English IV, Honors
Mrs. Kelleher
2011-2012
Syllabus / Classroom Policies
First Quarter: Old English and Medieval Periods
The Seafarer p. 18
The Wanderer p. 23
A History of the English Church and People p. 78
Canterbury Tales p. 98
Sir Walter Scott: Ivanhoe video
*Independent Reading – Seamus Heaney: Beowulf
Second Quarter: English Renaissance
English Ballads p. 196
Edmund Spenser: Sonnet 1, 35, 75 p. 242
Sir Philip Sidney: Sonnet 31, Sonnet 39 p. 243
Christopher Marlow: The Passionate Shepherd to His Love p. 250
Sir Walter Raleigh: The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd p. 251
Francesco Petrarch: Sonnet 28 p. 267
William Shakespeare: Sonnets p. 258
The Tragedy of Macbeth p. 306
*Independent Reading – William Shakespeare: Hamlet
Third Quarter: Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries/Romantic Period
John Donne: Holy Sonnet 10, Meditation 17 p. 440
Ben Jonson: On My First Son p. 450
Andrew Marvell: To His Coy Mistress p. 460
Robert Herrick: To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time p. 463
John Milton: Sonnets p. 474
Samuel Pepys: from The Diary p. 504
Daniel Defoe: from A Journal of the Plague Year p. 511
Jonathan Swift: from Gulliver’s Travels p. 522
Robert Burns: To a Mouse, To a Louse p. 666
William Blake: The Lamb, The Tyger p. 680
William Wordsworth: The World is Too Much With Us,
London 1802 p. 717
Samuel Taylor Coleridge: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner p. 730
Percy Bysshe Shelley: Ozymandias,
Ode to the West Wind p. 776
John Keats: Ode on a Grecian Urn p. 798
Mary Wollstonecraft:
from A Vindication of the Rights of Women p. 828
*Independent Reading – Mary Shelley: Frankenstein
Fourth Quarter: Victorian Period/ Modern and Postmodern Periods
Alfred, Lord Tennyson: The Lady of Shalott p. 869
Thomas Hardy: Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave? P. 973
A. E. Houseman: To an Athlete Dying Young,
When I Was One-and-Twenty p. 983
William Butler Yeats: When You Are Old p. 1024
The Second Coming p. 1029
T.S. Eliot: Preludes p. 1040
Rupert Brooke: The Soldier p. 1104
Siegfried Sassoon: Wirers p. 1106
Wilfred Owen: Anthem for Doomed Youth p. 1107
Seamus Heaney: Follower p. 1132
Joseph Conrad: The Lagoon p. 1160
James Joyce: Araby p. 1173
D. H. Lawrence: The Rocking Horse Winner p. 1202
*Independent Reading – William Golding: Lord of the Flies
Writing Assignments:
Original poetry
Personal Narratives & Reflection Papers
Persuasive Essays
Research Papers using MLA format
Vocabulary:
Vocabulary will be addressed as it relates to specific works we are reading. There are new vocabulary words identified under “Vocabulary Builder” at the start of each section in your literature book. In addition, you will be expected to use the dictionary to look up unfamiliar words as you encounter them in your reading. You may expect to be tested on these and any new literary terms over the course of the year.
This list represents the core of the curriculum to be covered in class this year. We will be reading all of the works listed, and you will be expected to respond to them in class discussions, writing assignments and formal tests. The writing assignments listed will also be covered. As time allows, I will add to the above with additional material from your book at my discretion.
By studying the works listed above, you will have the opportunity to explore some of the rich history of literature that comes to us from the British Isles. You will study traditional folk stories, epic poems, short stories and plays. You will read works by authors whose names are familiar to you, such as William Shakespeare and Geoffrey Chaucer, and you will be introduced to other authors whose names are new. With every new work we tackle, I will challenge you to make a connection between the ideas and themes explored by the author and your own life. The literature we study this year will enrich you in many ways, not the least of which will be to help you to evaluate who you are by discovering or clarifying your personal ideals, and to recognize how well are you living up to those ideals. By the end of the year you will be more critical readers, more mature writers, and more self-aware members of society. In short, you will be better prepared to go out and face the world as mature, self-confident young adults!
Grading
Grades will be assigned using a point system, which will be enable you to know where you stand at any given time in the semester. Every assignment will be given a point value in advance. If you divide the number of points you receive on an assignment by the number of points possible you will arrive at a percentage grade. If you total the number of points possible on all assignments given up to a certain point and divide that into the total number of points you have received, you will have your quarter average.
