Course Syllabus – 11th Grade - American Literature

Ms. Kimberly Melvin

910-671-6050

Tutoring (3:15-4:15) By Appointment

Texts: Holt Elements of Literature textbook

The Crucible / Huck Finn/A Raisin in the Sun /The Great Gatsby /The Narrative of FrederickDouglas/Their Eyes Are Watching God/The Color Purple/I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings/ Native Son

 Other novels/plays chosen by instructor

Required Materials:

  • Blue/black pen
  • Notebook paper
  • Email address
  • Internet access
  • Flash Drive
  • Dividers
  • 3 Ring Binder

Course Overview: American Literature and Composition is a study of the major literary topics and themes across the history of the United States from pre-colonial times to present day. Students will focus on the major literary forms of the emerging nation, analyze the literary themes and trends, and research and compose several papers, speeches, and presentations using representative forms of discourse. This course will address the standards for success on the North Carolina Measures of Student Learning Exam. Standards can be found at:

A few of these standards are listed below:

  • Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as

well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters

uncertain.

  • Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
  • Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a

story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are

introduced and developed).

Class Policies

Classroom Rules

  1. All school policies and rules printed in the LHS handbook will be enforced in the classroom.
  2. At all times, students and teachers will treat each other with mutual respect.
  3. Cell phone use is prohibited in the classroom. Violation of this rule will result in the confiscation of the cellular device pending parent/teacher conference.
  4. Failure to follow classroom rules result in: (1st violation = warning and documentation, 2nd violation = parent phone call and documentation, 3rd violation = office referral and documentation.)
  5. All materials must be brought daily.
  6. No food or drink (except bottled water) allowed in class.

GRADING

Approximate Category Values:

  • Writing/Projects/Portfolios 30%
  • Tests30%
  • Classwork/Homework20%
  • Quizzes/Informal Writing20%

Total100%

In accordance with Public Schools of Robeson County policy, grades are assigned as follows:

93-100 / A
85-92 / B
77-84 / C
70-76 / D
69-BELOW / F

ABSENCES AND MAKE-UP WORK

  • According to the Public Schools of Robeson County, you have FIVE (5) days from the day you return to make up missed work.
  • It is the student’s responsibility to check the teacher website for his/her class, complete the assignment(s), and turn them in.
  • Students must also arrange a time to make up any missed tests and quizzes within 3 days after returning to school except in cases of extended absence. Make-ups must be scheduled with the instructor in advance. Make-up tests and/or quizzes will only be given when appointments are initiated and made by the student. Furthermore, it is not the instructor’s responsibility to remind individuals what they need to make up. Students may meet with the instructor after school to make up missed tests and/or quizzes as long as they have made an appointment. ALL MAKE-UP WORK MUST BE COMPLETED TWO WEEKS PRIOR TO THE END OF THE SEMESTER.

LATE WORK

  • Homework and daily assignments are due upon request as assigned; they will NOT be

accepted late.

  • Per the Public Schools of Robeson County, students have 5 days to complete missing assignments for excused absences.
  • Late penalties of 10 points per day will apply to papers and other major assignments designated by me (excluding the Final Research Paper – all due dates are firm on this) THEFINAL RESEARCH PAPER WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED LATE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

EXTRA CREDIT

Extra credit assignments will be made available periodically throughout the semester on my teacher website. These assignments are geared toward helping students with no missing regular coursework improve their standing in the course. Students who are missingmore than threeregular assignments will have to fulfill those assignments prior to gaining permission to submit extra credit.

PLAGIARISM STATEMENT

Plagiarism is the use of another’s words or ideas and the presentation of them as though they were entirely one’s own. Acts of plagiarism might include, but are not limited to:

using words or ideas from a published source without proper documentation

using the work of another student (e.g. copying homework, composition, or project)

using excessive editing suggestions of another student, teacher, parent, or paid editor.

A note about what constitutes “excessive editing.” Students learn to write well by doing just that, writing. Struggling independently through the writing process produces growth (as well as a certain amount of agony), and eventually the student’s own voice. When well-meaning parents, siblings, tutors, or others contribute their ideas, words, phrases, revisions, etc. to students’ writing, student writers miss the opportunity to achieve literary self-reliance.

So – what is helping, but is NOT excessive editing? The answer is: questioning and cueing. For example: “Is this word strong enough? Interesting enough? Specific enough?” “Can you think of another word that would fit better?” “Does this sentence seem awkward?” “What exactly do you mean?” “I don’t understand what you are trying to say here; can you say it more clearly?” “This sentence has a powerful verb; can you find one as powerful for that other sentence?”

These kinds of questions and statements allow the students to think and write independently. Students should be allowed to find their own voices and to develop their own writing skills.

Plagiarism on any project or paper will result in a zero for the assignment and an Honor Code Violation. Unless strictly stipulated by the teacher, collaboration on written work is not acceptable. Students who willingly provide other students with access to their work are in violation of the Honor Code.

Students should be aware that various electronic resourcesmay be used to check papers for plagiarism.

