Miss Thompson
2007-2008
Room 326
English 9 will reinforce fundamental reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. Emphasis will be placed on
analytical thinking skills. Grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and usage will be taught within the context of, and be
applied to, the students’ reading and writing. Students will study a wide range of literature in thematic units,
including novels, short stories, poems, drama, and nonfiction. Independent reading projects will be assigned to
supplement whole class assignments.
Student Objectives:
1. Students will identify and use appropriate forms of Standard English, both in writing and speaking.
2. Students will develop and use broader vocabulary.
3. Students will identify and use literary terms and concepts.
4. Students will complete diverse writing assignments, including journals, reviews, narratives, essays,
and research papers.
5. Students will communicate effectively in writing and speaking for informative and persuasive
purposes.
6. Students will read and respond to a wide variety of literature: nonfiction, poetry, drama, short story,
and novel.
Procedures & Policies:
1. Students will keep all notes and writing in notebooks or folders which must be brought to each class
session along with all necessary materials.
2. Students will use their planners daily.
3. Students will adhere to late work policy: turn in all assigned work at the beginning of the class
period, unless exception is noted. Work turned in later in the day or one day late will receive a 50%
deduction. Work that is more than one day late will receive a zero. “Computer Problems” is not
considered a valid excuse for late work because any typed assignment is assigned at least 2 days
(usually more) prior to the due date. Make-up work for absences follows the IHS Handbook policy.
4. Students will be marked tardy unless they are seated at their desks when the bell rings. Consequences
for tardies are outlined in the IHS Handbook.
5. Students will have very little opportunity for extra credit. It is important to do the work that is
assigned and do it on time.
6. Students will document all material used which is not of their own creation; failure to do so will be
considered plagiarism. (Refer to IHS Student Handbook.)
7. Students will show respect to each other, the teacher, the school, and themselves. This includes
appropriate behavior and language.
8. Students will follow directions the first time they are given.
Required Material:
notebook for journaling/note taking
folder/binder
student planner
pencil or pen (no gel pens please)
three-ring notebook for portfolio
reading book
Assessment/Grades:
Writing
Tests/Quizzes
Assignments
Participation
Grading Scale:
25%
25%
25%
25%
100 - 93 = A 92 - 90 = A- 89 - 87 = B+ 86 - 83 = B
82 - 80 = B- 79 - 77 = C+ 76 – 73 = C 72 – 70 = C69 – 67 = D+ 66 – 63 = D 62 – 60 = D- 59 and below = F
Areas of Study:
Vocabulary, spelling, and grammar will be taught throughout the year. Students will also be required to
complete independent reading assignments and maintain course portfolios. As needed, some units listed
below may change.
Introduction Unit
Personal Writing
Short Story Unit
Portfolio Work
Research Skills
Essay Writing
Night
The Odyssey
Romeo & Juliet
Public Speaking
I have read and understand the requirements and policies for English 9.
____________________________
Parent/Guardian Signature
__________________________
Student Signature
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Attention Students – here is your first assignment!
We have gone over these rules and policies together. Now it is your turn to share these with your
parents/guardians. Please have your parents/guardians sign above and fill out the information below.
This sheet needs to be returned to me by _________________________________________.
Teacher Contact Information
Kim Thompson, English Teacher
Phone: 961-9510 ext. 326
E-mail: [email protected]
Parent/Guardian E-mail _____________________________________
Student E-mail ____________________________________________
Parent/Guardian Phone ___________________ (home)
____________________(work)
_________________ (cell, if preferred)
AP Language Syllabus
DMACC ENGL 105 Composition I
Description:
This course, as with any English course, will include both critical reading skills and a variety of
writing skills. However, we will focus on prose, both fiction and non-fiction, from a wide range of
time periods, authors, and purposes, and the ways in which those pieces utilize language to
contribute to the overall effect of the piece. As for writing, we will work on strengthening
argumentation techniques (taking cues and strategies from professional models) and moving
beyond formulaic approaches to writing essays. We’ll focus on a more organic approach to
writing in which the audience, purpose, and topic drive the essay’s organization and structure.
