COURSE SYLLABUS: HONORS ENGLISH I1I, 2012-2013
Miami Beach Senior High School
Instructor: Pamela Taylor
Goal & Course Description: The purpose of this course is to develop an appreciation and understanding of a wide variety of classic and contemporary literature. You will practice and improve the level of expression in our own writing, in order to cultivate critical and creative thinking as we discuss and write. The course will also include creative projects as well as analysis, research, and numerous discussions in relation to a variety of genres. We will investigate English syntax and grammar, and sharpen these understandings as we write, and improve our writing skills.
If you ever feel lost or falling behind, come talk to me – I am happy to speak to you about your confusion or desperation, both of which are sometimes necessary steps in learning.
Textbook: Literature Grade 11, MacDougall Littell (available at classzone.com)
Contact Information:
Email: hone: (305) 532-4515 ext.2245
Website:
Essential Questions:
What is the American Dream?
How do we make sense of our world, by reading the literature of our ancestors?
What does it mean to be an American?
What are the responsibilities of being an American ?
What is the “pursuit of Happines ” in relation to the “American dream?”
Writing & Analysis
The writing process
Information and media literacy
Context clues in writing, and writing analysis of literature
Analysis of text structure
-
Reading Literature
-What does it mean to be human?
- How does literature reflect the relationship between the individual and the group?
-When you determine what is right, what do you do?
-Why is it important to defend your rights? Why is it important to defend others’ rights?
-How does literature reflect humans’ search for meaning in life?
-How can we determine whether a work of literature has merit?
Readings:
( I like to individualize instruction and determine appropriate novels after meeting my students…possible options in which I will chose are as follows:
Numerous selections from the text
The Crucible-Author Miller
Moby Dick-Melville
The Scarlett Letter- Hawthorne
Their Eyes were Watching God
The Awakening
Possible novels: A Child called “IT”
The Great Gatsby
Tortilla Flat
The Awakening
This list is tentative, subject to change by the instructor as time constraints dictate.
English Course Contract 2012/2013
Mrs. taylor
- Preparation for Class
When the bell rings for class, be at your seat with these materials:
- folder or binder with pockets for handouts
- sufficient paper for class folder/binder
- blue or black pens
- # 2 pencils with erasers
- one inquisitive and energetic human mind
Recommended: sticky notes, highlighters, jump drive, hand sanitizer, personal reading book
- Grading Weights and Scale
- TESTS/QUIZZES – 15%
- PORTFOLIO/CLASSWORK - 30%
- PROJECTS/ORAL PRESENT. - 25%
- HOME LEARNING - 15%
- Class participation 15%
A=4 points 90-1003.5 and above
B=3 points 80-892.5-3.49
C=2 points 70-791.5-2.49
D=1 point 60-691.0-1.49
F=0 points 0-590.9 & below
Some special projects and assignments may be given extra weight. In case of an excused absence, you must ask the instructor for the missed assignments.
3. Conduct & Procedures
- With mutual respect, we can create trust, and when we trust each other, we can make ourselves better together. These rules and procedures mean little without this shared understanding.
- Cell phones, electronic games, etc. will not be permitted in the classroom because they disrupt the learning environment and distract others. Disruptive devices will be confiscated and returned only to your parent when he/she comes to school.
- No student should feel she needs to submit at an assignment which is not the product of her own mind. If you are tempted to do so, approach me and talk about the issues that are keeping you from doing an assignment. It is all of our responsibilities to maintain the integrity of the class’s work.
- Challenge yourself, your classmates, and your teacher.
I have read the syllabus & contract for this class, and agree to abide by it.
Student’s name______ID#______Period______
Student’s signature______Date:______
I have read the syllabus & contract for this class, and agree to help my child abide by it.
Parent/Guardian’s signature______Date:______
August 18, 2012
Dear students,
As I lean back in my lint-covered rolling chair, lounging in the stale air, I feel the quickening of the energy you will soon bring to this decrepit room. The room anticipates its return to purposeful life, reanimation by the minds and voices of each of us who will work within it. Without you, I’m just an adult reading alone in a very large, poorly ventilated office. Together, we will grow to be capable of experiences and accomplishments we had not thought or known possible.
A Russian writer named Mikhail Bakhtin has remarked that each word we speak or write is “half someone else’s. It exists in other people’s mouths, in other people’s contexts, serving other people’s intentions: it is from there that one must take the word, and make it one’s own.” When we use words, we must work to make them internally persuasive – our first audience is ourselves. While it’s true that most every word we use has been said or written before, our challenge is to orchestrate words so that they mean something fresh and real when we use them. Among our challenges this year will be to work together to help each other express meaning well, putting old words into our own voices, and new ideas into ancient sentence structures. This art of presenting oneself through language should prove useful to you, whatever your goals; indeed, you must actively customize the vessel of language-skill that will best enable you to follow your own star.
I have spent most of my life reading, writing, and thinking about words; and I firmly believe in the importance and relevance of language and literature as sources of knowledge, communication, and power. Learning is an active process of reading, thinking, and writing; it is something that you do, which no one else can do for you, and which no one can strip from you. I look forward to working with each of you toward our goals.
Sincerely,
P. S. Please write back and tell me who you are, what you want to do and become, and one important decision you have made.
Persusasive Essay Models -- January
“Darkness at Noon” Harold Krents 454 (disability)
Ain’t I a Woman (persuasive poem) – rhetorical ?, concession/refutation
An Indian’s View of Indian Affairs / Chief Joseph 446
Antony’s Speech-
Melian Dialogue-
TV essay (ask Ms. Nobil)
Concepts:
Audience
Adjust for audience type
Assume audience disagrees
Topic: must be controversial, with no clear right/wrong answer
SUPPORT: evidential – facts, stats, experts, logical examples/illustrations, case studies
Motivational – personal incident, loaded words, metaphors/similes/figurative lang., sensory detail (imagery), rhetorical question, intentional repetition, parallel structure
Be clear about what’s being argued: needs & values
Topic vs. thesis: topic is a general idea; a thesis is a clear statement
Thesis vs. claim – claim is a thesis answering the “whether or not” question
Claims of
- Value (good/bad, effective/weak)
- Fact (true/false)
- Policy (“should,” “must” DO)
Concession: consideration of an opposing argument; shows audience you are giving weight to their viewpoint
Refutation: your side of the argument, proves why the concession is incorrect or weak compared to your argument
Logicalexamined up close