Unit 1
Perspectives of Early America
1400-1800
(Native Amer./Exploration/Colonial)
3 Weeks / Unit 2
Perspectives of Nature and the Supernatural
1800-1900
(Romanticism/
Transcendentalism)
3 Weeks / Unit 3
Perspectives in Individualism
1900-1946
4 Weeks / Unit 4
Perspectives of the American Dream
1946-Present
4 Weeks / Unit 5
Shakespeare
3 Weeks
Standards Addressed:
ELACC11-12RL1
ELACC11-12RI1
ELACC11-12RI6
ELACC11-12W1
ELACC11-12W4
ELACC11-12L1
ELACC11-12L4
ELACC11-12SL3
ELACC11-12W2 / Standards Addressed:
ELACC11-12RL4
ELACC11-12RI4
ELACC11-12RI7
ELACC11-12W2
ELACC11-12W9
ELACC11-12L2
ELACC11-12SL2
ELACC11-12RL1
ELACC11-12RI1 / Standards Addressed:
ELACC11-12RL1
ELACC11-12RI1
ELACC11-12RI6
ELACC11-12W1
ELACC11-12W4
ELACC11-12L1
ELACC11-12L4
ELACC11-12SL3
ELACC11-12W2 / Standards Addressed:
ELACC11-12RL4
ELACC11-12RI4
ELACC11-12RI7
ELACC11-12W2
ELACC11-12W9
ELACC11-12L2
ELACC11-12SL2
ELACC11-12RL1
ELACC11-12RI1 / Standards Addressed:
ELACC11-12RL4
ELACC11-12RI4
ELACC11-12RI7
ELACC11-12W2
ELACC11-12W9
ELACC11-12L2
ELACC11-12SL2
ELACC11-12RL1
ELACC11-12RI1
Extended Text:
The Crucible
Short Text:
Phillis Wheatley poetry
Anne Bradstreet poetry
Informational Text:
“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”
OlaudahEquiano / Extended Text:
The Scarlett Letter
Short Text:
“Minister’s Black Veil”
“The Devil and Tom Walker”
Informational Text:
Emerson’s “Of Nature” and “Self-Reliance”
Letters from Birmingham Jail / Extended Text:
The Awakening
Short Text:
“Story of an Hour”
Informational Text:
“Living and Dying the State’s Way”
“Gettysburg Address” / Extended Text:
Their Eyes Were Watching God
The Things They Carried
A Raisin in the Sun
Informational Text:
Autobiographical works of Walker, Baldwin, and Cisneros / Extended Text:
Integrated Writing Task:
Argument
  • Literary Analysis – What is the proper application of authority? Using the Crucible as your source, develop an argument addressing this topic.
/ Integrated Writing Task:
Informational/Explanatory
  • Explain how the writer’s use of figurative language develops a work’s meaning.
  • Discuss the use of symbolism in The Scarlett Letter.
/ Integrated Writing Task:
Informational/Explanatory
  • Poetry Explication
/ Integrated Writing Task:
Informational/Explanatory
  • Research a war besides the Vietnam War; write a letter home with details about the turning point of the war
Argument
  • Art Review/Film Review- of any Vietnam War related media
/ Integrated Writing Task:
Academic Vocabulary:
Context, hyperbole, metaphor, personification, dialogue, dramatic exposition, allusion, historical context, dramatic irony, extended metaphor, point of view, diction, rhetorical strategies, poetry, prose, theme, imagery, counter-argument, Puritan Plain Style, paraphrase, oratory, Great Awakening, Parenthetical citation, Works Cited, citations, Plagiarism, MLA / Academic Vocabulary:
Transcendentalism, gothic, romanticism, introvert, parable, symbol, literary devices, figurative language, primary & secondary sources, conflict (internal, external, etc.), Point of view, characterization (Direct, indirect), diction, connotation/denotation, internal rhyme, end rhyme, alliteration, assonance, consonance, figurative language (personification, metaphor, simile, synechdoche, hyperbole, symbolism), lyric, narrative, fixed form / Academic Vocabulary:
Realism, naturalism, anecdote, allusion, perspective, antagonist (non-human), free verse, slant rhyme, exact rhyme, diction, stream of consciousness, objective point of view, third person limited point of view, / Academic Vocabulary:
Disillusionment, modernism, post-modernism, grotesque, character, Harlem Renaissance, blank verse, motif, imagism, nihilism, existentialism, irony, flash back, In media res, chronological order, satire, understatement, regionalism, dialect, local color, colloquialism / Academic Vocabulary:
Stage directions, stanza (couplet, quatrain, cinquain), meter, mood, tone, Irony (dramatic, situational, verbal)

Parents of 11th grade Literature students,

I am looking forward to a productive semester with your student. The 11th grade year is a time of growth and change for most students, and parental involvement is essential. Please take the time to carefully read and sign this syllabus with your child. I am also requesting that parents provide an e-mail address where you can be reached. This is optional and is simply a means to provide another avenue of communication. Due to my inability to leave class during the day, it is sometimes easier to reach me through e-mail. My e-mail address . Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about this syllabus or the class in general.

I have received and read the syllabus for this course.

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Signature of student/Date

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Signature of parent/Date

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Parent phone number

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Parent cell phone

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Parent e-mail