English Literature
Miss Briggs
381-2646 ext 155
Prerequisites: American Literature
Course Description:
English Literature is a survey course in British Literature from Anglo-Saxon literature up through the present. It is a historical approach which offers exposure to the changes in the English language and the British culture, as well as the influence of various styles and writers on literature.
Course Objective:
Students will be exposed to various forms of the English language and English literature and will apply these to the impact history and writers have on literature in general.
Required Texts and Materials:
Prentice Hall Literature The British Tradition
Hamlet by William Shakespeare (Teacher provided)
Wuthering Heights by Charlotte Bronte (Teacher provided)
Notebook for taking notes
Writing Utensil
5 packs of 3x5 cards
Suggested supplies
A 1½ inch binder
Dividers for five sections
Loose leaf paper or you may get a spiral to fit in the binder
Hole punch – recommended
Sections of the binder – Notes
Handouts
Vocabulary
Tests and quizzes
Homework
Classroom Expectations:
As a member of a caring community, each student is expected to:
-be on time for class
-be prepared for class
-remain seated unless given permission
-remain quiet unless given permission to speak
-show respect for teachers, peers, guests, and the building
-hand assignments in on time -take responsibility for making up assignments/tests when absent
-dispose of food, gum, and beverages before entering class
Consequences:
An infraction of any of the school or classroom rules will generally result in the following disciplinary steps:
First Offense:Warning
Second Offense:Second warning
Third Offense:Discipline form and 20 minute detention
Fourth Offense: Discipline form and 30 minute detention
Fifth Offense: Discipline form, 30 minute detention, and referralto the dean of students
A serious infraction may warrant immediate attention and could result in demerits, detention, and/or parent contact without the customary warning. Many infractions will result in points being taken away from the participation grade.
Detentions will all be served after school and the discipline form must accompany the student to detention complete with a parent signature.
Tardiness:
Students who do not make it into their seats prior to the bell will be marked tardy. After three tardies, you will be given an absent tardy. A detention will be given on the third tardy and every tardy thereafter. Excessive tardies will result in loss of credit.
Make-Up Work
It is your responsibility to make up work when you are absent. Everything is posted on the website, unless there are extenuating circumstances, you will be expected to have the work completed when you return. You will also be expected to take the tests on the day they are scheduled if you are in class. The assignments are posted well in advance and test reviews are posted a week in advance. Make-up tests may be taken within two days of the test and only after school. If you are in the building on a day that an assignment is due you will be expected to hand it in whether you are in class or not.
Late Work Policy
Late work will be assigned with a note from your parent/s/guardian/s. The note is to insure that they are aware that the work is late and thus it will be reduced. Minor assignments will be reduced by 50% if they are not turned in on time. Major assignments will be reduced by 10% for each day that they are late. Assignments will be considered late if you are in the building and do not hand them in whether you attend the class that day or not. Please do not email assignments (unless it is and emergency) as printing them out for every student is not possible. You may give them to the office to put in my mailbox or hand them directly to me in the hallway if you miss class.
Academic Expectations
Students are expected to complete all assigned work prior to coming to class. Since this class covers such a large volume of work, students will be required to keep up on the readings and complete each reading in a thoughtful manner.
Students will be required to take their own notes while reading the homework as well as taking teacher delivered notes from an outline in class. Students will also be required to participate in the discussions concerning the material in class.
There will be weekly vocabulary tests on Fridays. (This is subject to change due to shortened weeks).
Vocabulary assignments consist of a list of ten to twenty that the students are assigned the weekend before they are due. Vocabulary is due on Tuesdays, the students must identify the part of speech and write a complete definition for each word. The words must be defined, if they are not in one dictionary students are encouraged to look them up in others. I highly discourage using the internet to find the definitions because they are often incorrect.
Major tests will be on each completed section of the book.
Students will also be expected to complete an author study research paper that will focus on the history of the time and the author’s contribution or reaction to that time.
Course Outline:
Since history is so important to this course it is essential that you read all the historical information in the book at the beginning of each section.
Weekly vocabulary assignments
The following is an outline of what to expect each week during the first semester. This is an ambitious amount of work and may be subject to change.
Week 1 – Frankenstein paper
History of England notes
Quiz over Frankenstein
Week 2 - Read pages 2-14 (A.D. 449-1485)
Week 3 – Read “The Seafarer” – pages 19-22
Read “The Wanderer” – pages 23-26
Read “The Wife’s Lament” – pages 27-29
Frankenstein paper due
Week 4 - Read Beowulf – pages 34-66
Week 5 – Read Bede pages 76-82
Read the Anglo-Saxons – pages 83 – 87
Week 6 -Test over Anglo-Saxon England
Week 7 and 8– Medieval England
Read Chaucer pages 95-119 – Prologue
Read “The Pardoner’s Tale” – pages 122 – 133
Read “The Wife of Bath” – pages 136-156
Week 9 – Read “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” – pages
160-175
Read “Morte d’Arthur” – pages 176 – 184
Read Margaret Paston – pages 188-193
Read Ballads – pages 194 – 201
Week 10 – Test over Chaucer and medieval period
Choose topic for paper
Week 11 – Renaissance England
Read pages 223-236
Read Edmund Spenser and Sir Philip Sydney – pages
238-245
Week 12 – Read Christopher Marlowe and Sir Walter Raleigh –
Pages 248-253
Read Shakespeare’s sonnets – pages 256-263
Read Sir Thomas Moore and Elizabeth I – pages 270-
277
` Week 13 – Read the King James Bible – pages 280-288
Read Drama – pages 292-299
Read Shakespeare pages 302-303
Thesis Statement Due
Week 14 – Read Hamlet Acts I and II
Week 15 – Read Hamlet Acts III and IV
Hamlet paper assigned
Week 16 – Read Hamlet Act V
Hamlet paper due
There may be reading check quizzes on the readings. At the beginning of each week, I will tell you the days upon which you must have certain works read.
Grading System:
Please note that the grades are weighted so calculating the grade out of points will not give you an accurate grade.
Vocabulary – 10%
Tests and quizzes – 35%
Major assignments – 35%
Minor assignments – 20%
The final semester grade will be an average of the two marking period grades (80%) and the semester exam (20%).