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.
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 below is 1100, you are reading below ninth grade level and the reading and pace of this
course will most likely be a challenge for you. 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 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
Animal Farm George Orwell
Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe
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 copy so that you may write notes in your book—this is an
essential part of active reading.
o 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.
o 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.
o 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 anti-plagiarism
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.
o Socratic Seminar This event will be held the first Friday of the first week of class. Please answer the questions on
the page titled ‘Socratic Seminar’. We’ll explain the process in class, but please research it on your own!
o 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.
o Application In 5-10 sentences predict what changes in society will occur because of the
ideas/philosophies/philosophers of the Enlightenment.
o Connections After reading the book and researching the Enlightenment write 5 connections you’ve made between
them and write an 8-10 sentence paragraph for each connection.
Formatting
All typed work will be in MLA format (we will discuss this later). For this assignment use 12 point, Times New Roman
font, double space the entire document. Do not include a cover page, fancy title or any other font types. The heading of your
page should look like this (top left of the page):
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 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 and prepared on the first day of class.
Answer 8 out of 10 questions 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 Voltailre 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 the revolutions taking place in the world today (Egypt, Tunisia, Syria…) and how are these changes similar
to the uprisings during the Enlightenment?