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Mrs. Kwayana's American Lit
POINT LOMA HIGH SCHOOLCourse Syllabus 2015-16
COURSE TITLE:
American Literature:
A Research-Based Study of the Literature and Lifeof the Peoples of the United States of America
Periods: 1-7
Teacher: Mrs. Tchaiko Kwayana Room 300 X 4300
Blog:
Poetry (Under reconstruction):
Oneof the greatest crimesyou can commit is to teach apeople that their historybegins with invasion,colonization andenslavement." --RunokoRashidi"
COURSE CONTENT: Read CAREFULLY
This American Literature course, following the text, The Language of Literature: American Literature, as well as many, many others,will be both a chronological and a thematic study of the literature of the peoples of the United States beginning with the Native Americans and the African before captivity. So as not to compound stereotypes but to rid the scholar of negative stereotypes, the works of authors will be studied in context. However, that study will begin with research into the cultures and other aspects that have informed the group‘s world view.Hence the study of the literature of the Native American and the African American will begin at their ascendancy rather than at the time of their decline. For additional insights to complete the understanding of the peopling of our country in our early study, we next go to the last of the research requirement: The background of the first Europeans who will come to this land.
Many mini-research projects will follow. As with other disciplines, Language and Literature are INQUIRY subjects. A question I will always ask all scholars is this:
What is your thesis/warrant? What is your proof?Mrs. Kwayana’s Educational PhilosophyREAD CAREFULLY:
This you will find on the board:WELCOME SCHOLARS! IN THIS CLASS YOU WILL FIND “TONGUES IN TREES, BOOKS IN THE RUNNING BROOKS, SERMONS IN STONES, AND GOOD IN EVERYTHING.” --ShakespeareAs You Like It
You are more than a school’s statistic. You are also a scholar, seeking knowledge NOT just to get the credits you need to graduate but, equally important, to continue on a journey to make yourself an extraordinary human being and to help others toward similar heights. So the work of this class, with me as your guide, is to help you pull out all the stops and prepare to soar. You must not, therefore, see the academic and social challenges of this class as simply to get a grade and pass. This class must become a gathering port of new ideas, new information, new techniques to combine with what you bring to us to make this journey one not to be forgotten. At a time when our society has the extraordinary challenge of being plummeted by media that train citizens not to think but to REACT, it becomes our duty as educators to provide for you, our scholars, as many opportunities as possible to widen your exposure to the wide world of ideas and to ensure that you possess the critical thinking skills that will prevent you from falling prey to the intense propaganda and shameless fabrications that threaten to engulf us all. NO society can realize its full potential built on deceit and mis-information.
The goal of this teacher is to make her scholarsindependent of her. By learning to seek out, read, and understand texts, to respond both orally and in writing, both in groups and individually, by having a grasp of the world and the issues and events that informed citizens should be aware of, by understanding that scholars are teachers too, the scholars in this Literature class should indeed become lifelong learners.
LITERATURE IS LIFE!
In this course Scholars will acquire the skill of close reading, learning to interpret texts and, as truth-seekers, TO MAKE CONNECTIONS and TO QUESTION!.
This is perhaps the most serious challenge facing learners in an era of almost exclusively visual stimuli. Thus much time will be given to understanding varied print and non-visual texts andin making «connections». To assist in building these skills, scholars will engage continuously in researching texts, determining points of view, analyzing, and debating those points of view.
While much of the reading will be thematic, students will be required to be fully abreast of the present day occurrences through public media broadening their general knowledge and adding relevance to dated texts. They will learn to follow adult oral discussions especially that of authors as presented on C-SPAN’S BOOK-TV and other C-SPAN I & II programming, KPBS Radio (89.5 f.m.)/ N.P.R., .TED Talks, and other sources as they are relevant The increasing challenge to American Lit scholars is the need to be fully abreast ofour world and events of our global village. Reviews of life’stests that American Lit scholars will have to take in many future encounters demand well read andenlightened citizens.The New York Times, when posible, donated by distributors, will be used not only as a source of information for analysis and wider reading, but, equally important, as data for analyzing grammar points and literary styles being studied. Extra Credit: Authenticated visits to your local public library.
See California English Language Arts Standards at this link:
NOTE:We will always study the historical context for whatever text(s) we study.
