Pre-AP English I Syllabus

Pre-AP English I Syllabus

Cushing High School

First six weeks:

Work studied: novel Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

Vocabulary words taken from the novel (from the Laying the Foundation website)

Composition: The elements of a paragraph, color-coded: topic sentence, concrete details, commentary, concluding sentence

We will begin the process of learning to answer the short answer TAKS questions in which students use textual evidence to provide commentary on a text. An important facet of this instruction is being able to distinguish summary or paraphrase from commentary.

Grammar will be studied all year, learning the following skills in addition to practicing earlier-learned skills:

· Gerunds, infinitives, participles

· Relative clauses

· Subjunctive mood

· Dependent and independent clauses

· Punctuation (quotation marks to indicate irony, dashes to emphasize parenthetical information, comma placement)

Assessment:

· Chapter quizzes over the novel

· Weekly vocabulary tests

· Essay on the relationship between Ethan and Mattie in the novel, employing TAKS format for short answer questions. This essay will take around two weeks, all written in class, as we learn the essential skills for writing that we will use the rest of the year.

· Journal entries on Ethan Frome’s conflict

· Multiple choice questions over passage in novel

· After viewing the film Ethan Frome with Liam Neeson, written analysis of how messages in the film are conveyed through visual and sound techniques (editing, reaction shots, sequencing, background music)

· Original engaging story with a well-developed conflict and resolution, interesting and believable characters, and a range of literary techniques (dialogue, suspense) and devices to enhance the plot.

Second six weeks:

Works studied: drama Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Vocabulary words taken from the play (from Laying the Foundation website)

Assessment:

· Tests over all five acts of the play

· Close reading and paraphrases of selected passages in the play

· Figurative language handout Act II (metaphor, personification, hyperbole, apostrophe, simile, oxymoron, allusion, synecdoche)

· Essay over the light and dark imagery in the play

· Analysis of Juliet’s speech Act III, scene ii then complete essay over the way Shakespeare uses figurative language to characterize Juliet’s intense feelings for Romeo (employing concrete details and commentary)

· Analysis of Romeo’s speech before dying (Act V, scene iii)

· original blank verse poem (unrhymed iambic pentameter) about the nature of love

· Paragraphs over these topics:

--Describe the relationship between Juliet, her mother, and the Nurse, as revealed in scene iii of Act I. How does the Nurse behave toward Juliet? Toward Lady Capulet? How does Juliet respond to her mother and to her Nurse? Which woman seems more enthusiastic about Juliet’s possible marriage? What level of formality exists among the three? Cite details from the play to support your response.

--Describe the interaction between Romeo and Juliet at their first meeting. Explain why Romeo describes a series of images. Why does Juliet respond the way she does? What is the overall effect of using these images to portray a love scene?

· Analysis of persuasive techniques Friar Lawrence uses to convince Romeo not to kill himself in Act III, scene iii

Third six weeks:

Works studied: Night by Elie Wiesel (literary nonfiction), Holocaust background information, selected poetry dealing with suffering or mistreatment of others

Poetry: “Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall

“Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes

“The Chimney Sweeper” by William Blake

“Anthem for Doomed Youth” by Wilfred Owen

Vocabulary from Shakespeare List (SAT words) Laying the Foundation website, twenty words a week

Assessment:

· Test over the Preface in Night

· Tests over each section of the book

· Well-developed paragraph explaining how and why Moishe the Beadle attempts to warn the narrator’s family

· Paragraph describing the events leading up to the family’s deportation, beginning with the first event, the Germans arresting the leaders of the Jewish community, and ending with the Jews being loaded into cattle cars

· Paragraph explaining what you believe causes Mrs. Schachter to act as she does and the others’ reaction to her

· Paragraph explaining Elie’s reaction to his and his father’s experience in the concentration camp Auschwitz

· Paragraph explaining in detail the event that causes people to cry after they thought they would never cry again

