Highlands High School
230402 - English IV
2010-2011 Course Syllabus
Instructor: Brandon Abdon
Phone: (859)781-5900
Email:
Grade: 10 Credit: 1 Prerequisite: English III
Planning Period: 5th (12:40-1:40)
Office Hours: Wednesday & Thursday 2:45-4:00 (Please do not attempt to see me before school as I teach during the early-bird time slot.)
Description:
This course revolves around the history and development of English literature as it represents the development of thought. We explore the philosophies that are the foundation of western/English thought and how literature reflects those, as well as how they influence our own development as writers and thinkers. The course encompasses various uses of each of the five language arts (Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, and Observing). A primary goal of the course is to prepare the student for the expectations and rigor of college composition and study. Various methods of seminar, writing/composition, workshopping, outside projects, etc. will be used throughout the year.
Fundamental Truths:
1. Literature is an art that embodies the cultural values and history of man.
2. People learn only through communicating with the 5 language arts – Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, and Observing.
Course Standards:
Students will be able to…
· Read, analyze, question, discuss, and write about a variety of works from English literature with a critical and open point-of-view.
· Evaluate and analyze the influence of literary concepts and elements within a piece of literature.
· Compose a literary analysis, an argumentative essay, a research paper, and a college essay.
· Write within, and interchangeably between, various rhetorical modes of narrative, informational, persuasive, and entertainment writing.
· Understand how grammar and punctuation have a rhetorical effect on writing.
· Choose the appropriate words and voice for a particular situation.
· Listen and observe with a critical and open ear and eye.
· Speak with effective language, tone, and voice.
· Develop and enhance products using the appropriate technology.
Textbooks:
Adventures – Athena Edition: Holt, Rhinehart, & Winston
The Language of Composition: Reading, Writing, Rhetoric: Bedford, St. Martin’s
Grading:
Students will be evaluated on class assignments, activities, papers, and tests/quizzes. Not all assignments will receive a letter grade. The course grading break-down is as follows.
30% / 50% / 20%Class Performance Rubric / Papers / Tests/Quizzes
Day-to-Day, In-Class Work
Homework
Presentations / Major Outside-of-Class Essays/Papers / Vocabulary Quizzes
Unit Tests
In-class Writings/Essays
Performance, Participation, and Attendance:
Successful performance requires participation and figures into the Performance Rubric, which is a grade out of 100 points which figures as 40% of the grade. Students are expected to be on time and prepared for class. When absent, all make up work must be arranged with the teacher when the student returns to school, generally a week will be allowed for make-up work from the time the student returns to class. Make-up work will be scored as a zero (0) until it is completed. Not all work can be made up, this work will not receive a zero, though you will be responsible for the skill/knowledge - arrangements will be made to accommodate for this. If you are absent on the due date for a major assignment, it is your responsibility to turn-in that assignment via e-mail or some other means – I may even come to your house and get it if needed. Regular participation in class discussions and activities is also paramount to success.
Make-up Work:
Failure to attend to late-work/missed assignments in a timely manner (usually a week from the day of return) will result in a zero (0) until completed and a one (1) when completed.
In-class Work: Not all in-class work can be made-up. This will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
Projects, Long-term Papers, other Long-term Work: Generally, late assignments are not accepted for a grade, though they must be completed. Any assignment not turned-in on the due date will receive a zero (0) until turned-in and then receive a one (1). It will still be evaluated and returned to the student, if necessary.
Tests/Quizzes: May be made-up, with an excused absence, during office hours or during Saturday School (forms available in the room). Generally, a week will be allowed from the time of the student’s return to school, though some circumstances may arise that require special arrangements. It is still the responsibility of the student to meet with the teacher and make those arrangements.
Late Assignments:
Generally, late assignments are not accepted for a grade, though they must be completed. If you are absent on the due date for a major assignment, it is still your responsibility to turn-in that assignment via e-mail or some other means (I may even come to your house and get it if needed). Extenuating circumstances will be dealt with accordingly and the teacher reserves the right to make that determination. Since all assignments are important to the progression of learning in the class, all work must be completed. Any assignment not turned-in on the due date will receive a zero (0) until turned-in and then receive a one (1). It will still be evaluated and returned to the student, if necessary.
Portfolio Requirement:
As per the Fort Thomas Schools policy, students enrolled in Senior English must complete an apprentice level portfolio to pass English IV. If the portfolio is not apprentice or higher, the student will have the opportunity to revise the portfolio during scheduled remediation sessions.