Reading will be in all genres from poems, short stories, novels, plays and essays, to electronic and oral sources. They will begin with parts of Journey of Man.Class core works will include **Bless Me, Ultima (**First required Core Text),1491, 1493, The Story of English, Bible Myths and TheirParallels in Other Religions, The Crucible,works by William Katz (Black Indians), Huckleberry Finn, Black Boy, Faulkner and other Southern Writers, Writers of the Harlem Renaissance, The Great Gatsby, The August Wilson Repertoire,andThe New Jim Crow as well as reputable internet siteswill bereference texts.Research will be drawn from all eras from Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Frederick Douglass and David Walker to essaysfound in contemporary texts. At least one (1) memory piece from a timeless writer will be required in keeping with one of the global intellectual requirement of scholars. As with essayists, poets of each period will be studied with special attention to contemporary poets including that of the late Tupac Shakur, Jimmy Santiago Baca, John Trudell, and young rappers with positive poetic messages.Cokky Gonzalez's “I am Joaquin” will be used to study the epic poem and practice the skill of annotation as a close reading skill.The art work of Norman Rockwell, Diego Rivera, Jacob Lawerence, Charles White, Ansel Adams, Andy Warhol, and the latest American youth art will be among period art studiedin this multi-disciplinary, multi-genre course.
Accompanying all reading,annotations and more formal writing will be required. This writing will be in various modes: Narrative, Descriptive, Persuasive,and Argumentative to name a few. Scholars will accustom themselves to writing multiple drafts of a paper. Each draft is kept and submitted with new drafts to measure development. All drafts will be typed or in blue or black ink, double-spaced and only on one side of the paper. Journalswill be written on loose-leaf sheets (not spiral sheets whose perforations end up on the floor), in blue or black ink, and kept in a folder.NOTE: When specified, some submissions will be online through Google docs.
First Research Projects:
- As discussed earlier, research will be a common aspect of this course with the very first project the Antiquity Paper designed to dispell myths and stereotypes and to welcome an attutude of scholarly inquiry.Extra Credit («A» scholarship):Research this question: What was life like in Europe for at least a century prior to the European settlement in this land. Give special attention to the changed role of peasant women? What, if any, effect would their experiences in Europe have on their behavior as settlers?
- While the Antiquity Project is being done primarily as homework, in class, we will do several brief but important in-class studies that will answer questions in academic writing as well as in class DEBATE (For Debate, See # II):
I. American English History and Grammar
A. American English is made up of what languages and other influences?
B. What is the grammatical structure of Standard (Academic) American English?
C. Refreshing grammar skills by creating a grammar booklet for 4th graders.
II. A Close Examination of the Effects of the New Technology:Is the Jury in or still out on the positive and the negative effects of our highly technilogical world?
A. What are the POSITIVEsocial effects of these media (notice media is a plural word) on Early Ages? Teens? Adults?
B. What are the negative socialeffects of these media on education Early Ages? Teens? Adults?
C. What are the positive educationaleffects of these media on Early Ages? Teens? Adults?
D. What are the negative educational effects of these media on Early Ages? Teens? Adults?
E. What are your conclusions? What are your recommendations?
III. Your Identity: Who Are You? Appreciating Your Rich Story.
NOTE During the first week of instruction, you will master how to cite all types of texts (sources) including informants. Unless specified otherwise, you will NOT use only online sources as your references in research assignments. This is to ensure as broad a learning experience as possible. The format for any research will be fully discussed in class. Therefore, as for ALL class discussion, you must keep a notebook carefully entering what goes on in a given class session. Should you need to be absent, realize that you will miss something important. Get at least two (2) reliable phone-buddies. All homework will be posted on my homework page.
New research studies will always be listed several weeks before the study is to begin.
It is IMPERATIVE that scholars be keenly aware of the historical happenings that surround the era of the text. You will notice that this teacher requires her scholars to be TRUTH-SEEKERS. That means that your learning must be holistic. You must understand CAUSE and EFFECT so that your analyses will not be simplistic.
Readingand writing, including on demand writing,will be constant.
Plagiarism is the crime of "breaking and entering," stealing another person's ideas and words claiming them as your own. Your signed statement of academic honesty acknowledges that plagiarism is a crime with severe punishment. ALL essays must include a signed, dated statement at their end stating that the work is yours. I will read only essays with that statement.
Oral presentations byboth groups and individuals will be an integral part of this course. Group membership will most often be the decision of this teacher foracademic and social effectiveness.