For example:
Test – 49/50 points
Quiz – 20/20 points
Quiz – 18/20 points
Homework – 20/25 points
Class work – 25/25 points
____________________
Total – 127/140 points = 90.71 or 91% x .05 = 96%
Do not ask me for your grades during the quarter; it is your responsibility to keep track of them. They will be posted to the In-Touch system as quickly as time allows. At the very end of each quarter I will show you a print out of my records, which you may compare to yours.
Because of the rigorous nature of this course, there is little opportunity for extra credit. If you do the work required and work to the best of your ability, you will do fine.
Assignments that are handed in late will lose 10% for one day late and will not be accepted after that. Please, do not test this policy. It is firm. Assignments are given well in advance and you will have time to complete them as scheduled. You should allow yourself ample time for technical problems, such as computer/printer problems, work or game schedules, car repairs, babysitting, family problems, etc. Life is full of unexpected events, so don’t procrastinate and expect that I will excuse you because of an unexpected problem. I have far too many students whose work I need to track and return in a timely fashion to worry about the reason you forgot to bring something to class. Take responsibility for your work and hand it in on time. If you are in school on a day an assignment is due, even if you are not in my class (for example, if you come in late or leave early) you are still responsible to hand in the assignment that day.
You will receive a class participation grade each quarter. In order to receive full credit for class, you must actively participate by contributing to class discussions, reading aloud, and completing homework assignments. This will enable those of you who are responsible students to earn points to help your final grade. The following is an explanation of class participation grading:
40 points – in class, prepared to work, not causing any disruptions
10 points – volunteer answers, participate actively in class discussions
5 points – bring in evidence of outside reading that enhances our understanding
of the text at hand
55 points total per quarter
Format for Writing Assignments:
All assignments must be on 81/2 x 11 paper unless otherwise noted. You are encouraged to print assignments on the back of clean, recycled paper that has nothing personal or objectionable on the other side. If you re-print a paper because you’ve made changes, for example, re-print on the back of the page. Where possible, you will be encouraged to submit papers on-line in order to save you from printing at all.
All final copies of papers must be typed, double-spaced, using size 12 black font. Note that the computers in the Writer’s Center are set on size 10 font. Check the font before you begin typing.
Each paper must have a heading and a title. The heading goes in the upper left hand corner and should include the following:
Your Name
Mrs. Kelleher
English IV, Honors
6 September 2009
Research papers will follow MLA format; writing assignment grades will be based upon the rubric handed out by the teacher. The newest MLA format information is available to you on-line on many sites. If you are unsure of where to go for this information, try the Purdue Owl website. You are encouraged to make use of the Writer’s Center for additional help with writing assignments.
Academic Honesty:
The work that you will do this year, while not necessarily easy, is well within the academic reach of each and every one of you. You will be given opportunities to work with partners and/or groups for some assignments, and will be told to work independently on others.
If you find that you are having major difficulties handling the work, please see me before or after class to arrange additional help. I will do my best to be available when you are, or to help you find a tutor. Remember that the Guidance Dept. offers tutoring services as well. Take advantage of all of the resources available to you so that you have a successful year.
All work that you turn in is to be your own or that of your designated group. If you download assignments from the Internet or copy them from another source, or if you turn in work that has been completed by another person as your own, you will receive a zero grade and will receive a discipline referral to the main office. Your parents will be notified. Plagiarism will not be tolerated in any form.
Final Exam
In accordance with school policy, you may be exempt from the final exam if you have a yearly average of at least 93%, a 93% attendance rate, and a fourth quarter average of 93% as well.
Please note: I do not give extra credit assignments due to time constraints.
Attendance will be taken every day and may impact a student’s grade. If you are ill, it is your responsibility to find out what you missed in class. You may contact me via e-mail if you need to get an assignment, or go through the guidance office in case of a prolonged absence. Assignments missed due to illness or other legitimate excuse are due one day after an absence of one day, two days after a two-day absence, and will be arranged on an individual basis for longer absences. Remember, it is to your advantage to be in class to hear and participate in class discussions. You can learn as much from your classmates’ questions and comments as you can from your own studying.
If you cut class, you will receive a zero for the day and a zero for any assignment, be it homework, test, or quiz that was due in class that day. In accordance with school policy, students who are assigned to In-School Suspension will be given a 60 minute assignment to be completed that will be counted towards your quarter grade.
It is up to each one of you to take responsibility for your own education. If you participate and have an open mind, you will find much to enjoy in the material we cover this year. We can have interesting class discussions and share some of our personal interests and experiences along with the material we are covering.
I look forward to sharing an interesting and exciting year with all of you.