Course Description
Writing
Students in AP English Literature and Composition will practice a series of writing techniques designed to develop their individual styles and voices. Students will improve their skills in appropriate diction, imagery, detail, manipulation of point of view, and sentence structures.
Revision is the key to this writing program. Thus student writers will re-work their pieces through multiple drafts in order to produce maximum clarity, to achieve full the writer’s purpose, and to develop the writer’s skill in using language effectively.
Close Reading
Our class will focus on reading for more than plot, detail, incidents or characters. Student readers will learn to look for motifs, archetypes, tone and tone shifts, symbolism and meaning in literature, film, and music. This reading will enable young readers to not only analyze literature but will grant them the ability “read”, analyze, and interpret experiences outside the literary world.
AP Test Preparation
The curriculum for this course is a college level reading, writing, and language program designed to help the serious student gain the skills outlined above so that he will be ready to bypass the first year of college English in order to pursue more advanced studies in literature. To meet this goal, students will prepare to pass the AP Literature and Composition test given by the College Board in May. To this end, students will practice advanced placement multiple choice and essay questions throughout the school year. This course is designed to comply with the curricular requirements described in the AP English Literature and Composition Course Description.
Expectations
Writing Practice
· Medium-length essays in all writing modes (expository, narrative, persuasive and descriptive)
· Revision, editing, and redrafting of process essays
· In-class, single-draft, impromptu writing assignments once a week
· Timed writing assignments based on past AP prompts, at least every other week
· At least one literary analysis essay with a research component
· Other short writing assignments as time and circumstances allow
· One-on-one writing conferences with the teacher
Close Reading
Reflective, Solitary Reading
You will have reading assignments most evenings and sometimes over a weekend. They will be manageable in length. I do ask that you highlight your texts as you read and use sticky notes to mark important passages and/or events. I will show you what kinds of things you are to mark. Highlighting and annotating your texts will be part of you grade. It is vital that you read each assignment thoroughly and thoughtfully.
Seminar Participation
Your participation and active listening during class discussion is essential. Not only will you personally glean new insights and ideas about the texts we explore during seminar days, but you will sharpen your speaking and listening skills. I ask that you come to class each day with your book, your insights, and a questioning, receptive mind.
Each of these activities will play a part in my evaluation of your academic progress.
Grades
My evaluation of your work, both in and out of class, is less important than your own perception that you are making progress and becoming increasingly expert as a user and interpreter of language. I’m not the primary audience of your work—you, your peers, your parents and friends, and others in the world around you best serve that function. I can and will give you my assessment of your strengths and weaknesses as a reader and a writer at certain points in the year. My objective in assessing your work will be to appreciate what you have done well and to point out ways in which you might better achieve your reading and writing purposes. I will ask you to examine your own work in terms of both style and substance.
Classwork/Homework 40%
Tests 25%
Projects 20%
Six-week Test 15%
Materials
1 ½ inch three ring binder with five dividers labeled as follow: Notes, Classwork, Homework, Handouts, Tests/Quizzes
Blue or Black ink pens (no pencils allowed)
Notebook paper
1 Spiral Notebook
1 Bottle of hand sanitizer and a box of tissue
Pocket Folder with Brads
Sunday, August 29, 2010
English IV Syllabus
Course Description:
Welcome. This course is designed to enrich your writing, reading, speaking and thinking skills and to develop your abilities to analyze, appreciate, understand and enjoy good literature. Throughout the semester, we will encounter texts about warriors (Beowulf), legends (the Arthurian legend), travelers (Canterbury Tales) and kings (Macbeth). By taking an in-depth look into these texts, we will be able to see the world in which we live through a different lens.
Writing
Students will improve their skills in appropriate diction, imagery, detail, manipulation of point of view, and sentence structures. Revision is the key to this writing program. Thus student writers will re-work their pieces through multiple drafts in order to produce maximum clarity, to achieve full the writer’s purpose, and to develop the writer’s skill in using language effectively.
Close Reading
Our class will focus on reading for more than plot, detail, incidents or characters. Student readers will learn to look for motifs, archetypes, tone and tone shifts, symbolism and meaning in literature, film, and music. This reading will enable young readers to not only analyze literature but will grant them the ability “read”, analyze, and interpret experiences outside the literary world.
Seminar Participation
Your participation and active listening during class discussion is essential. Not only will you personally glean new insights and ideas about the texts we explore during seminar days, but you will sharpen your speaking and listening skills. I ask that you come to class each day with your book, your insights, and a questioning, receptive mind.
Each of these activities will play a part in my evaluation of your academic progress.
Grading Policy:
Your six weeks grade will be determined by the following grading system:
Class work/ Homework 40%
Assessments/ Essays 25%
Projects/ Products 20%
Six Week Test 15%
Academic Honesty:
Our academic honesty policy is simple: the work you submit must be your own. We want to know what you know and understand. We want to hear your thoughts and your ideas. When work is submitted that is not yours it impedes our ability to teach and your ability to learn. By submitting or claiming someone else’s work you are taking credit away from them and taking the opportunity to learn from yourself.
Failure to follow our academic honesty policy will not be taken lightly.
Supplies Needed:
3 ring binder – 1.5 inch
w/ 5 dividers
Spiral Notebook, no college rule
Pocket Folder with Brads
Blue or Black Pen, NO PENCILS
Hand Sanitizer
Box of Kleenex
Welcome. This course is designed to enrich your writing, reading, speaking and thinking skills and to develop your abilities to analyze, appreciate, understand and enjoy good literature. Throughout the semester, we will encounter texts about warriors (Beowulf), legends (the Arthurian legend), travelers (Canterbury Tales) and kings (Macbeth). By taking an in-depth look into these texts, we will be able to see the world in which we live through a different lens.
Writing
Students will improve their skills in appropriate diction, imagery, detail, manipulation of point of view, and sentence structures. Revision is the key to this writing program. Thus student writers will re-work their pieces through multiple drafts in order to produce maximum clarity, to achieve full the writer’s purpose, and to develop the writer’s skill in using language effectively.
Close Reading
Our class will focus on reading for more than plot, detail, incidents or characters. Student readers will learn to look for motifs, archetypes, tone and tone shifts, symbolism and meaning in literature, film, and music. This reading will enable young readers to not only analyze literature but will grant them the ability “read”, analyze, and interpret experiences outside the literary world.
Seminar Participation
Your participation and active listening during class discussion is essential. Not only will you personally glean new insights and ideas about the texts we explore during seminar days, but you will sharpen your speaking and listening skills. I ask that you come to class each day with your book, your insights, and a questioning, receptive mind.
Each of these activities will play a part in my evaluation of your academic progress.
Grading Policy:
Your six weeks grade will be determined by the following grading system:
Class work/ Homework 40%
Assessments/ Essays 25%
Projects/ Products 20%
Six Week Test 15%
Academic Honesty:
Our academic honesty policy is simple: the work you submit must be your own. We want to know what you know and understand. We want to hear your thoughts and your ideas. When work is submitted that is not yours it impedes our ability to teach and your ability to learn. By submitting or claiming someone else’s work you are taking credit away from them and taking the opportunity to learn from yourself.
Failure to follow our academic honesty policy will not be taken lightly.
Supplies Needed:
3 ring binder – 1.5 inch
w/ 5 dividers
Spiral Notebook, no college rule
Pocket Folder with Brads
Blue or Black Pen, NO PENCILS
Hand Sanitizer
Box of Kleenex
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