The Expected Student Learning Results are these:These ESLRs must beunderstoodas Point Loma High School’sStandards for excellence as Pointers. This means you must understandand internalize them. Much time will be used for the first few weeks to aid in this goal. Reflect on the meaning of each:Complex Thinker, Effective Communicator, Responsible Self-Directed Learner, and Involved Citizen. Question:How will you categorize your required memory pieces? Where do you place field trips that we hope to take? Where independent reading? Make these ESLRs real in your day-to-day school experience.
TYPES OF ASSESSMENTS AND GRADE DETERMINATION:
As often as possible, I will have one-to-one conferences with each scholar to better monitor your progress. At those conferences, we will inspect your binder, your notebook, corrected work, and discuss the assigned work of the day. These conferences are to give the scholar and this teacher more individual time to develop and sustain clear, meaningfulcommunication.
Academic grades will be determined by a combination of the following areas: homework, journals, notebook, class participation, announced and unannounced quizzes and tests, and special projects (both group and individual). Homework assignments are due before roll call on the date assigned. ALL ASSIGNMENTS MUST BE DONE AS EACH LEADS TO THE LEARNING OF CONCEPTS OR SKILLS THAT ARE VITAL TO THE SUCCESS OF THE LEARNER. Assignments are posted daily on the board. Late work will result in lowered grades. If the student persists in not handing in assignments, he or she will be required to attend a homework make-up detention class. The required text(s) and a loose-leaf notebook must be brought each day or the class participation grade will be lowered. After a student comes to class three (3) times without the required, announced text, the academic grade will be lowered.
Extra credit assignments will be encouraged but only afterrequired work has been submitted. Make up work will be given upon request. Scholars are required to resubmit revised drafts of written work until they meet the required standard. SCHOLARS KEEP ALL DRAFTS OF A WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT FOR ASSESSMENT OF IMPROVEMENT.Papers, including in-class journals, will be submitted on standard(not preforated) loose-leaf paper only, written only inblue or black ink, and headed in a manner proscribed by the teacher.
A model of that heading style will always be on the board. It includes the requirement that your names be PRINTED and that the month of the year be spelled out (instead of abbreviated). The date will be written this way: September 8,2015
Academic grades will be determined by this breakdown:
Tests, reports, research projects, *portfolio 25%
Homework 25%
Classroom participation,journals 25%
Notebook, Planner 15%
Quizzes 10%
*Scholars will keep all essays (all drafts of each) in a portfolio and submit their best for each grading period. All out of class essayswill be typed, double spaced in 12 Point New Times Roman.Scholarswill make two (2) copiesof ALL major submissions.
GRADING : Gradebookmay be used; periodically, grades will be posted on lineif the new system makes doing so practical.
The numerical breakdownfor essays will follow the 9 point rubric. (A separate handout will explain the standards.)For those assignments, such as tests, with sections where grading cannot be done holistically, this scale will be used:100-90 A; 89-80 B; 79-70 C; 69-60 D; 59-0 F
Classroom Procedures There are two non-negotiable rules:
*1. No student is allowed to laugh at another student. The classroom is a laboratory for trial and error; scholars must feel free to make mistakes. (*Single most important class rule)
**2. When a substitute takes my place in the classroom, the conduct of the class must be “exemplary.” This rule is patterned after the traditional family rule that family members are on their best behavior when a guest is present. I see the substitute teacher as a guest, hence this teacher must be accorded every respect. (**Second most important rule)
3. Scholars are to be in their seats with pencils sharpened ready to work when the bell rings. Late comers will be marked tardy.
4. Assignments due for the day are to be in the required tray prior to roll call.
5. Follow directions; ask questions if directions are not clear.
6. Chewing gum is not allowed because of etiquette and distractions.
7. Males wearing western hats will remove them at the door as is the convention.
8. Unless engaged in group activity, scholars should be in their assigned seats.
9. Individual homework assignments should be the final work of the scholar whose name is on that work.
10. Scholars must come each day with required books & materials.
11. The honesty policy is strictly adhered to. This instructor will closely monitor essays and research papers for any hint of plagiarism using turnitin.com. Scholars will be taught correct documenting procedures.
Communication Policies with Parents
Messages with phone numbers should be clearly leftat extension 4300 stating the best time for conversations. E-mail is less reliable but such communication will receive a response within 24 hours. I actively recruit parents to visit my classes and to volunteer assistance. To avoid conflict of interests, volunteer assistance will not include handling students' work.
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PLEASE ATTACH HERE SIGN AND RETURN BY DEADLINE
Please return signed form to Mrs. Kwayana by September 15, 2015
I have read and I understand the attached course syllabus.
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Parent/Guardian Signature Date
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Scholar's Name Printed Period