Objectives:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Analyze and interpret sampl es of good writing, identifying and explaining an author’s use
of rhetorical strategies and techniques
Apply effective strategies and techniques in your own writing
Create and sustain arguments based on readings, research, and/or personal experience
Demonstrate understanding and mastery of standard written English as well as stylistic
maturity in your own writings
Write in a variety of genres and contexts, both formal and informal, employing
appropriate conventions.
Produce expository and argumentative compositions that introduce a complex central
idea and develop it with appropriate, specific evidence, cogent explanations, and clear
transitions
Move effectively through the stages of the writing process, with careful attention to
inquiry and research, drafting, revising, editing, and review
Develop a wide-ranging vocabulary and use it appropriately and effectively
Grades
I know many of you are over-achievers and you want all A’s and are super grade-conscious.
However, listen carefully and then bear with me for at least the first quarter and I think you’ll be
able to deal. To me, as your teacher, the focus of this course is on what you learn and are able
to do at the end. I’m interested in the improvement and progress and growth you make as a
reader and writer throughout the course of this year. My goal is to prepare you for what comes
next, whether that’s your first year of college, the AP exam in the spring, or AP Literature next
year. Yes, as a teacher I have to give you grades. However, I refuse to allow you to become
focused on “how to get the A ” rather than “How can I become a better reader and writer?” I don’t
care where you go next year, what you study, or where you end up later in life; you will benefit
from honing these skills in a way that “just getting the A” can never help you. That said, I’m not
here to pad (nor to destroy ) your GPA. I’m here to challenge your thinking, push you to achieve
more, and guide you in the process. If you work with me and rise to the challenge, giving what
you’ve got to give and not letting apathy or senioritis or other “stuff” in your life drag you away
from your efforts, I can assure you of an A in this class.
50 %
25%
15%
10%
Writing: in and out of class, formal and informal
Reading Journal
Daily assignments, quizzes, activities, discussions
Presentations
Also, you’ll find that your overall grade in this class is based on significantly fewer assignments
than you may have had in the past. You may have only 8 scores in the first two categories for an
entire quarter. Fair warning: zeros will have a major impact on your grade and you
should avoid them at all cost.
AP Language Course Design
1st Quarter: Good Readers and Good Writers
AP multiple choice exam—take home assignment
Create vocab list, both general and literary, from exam and reading
*“Good Readers and Good Writers” by Vladimir Nabokov (introduce journal/practice)
Everything’s an Argument Chapters 1 -7, 9, 19
Summer Reading: Amusing Ourselves to Death and Fast Food Nation
Begin NYT assignments
“Education by Poetry” by Robert Frost
Selected poems by Robert Frost
“The Nature of Proof in the Interpretation of Poetry” by Laurence Perrine
*Various poets w/ reading journal
Rhetorical model of writing
Definition Essay with professional models:
Introduction to Definition Essay The Prentice Hall Reader p. 425 -436
“On Being a Cripple” by Nancy Mairs 75 Plus p. 135 -146
“Women’s Beauty: Put Down or Power Source?” by Susan Sontag 75 Plus p. 118-122
“The Female Body” by Margaret Atwood PHR p. 465 -471
AP Essay Practice:
Neal Gabler quote
Queen Elizabeth speech
Reading Goals: How to read critically, how to use the reading journal, build vocab to talk about
reading
Writing Goals: Introduce and get comfortable with writing process, gain understanding of
rhetoric and building solid arguments, use vocab to talk about writing, use a variety of
rhetorical strategies to write an extended definition essay
2nd Quarter: Past to Present—Impact of on Literature
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair—re-read parts of Fast Food Nation
“Devil and Tom Walker” Washington Irving & “Devil and Irv Chernisky” T.C. Boyle
*“Pit and the Pendulum” Edgar Allen Poe & “The Yellow Wallpaper” Charlotte Gilman Perkins
*Othello William Shakespeare and O (film adaptation)
Everything’s an Argument Chapters 8, 13, 18, 20 -22
Continue N Y T
Argumentative Essay requiring Research with professional models:
Summer Reading
“Why I Stopped Being a Vegetarian” Laura Fraser Bedford Reader p. 546 -551
“A Vegetarian Philosophy” Peter Singer BR p. 552-559
“I Have a Dream” Martin Luther King, Jr. 75 Plus p. 428-433
“A Modest Proposal” Jonathan Swift 75 Plus p. 419-427
AP Essay Practice:
King Lear quote
Contemporary life prompt
The Onion article
Reading Goals: Find patterns in literature—how it’s contextualized, continue practicing key
points from Nabokov and Perrine as related to short stories, etc.