Academic Honesty Statement:
I encourage students to research and learn more about the topics of the class. I also encourage student to work together on study guides, vocabulary study, reviewing material, and so on. However, the use of anyone else’s work as your own, including copying, sharing responses, or simply using a source without citing it is Academic Dishonesty. Always give credit to your sources. Because of the sever implications for this in college (suspension, expulsion, etc.), academic dishonesty will result in a zero (0) on the assignment, notification of parents/teachers, and referral to the Assistant Principal.
Course Content 2010-2011
First Quarter: Rhetoric and Logic / Heroism, Sport, & Competition / Community and Reliance on Others
Major Readings: Summer Reading (Into the Wild, Lord of the Rings, Catcher in the Rye), Beowulf, Canterbury Tales, The Road, Le Morte de Arthur
Rhetorical and Literary Emphasis: Rhetoric & Argument, Inductive/Deductive Logic, Connotation/Denotation, Fig. Lang., Paradox, Theme/Tone, Mode Point-of-View, Diction, Detail, Syntax, Imagery
Major Papers: On-Demand Prep, College Application / Personal Essay, Stylistic Analysis Essay
Grammar/Writing Skills: Thesis, Subordination/Coordination, Clauses, Sentence Forms & Combining, Modifiers/Antecedents and Punctuation, Integrating Text
Project: Point/Counterpoint Debate
Second Quarter: Language & Identity / Politics & Citizenship
Major Readings: Hamlet, Much ado About Nothing, 1984, A Modest Proposal
Rhetorical and Literary Emphasis: Appeals/Fallacies, Antithesis, Parallel Structure, Structure, Anticlimax
Major Papers: Argumentative Essay, Satire
Grammar/Writing Skills: Organization & Structure (inductive/deductive logic), Topic Sentences, Word Glue/Transitions, Parallel Structure, Phrases (Gerund & Participial), Semicolons & Conj. Adverbs, Sentence Unity
Project: Modern Proposal of Satirical Solution
Third Quarter: Nature & Society / Pop-Culture and Society
Major Readings: The Romantic Poets, The Portrait of Dorian Grey
Rhetorical and Literary Emphasis: Irony, Understatement/Hyperbole, Literary Criticism
Major Papers: Definition, Problem-Solution / Synthesis Essay
Grammar/Writing Skills: Paragraph Structure/Purpose Verbs, Clincher Sentences, So What?/Who Cares?, Introductions / Conclusion, Sentence Emphasis – Types & Combining (cumulative/periodic/etc), Sentence Variety, Discourse with and between Texts
Project: Pop-Culture Connections & Analysis
Fourth Quarter: Education and INDEPENDENT STUDY
Major Readings: No Exit, The Stranger
Rhetorical and Literary Emphasis: Comparison / Analogy (Metaphor, Simile, Allusion, Personification, etc.)
Grammar/Writing Skills: Economy of Language, Concision of Sentences, Mixing Modes & Logic/Structure of Paragraphs for Effect
Major Papers: Research, Synthesis, and Connections Multi-text Paper
Project: Independent Study Presentation & Defense
Brandon Abdon
English Language Arts
Higlands High School
(859)815-2615
Dear Parent/Guardian:
My name is Brandon Abdon and I am teaching your student’s English Language Arts class this year. I hope you will take some time to review the syllabus on the school’s website and get a feel for what we will be doing in the class this year. I would also like to tell you some about me as the teacher. I am originally from Greenup in eastern Kentucky. I graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2002 with a Bachelors of Arts in English Education and Classical Languages and Literatures and in 2003 with my Masters of Arts in Education. I spent 4 years at Bryan Station High School in Lexington before moving to northern Kentucky in 2007 and accepting a position at HHS. I am in my 8th year of teaching and am currently working on a Master of Arts in English at the Bread Loaf School of English, Middlebury College, Vermont. In addition to my work at Highlands, I also teach one night each week at UK, umpire high school and college baseball, and currently I hold the position of President of the Kentucky Council of Teachers of English.
In this syllabus, I have included the objectives for the class, the expectations for your student, and the major readings for the course. The class will be reading an array of texts to help us better understand the development of writing and the world around us, but the most important thing is for your student to become more adept at reading the world around them and demonstrating their thinking skills through both writing and speaking. If you have any questions or concerns then I encourage you to e-mail me or contact me at school throughout the year. Only by working together can we ensure the success of your student during this year and years to come. Please fill in your contact information below so that I may stay in regular contact with you.
Sincerely,
Brandon Scott Abdon, MA Ed
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