English 12-7British Literature

Mrs. Reineking

Room 1233

Phone: 867-6961

Email:

Website:

Twitter: @hreineking

Course: This course combines a variety of writing experiences and a study of early British literature with practical skills and enhanced study of literary devices. The writing will focus on narrative, literary criticism and the literary essay as well as reader response. The main works of literature include Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales, Arthurian legend, an independent novel, and the play Macbeth. As Indiana Language Arts Standards call for a demonstration of control of all English language conventions, grammar will be practical and assessed as part of the written work produced. Students will act as peer editors as writing is produced. We will also take vocabulary quizzes based on Greek and Latin root words.

Goal: The final exam in this class requires you to read excerpts from works of literature which is either from this class or similar in nature to the works from this class. You will then answer many types of questions about those samples which will test your level of understanding and ability to interpret and analyze those works and synthesize interpretive responses to that literature. The goal of this class is to prepare you to read, understand, and appreciate dense and challenging literature (in this case mostly from Great Britain), some of which is quite old.

Online textbook information:

Class Zone

Code: 2438414-780

Materials: Students will need a pen and paper every day. Maintain a notebook of your choice with available paper and storage for handouts and notes. DO NOT THROW ANYTHING OUT DURING THE YEAR—ALL HANDOUTS, RETURNED ESSAYS AND OTHER WORK MUST BE SAVED THROUGHOUT THE YEAR!

Optional though greatly appreciated – box of tissues

Classroom expectations:

  • Be on time and prepared for class.
  • Follow directions.
  • Be a willing participant!
  • Please do not chew gum during a presentation.
  • Computer usage is for class purposes only.
  • Respect others and their belongings.
  • Clean up after yourself.
  • Use appropriate language and behavior.
  • Cell phone and iPod use only allowed at teacher discretion and for educational purposes. Inappropriate usage will result in school consequences.
  • During class activities, students are expected to act in a way that is respectful of the learning process, their fellow students and the teacher. This classroom will be a place where students can express their thoughts freely with the expectation that they will not be ridiculed or abused by their classmates for those opinions, though others may respectfully offer opposing viewpoints.
  • All other school and district policies apply! Read the handbook for details.

Late work/ makeup work policy:

  • Late work policy: All work will be accepted one day late for half credit. Speak to the teacher regarding extenuating circumstances.
  • Make-up work: It is your responsibility to pick up your make-up work packet. You have the number of days you were absent to get all work made up and turned in for full credit. Missed quizzes/tests should be made up during period 6 or in the testing center.

Writing: Writing will be an integral part of this class. The writing assignments, which include the following, will range from informal journals to formal essays requiring an understanding of documenting sources in MLA format.

All formal essays should be submitted in MLA format(typed and double spaced in Times New Roman 12-pt. font). Every essay turned in should have the following information in the upper left hand corner of the first page: student name, teacher name, English 12-7, date. It should be double spaced. You should not do this as a header, as it should only appear on the first page. The title should be on the first page centered below. As a header, you should include your last name and the page number in the upper right hand corner so it appears on every page, beginning with page 2.

WilliamShakespeareShakespeare 1

Mrs. Reineking

English 12

13August 2015

Original Title for This Paper

You should begin writing your paper on this page. It should have an introduction, body, and conclusion. Thisshould all be double spaced and in Times New Roman 12-pt. font.

A more contemplative aspect of your writing development will be keeping journals. You will write in these journals throughout the trimester. Sometimes I will give you a topic on which to write; other times, you will be encouraged to write on your choice of topics. Your journals must always be at least ½ page in length. While these will not be graded for conventions, they will be graded for the depth of critical thinking involved in them. Journals will be collected every other week and each entry should be dated individually.

Plagiarism Policy:

One aspect of writing that we want to be clear about is plagiarism. Plagiarism occurs when a writer passes off someone else’s writing or ideas as his or her own. This can be easily avoided by properly documenting borrowed information or text (we will be using MLA documentation). If we discover that a student has plagiarized, the following actions, based on our school handbook, will be taken:

  1. a conference with the student will be held
  2. the parents/guardian will be notified by the teacher
  3. the student will receive a 0 on the assignment
  4. the student will receive a Thursday School

If a student plagiarizes a second time, that student will be removed from the class.

Turnitin.com - Enroll in turnitin.com to turn in major papers online:

  1. Go to
  2. Click on “Create an Account” if needed (or log in and enroll in a new class if you already have an account)
  3. Click on “Student”
  4. Enter your class enrollment code and password

Code: Password: (case sensitive)

  1. Enter your information: your email, name, password, etc.
  2. Click “Create Profile”

*Students should bring in a printed copy of papers as well as submitting it online to *Papers not submitted online by the deadline will be penalized.

Grading:Grades will be determined by a variety of work including tests, essays and performance. Each assignment will be described carefully, orally and in writing, and will be preceded by a rubric or other scoring instrument which will describe the standards to which the work will be held. Assignments will be given a point value relative to the other work in the class determined by its importance and the time and effort required to produce it.

This course is run and organized on a total points system.

  • Essays, tests, quizzes and projects (summative assignments) are worth the most varying from 35-100 points.
  • Homework and journals (formative assignments) are usually less and for completion varying from 10-30 points and will be collected periodically but not necessarily formally announced.

Grades and/or trimester averages will be based on the following:

A / = / 93%-100%
A- / = / 90%-92%
B+ / = / 87%-89%
B / = / 83%-86%
B- / = / 80%-82%
C+ / = / 77%-79%
C / = / 73%-76%
C- / = / 70%-72%
D / = / 65%-69%
F / = / 64% & below