Writing Goals: Build research skills—fill in gaps, apply argumentation skills, improve clarity,
organization, and use of concise language, use a variety of rhetorical strategies to write an
argumentative essay including research, analyze and evaluate persuasive techniques in
professional essays and implement effective persuasion in student writing
3rd Quarter: Non-Fiction vs. Fiction—Relationships Between Them
Classic Slave Narratives
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” Joyce Carol Oates & Life Magazine article
*Young Men and Fire Norman MacLean
NYT work
Everything’s an Argument Chapter 11, 14, 15
Visuals and Fallacies —advertising unit
Causal Argument Essay with professional models:
“The Morals of the Prince” Niccolo Machiavelli 50 Essays p. 221 -230
“How Reading Changed My Life” Anna Quindlen Riverside Reader p. 420-429
“My Wood” E. M. Forster PHR p. 381 -385
AP Essay Practice:
Frederick Douglass passage
Others—one per week
Reading Goals: study relationship between fiction and non-fiction, critically read non-fiction,
analyze visual arguments
Writing Goals: causal argumentation, analysis of non-fiction, practice for AP—building
internal clock
4th Quarter: Story or Structure? What Makes Great Literature?
A Tidewater Morning William Styron
*The Sound and the Fury William Faulkner
Beloved Toni Morrison
Moment in a Novel Paper
AP Essay Practice:
various prompts, one to three per week
Reading Goals: apply skills of analysis and critical reading to serious, challenging literature
Writing Goals: understand relationship of part to whole in lit analysis, preparation for AP
essay portion
AP Language Course Requirements
REQUIRED: A good, hardcover COLLEGE dictionary, not a pocket dictionary. Random House
Webster’s College Dictionary is a good one.
RECOMMENDED: Your own MLA Handbook. I have 24 of them available for check-out. I
have 70 AP English students .
1. You will write several major essays each semester. Each of these 500 -750 word, typed
papers must begin with a proposal and go through three drafts and revisions.
Revisions are not simply editing corrections; they are the crux of the writing process w here you
must often delete whole sections, add new paragraphs, reorganize sentences and paragraphs,
reconfigure your argumentation and logic, eliminate wordy and vague passages, work for a
consistent level of language, and finally --edit. You will also write a critical reflection of the
process you completed to be handed in with your final draft . For second semester, the
process will be shortened to two drafts and revisions rather than three.
2. You will write in-class essays on a regular basis. These range from an analysis of rhetorical
strategies an author has utilized in a particular passage to persuasive essays where you must
cohesively defend, challenge, or qualify an idea.
3. You will, as the asterisks on your syllabus indicate, keep a reading journal. A handout will
explain the journal in-depth, but please understand that this is an independent critical
response to literature, not a personal, merely opinion one.
4. There will be frequent readings. As we cover a wide variety of literature, you will encounter a
range of styles, genres, and opinions. I will expect you to have read all assignments
carefully, to have your books and notes with you, to be prepared to discuss the
readings on the assigned days, and to have your journals (when applicable) finished
when you enter class.
5 . There will be short homework exercises, and short unannounced quizzes on the assigned
readings.
6. You will be expected to participate fully in the class. Participation does not mean that
you are constantly talking: it me ans that you are thoughtfully considering the ideas of others,
referring to your texts to rethink an idea, taking notes, and offering meaningful ideas to the class
discussion.
7. One section of your notebook should be devoted to our work with The New York Times Op-Ed
columns. I'll explain more on this later.