· Research project: Brainstorm, consult with others, decide upon a topic, and formulate a major research question to address the major research topic, formulate a plan for engaging in research on a complex, multifaceted topic, follow the research plan to compile data from authoritative sources in a manner that identifies the major issues and debates within the field of inquiry, organize information gathered from multiple sources to create a variety of graphic and forms (notes, learning logs), paraphrase, summarize, quote, and accurately cite all researched information according to a standard format (author, title, page number), modify the major research question as necessary to refocus the research plan, evaluate the relevance of information to the topic and determine the reliability, validity, and accuracy of sources (including Internet sources) by examining their authority and objectivity, critique the research process at each step to implement changes as the need occurs and is identified.

Organize and present ideas and information according to the purpose of the research and audience. Synthesize the research into a written or an oral presentation that marshals evidence in support of a clear thesis statement and related claims, provides an analysis for the audience that reflects a logical progression of ideas and a clearly stated point of view, uses graphics and illustrations to help explain concepts where appropriate, uses a variety of evaluative tools (self-made rubrics, peer reviews, teacher and expert evaluations) to examine the quality of the research, uses a style manual (Modern Language Association,) to document sources and format written materials.

Topics to choose from:

1.Ghettos

2.Concentration Camp-Auschwitz-Birkenau

3.Concentration Camp-Bergen-Belsen

4.Concentration Camp-Dachau

5.Concentration Camp-Sobibor

6.Concentration Camp-Treblinka

7.Concentration Camp-Theresienstat

8.Concentration Camp-Buchenwald

9. Survivors

10. Liberators/Rescuers/Resisters

11. Starvation-lack of food and nutrition

12.World War II- Important Leaders

13.World War II-Important Events

14. Pearl Harbor

15. Holocaust War Criminals

16. Lessons learned from the Holocaust

17. Read NIGHT and some other true account

18.Voices of the Holocaust

19. Anne Frank

20. Tolerance/Intolerance

21. Children of the Holocaust

22. Nuremberg Trials

23. What was the Final Solution?

24. Hate Groups

25. Nazi Beliefs

26. Kristallnacht-night of the broken glass

27. Adolf Hitler

28. Liberation

29.Boxcar Horrors

30.Acts of Courage

31.Olympics of 1936

32.Daily Life in the Camps

33.Star of David

34.Doctors of the Holocaust

35. Medical Experiments of the Holocaust

36.The Story of Raoul Wallenberg

37.Death Marches

38.Kindertransport

39.Voyage of the St. Louis

40.Nuremberg Laws 1935-1938

41.Jewish Religion

42.Artwork, Stolen Art, Poetry, Literature, and Music of the Holocaust

43.Museums and Memorials

44.Oskar Schindler

45.History of the Swastika

46.Pogroms

47.Mengele: Angel of Death

48.Gestapo

49.Nazi Propaganda

50. Elie Wiesel

51. Adolf Eichmann

52. Simon Wiesenthal

53. Why was the world silent?

54. The Japanese American Interment Camp

55. Displaced Persons and Refugees

56. Killing Squads (Einsatzgruppen)

57. Miep Gies

Assessment over poetry:

· “Dream Deferred”—paragraph analyzing the function of the metaphors in the poem

· “Ballad of Birmingham”—paragraph analyzing Dudley Randall’s use of the emotional appeal in the poem

· “The Chimney Sweeper”—paragraph about the way Blake uses dramatic irony to characterize the speaker in the poem

· “Anthem for Doomed Youth”—paragraph comparing and contrasting the expected honors for “doomed youth” (“bells,” ‘prayers,” “choirs,” “bugles,” “candles,” “flowers”) and the actual “honors” for those killed in World War I (“guns,” “rifles,” “wailing shells,” “pallor”)

Fourth six weeks:

Work studied: Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Vocabulary from Shakespeare List (SAT words) from Laying the Foundation website, twenty words a week

Assessment:

· Journal entries over characterization of Ralph or Jack in chapter 1 (evidence from text and commentary)

· Paragraph over chapter 1: Characterize Jack, Ralph, or Piggy, analyzing the personality traits of the character you choose

· Analysis of passage in chapter 9 where Simon is killed—paraphrase, analyzing diction, imagery, figurative language, activity culminating in an essay (below)

· Essay over the following prompt: Read the following passage which ends chapter 9 of Lord of the Flies. Jack and his tribe have murdered Simon in the midst of their tribal dance. Write a well-developed essay over this prompt: How does Golding use the resources of language to reveal the narrator’s attitude toward Simon’s death?

