sense – not just to the
characters in the story. What conclusions can you draw about the world, about human nature,
or just the way things work?
Complete a minimum of 10 journal entries.
The summer reading project is due the first day we return to school in August.
FOLLOWING IS A SAMPLE DIALECTICAL JOURNAL ENTRY FOR TIM
O’BRIEN’S THE THINGS THEY CARRIED.
Sample Dialectical Journal
entry: THE THINGS THEY
CARRIED by Tim O’Brien
Passages from the text
“-they carried like freight
trains; they carried it on their
backs and shoulders-and for
all the ambiguities of
Vietnam, all the mysteries and
unknowns, there was at least
the single abiding certainty
that they would never be at a
loss for things to carry”.
Page
#
Comments & Questions Raised
Pg. 2
(R) O’Brien chooses to end the first section of the novel
with this sentence. He provides excellent visual details of
what each solider in Vietnam would carry for day-to-day
fighting. He makes you feel the physical weight of what
soldiers have to carry for simple survival. When you
combine the emotional weight of loved ones at home, the
fear of death, and the responsibility for the men you fight
with, with this physical weight, you start to understand
what soldiers in Vietnam dealt with every day. This quote
sums up the confusion that the men felt about the reasons
they were fighting the war, and how they clung to the
only certainty - things they had to carry - in a confusing
world where normal rules were suspended.
CHOOSING PASSAGES FROM THE TEXT:
Look for quotes that seem significant, powerful, thought provoking or puzzling. For example,
you might record:
/or creative use of stylistic or literary devices
terns: recurring images, ideas, colors, symbols or motifs.
RESPONDING TO THE TEXT:
Basic Responses
plied in the text
ree with a character or the author
Higher Level Responses
film, song, etc…)
and its relationship to the story as a whole