8. Conferences with me on your essays, research projects, and reading journals are
a requirement. Conferences are not the sign of a weak student, but of an intellectually engaged
student. Any time you are struggling with any part of the class, your first step should be to reevaluate your own efforts. Your second is to schedule a conference with me. This applies to the
course as a whole, individual texts or assignments, or even individual drafts of an essay. All of
you will struggle at one time or another —or you’re not trying hard enough—so I’ll expect to see all
of you at my conference desk.
9. You will have independent reading books in addition to our class texts. These are highquality books—chosen by you, okayed by me —meant to expand your literary knowledge and
experience as well as to practice your critical reading skills independently.
Advanced Placement Literature & Composition
DMACC LIT 101 Introduction to Literature
Objectives:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Read a broad range of imaginative literature from various genres, cultures, and periods.
Identify and analyze how writers use techniques such as figurative language, imagery, diction, dialect,
c haracterization, etc. to and analyze the effect of those techniques on the overall meaning of a work.
Write a variety of essays with a focus on the critical analysis of literature, research, and any gaps in your
writing experience.
Read professional criticism of literature and differentiate various lenses those critics employ (formalist,
Marxist, historical, biographical, archetypal, feminist, etc.).
Develop strong, logical argumentative essays which look at literature as art, and therefore as an integral
part of our culture.
Contribute to and share in the acquisition of knowledge and ideas through class discussions, oral
presentations, and small group projects.
Effectively and actively employ the writing process: inquiry and research, drafting, revising, editing, and
critical review.
Employ a variety of research sources, assessing their reliability then convey ing the information using
appropriate forms of documentation.
Use standard English in all formal assignments.
Build a college-level vocabulary.
Grades:
You’re the cream of the crop. You’re supposed to be—otherwise you wouldn’t be taking the highest -level English
class offered at IHS. (In case any of you are thinking of jumping ship based on the first two sentences, “cream of
the crop” doesn’t always mean having the highest IQ. Often “cream of the crop” means having the best attitude,
the highest expectations of yourself, or the best work ethic.) I know you’re all grade -grubbing, GPA-watching
fiends, but I’m still Ms. Thompson and I still care more about what you learn than whether you’re getting the
5.0 A on y our report card so you can out-maneuver the valedictorian competition. If you’ve gotten this far, I’m
pretty sure you can get yourself in to college. My goal is to get you ready for what you’ll find once you get there
(and if you’re smart, get you out of a few things you’d have to do there). In other words, my goal is to help you
get successfully out of college. Whatever you study next year at whatever institution you choose, you’ll be
expected to write well, read long, deep, and analytically, and think critically. That’s what I’ll spend the year
preparing you for. I f you’re willing to work hard, to apply your actual brain cells to learning rather than just
trying to get by, and you rise to the challenges I set before you —and take me up on my offers of help when you
fail—you can also manage to get an A out of the deal. =)
40% Reading—This includes all reading quizzes, tests, reading journals, or specific text notes on
reading assignments.
40% Writing—This includes formal essay writing as well as timed writings.
20% Participation and Presentations
FAIR WARNING: You’ll find that your overall grade in this class is based on very few assignments. Zeros will
have a major impact on your grade and you should avoid them at all cost.
AP Language Course Requirements
REQUIRED: A good, hardcover COLLEGE dictionary, not a pocket dictionary. Random House Webster’s
College Dictionary is a good one.
RECOMMENDED: Your own MLA Handbook. I have 24 of them available for check-out. I have 70 AP
English students.
1. You will write several major essays each semester. Each of these 500 -750 word, typed papers must
begin with a proposal and go through TWO drafts and revisions. Revisions are not simply editing
corrections; they are the crux of the writing process where you must often delete whole sections, add new
paragraphs, reorganize sentences and paragraphs, reconfigure your argumentation and logic, eliminate wordy
and vague passages, work for a consistent level of language, and finally--edit. You will also write a critical
reflection of the process you completed to be handed in with your final draft.
2. You will write in-class essays on a regular basis. These prompts ask you to analyze a poem or prose passage.
3. You will, as the asterisks on your syllabus indicate, keep a reading journal. A handout will explain the journal
in-depth, but please understand that this is an independent critical response to literature, not a personal,
merely opinion one.