· Journal entries tracing the beast in the novel

· Essay over the true meaning of the beast in the novel, using this thesis statement: “The beast represents the way in which man will try to convince himself that there is no evil inside of him by making someone or something else seem to be the cause for the evil.”

· Chapter quizzes

· PowerPoint game reviewing plot, character, theme (from Nobelprize.org)

· Student-created PowerPoint presentation illustrating plot, character, theme (using graphics, images, and sound)

Fifth six weeks:

Works studied: A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines, selected poetry

Assessment for novel:

· Dialectical journal over selected sections of the novel, charting the following:

the thematic idea of the inescapable past, the motif of Christian imagery and food and drink, symbols (the notebook, the electric chair)

· Stylistic analysis of selected passages (how Gaines uses diction, imagery, details, and figurative language to achieve a certain effect)

· Paragraph over the hypocrisy in the date of Jefferson’s execution

· Paragraph over the irony involved in Jefferson’s death

· One element from dialectical journal developed into an essay, using concrete details from the novel

· Persuasive essay addressing these skills:

Students write an argumentative essay to the appropriate audience with a clear thesis or position based on logical reasons supported by precise and relevant evidence, consideration of the whole range of information and views on the topic and accurate and honest representation of these views, counter-arguments based on evidence to anticipate and address objections, an organizing structure appropriate to the purpose, audience, and context; an analysis of the relative value of specific data, facts, and ideas.

Write a persuasive essay, choosing from the following prompts:

--Defend or challenge the idea that Jefferson died as a man with dignity.

--Defend or challenge the idea that Jefferson changes Grant more than Grant changes Jefferson.

--Some critics contend that Grant perpetuates the system of racism and exploitation. Defend or challenge this statement.

--Gaines’s work has been criticized for his use of “passive” characters who don’t fight back against the injustices of their environment. Based on your reading of A Lesson Before Dying, write an essay defending or challenging this statement.

Sixth six weeks:

Works studied: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Vocabulary from the novel from Laying the Foundation website, twenty words a week

Because of the difficulty level of this novel, I will read Book the First (6 chapters) orally to the students and we will discuss as a class. For Book the Second (24 chapters), students will read a chapter a day and be assessed either by a quiz over that chapter or a writing assignment done in class. Book the Third (15 chapters) I will read orally as well.

Assessment for novel:

Book the First:

· Chapter 5, close reading exercise

Book the Second:

· Chapter 1, reading quiz

· Chapter 4, reading quiz

· Chapter 6, writing two paragraphs

· Chapter 7, analysis of diction, figurative language, repetition

· Chapter 7, analysis of diction and syntax in connection to meaning

· Chapter 9, paragraph over allusion “The Gorgon’s Head”

· Chapter 12-13, analysis of irony, contrast, and juxtaposition

· Chapter 14, analysis of extended metaphor

· Chapter 15, close reading activity

· Chapter 16, analysis of tone

· Chapters 21-22, reading guide

· Three paragraphs over Book the Second, chosen from a list

Book the Third

· Chapter 14, acting out a scene of characterization

Assessment over whole novel:

· Syntax study of opening and closing lines (“It was the best of times….”)

· Identifying participles, adjectives, adverbs from sentences from the novel

· Identifying dependent clauses from the novel

· Final essay concerning the motif of sacrifice in the novel

· Script (with an explicit or implicit theme and details that contribute to a definite mood or tone) written over a selected scene from the novel. Students choose the scene.