4. There will be frequent readings. As we cover a wide variety of literature, you will encounter a range of styles
and genres. I expect you to have read all assignments carefully, to have your books and notes with
you , to be prepared to discuss the readings on the assigned days, and to have your journals
(when applicable) finished when you enter class.
5 . There will be short homework exercises and short unannounced quizzes on the assigned readings.
6. You will be ex pected to participate fully in the class. Participation does not mean that you are
constantly talking: it means that you are thoughtfully considering the ideas of others, referring to your texts to
rethink an idea, taking notes, and offering meaningful ideas to the class discussion.
7 . Conferences with me on your writing and reading journals are a requirement. Conferences are
not the sign of a weak student, but of an intellectually engaged student. Any time you are struggling with any
part of the class, your first step should be to re-evaluate your own efforts. Your second is to schedule a
conference with me. This applies to the course as a whole, individual texts or assignments, or even individual
drafts of an essay. All of you will struggle at one t ime or another—or you’re not trying hard enough—so I’ll
expect to see all of you at my conference desk.
8. You will have independent reading books in addition to our class texts. These are high-quality books—
chosen by you, okayed by me —meant to expand your literary knowledge and experience as well as to practice
your critical reading skills independently.
AP Literature Course Design
1st Quarter:
Critical Reading of the Classics
Summer reading booktalks—first day of class activity
AP multiple choice exam—take -home assignment
Create vocab list, both general and literary, from exam and reading
*“Good Readers and Good Writers” Vladimir Nabokov (review)
Summer reading—essay applying Nabokov’s principles of readers/writers
Summer reading—in-class essay using an AP open question prompt
“Why Read the Classics?” Italo Calvino—choose ind rdg book for quarter
Bedford Introduction, Chapters 1 -2
Literary analysis/criticism
Bedford Chapters 52?, 53
Independent reading literary analysis with lenses—process paper
“Education by Frost” by Robert Frost
“The Nature of Proof in the Interpretation of Poetry” by Laurence Perrine
Bedford Chapters 20-30
Independent poet study
Explication of chosen poem
Reading Goals: how to read and interpret, look at professional models of lit analysis, read
professional criticism, build vocabulary to talk about literature, start applying that knowledge
to poetry, refresh use of reading journal
Writing Goals: implement the rhetorical model in academic essays, focus on literary analysis
2nd Quarter:
Prose Fiction—Short Stories and Novels
Continue reading criticism examples
*Selected short stories
Bedford Chapters 3-10
I n-depth author study and group presentations
Independent reading focus: novel from abroad
Candide Voltaire
“Narrative Rapidity in Candide” Italo Calvino
Moment in a Novel process paper
*Annie John Jamaica Kincaid
AP essay questions—how to attack them
Reading Goals: apply close reading/interpretation/reading journals to longer fiction pieces, continue
development of literary vocabulary, more criticism
Writing Goals: grow in literary analysis skills, practice AP questions, connect part to whole in literature
3rd Quarter:
Drama—Greek to Modern
Continue criticism examples
Bedford Chapters 41-47
Poetics Aristotle
Oedipus Rex Sophocles
A Midsummer Night’s Dream William Shakespeare
*Hamlet William Shakespeare
A Doll House Henrik Ibsen
The Glass Menagerie Tennessee Williams and Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller
Researched literary analysis
Continue AP exam work
Independent reading—literary analysis
Reading Goals: apply critical reading/interpretation/reading journals to drama, study conventions of
theatre, compare/contrast to prose fiction
Writing Goals: grow in analysis, continue improving AP timed writing (building internal clock), extend
use of research in lit analysis
4th Quarter:
Story or Structure? What Makes Great Literature?
Tess of the d’Urbervilles Thomas Hardy
*Mrs. Dalloway Virginia Woolf
One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A Prayer for Owen Meany John Irving
Evaluative essay
Reading Goals: read increasingly tougher pieces, all critical reading skills to those more difficult novels
Writing Goals: complete an evaluative literary analysis, AP exam preparation