Sophomore English
Mr. Lusson
224-765-2137
plusson@dist113.org
Free periods: By appointment
GUIDING QUESTIONS:

What does it really mean to be human?

How do we make sense of man’s capacity for both tremendous good and incomprehensible evil?

What is my role and responsibility – my obligation -- to the greater community?
KEY TEXTS:

Lord of the Flies – William Golding
Outcasts United – Warren St. John

Frankenstein – Mary Shelley

Macbeth – William Shakespeare

In addition to these texts, we will be reading a significant number of short stories, poems, and essays

from classic and contemporary writers.
MATERIALS NEEDED: These are required; some may be left in the classroom:

The text(s) we are studying

Journal/notebook (exclusively for this class)

Binder with tabs/dividers (exclusively for this class)

Pen

Flash drive

Assignment notebook
KEYS FOR SUCCESS: I trust that each of you wants to learn and be successful and I will do everything I
can to make this happen. All I ask of you is that you do your very best, as often as possible. You will have
opportunities to practice and improve your skills without penalty; take advantage of these. You will have
your beliefs and values tested and challenged; welcome these. And if you do, I assure you that you will
learn, grow, and be tremendously successful.
There are specific goals and objectives I have for this course and for your learning; I encourage you to
create some personal goals for yourself. Everything we do this year has been created with a clear learning
goal in mind. Please trust and respect the work I have created, and be sure to ask me if you are unclear of
our work’s purpose. In return, I promise to respect your time as well. I will not ask you to complete “busy”
work, and will remember that you have other classes in addition to mine. Together, I am confident that we
can make this a wonderful and meaningful year.
SKILL-DEVELOPMENT: My goal is to help you become a more skilled and insightful READER; a more
articulate, persuasive, and creative WRITER; a more attentive and respectful LISTENER; and a more critical
and independent THINKER. English can be a challenging and at times overwhelming subject. However,
most of the skill development work we do this year can be boiled down to three essential questions:
1.
WHAT: What is a text arguing? What message is the author communicating to readers? The “what”
question asks you to arrive at a sound understanding of the both the plot of a text (the surface) as well
as its thematic arguments (deeper meaning). I will help you find this.
2.
HOW: How is the text written? How does the crafting of the text help the author communicate and
reinforce the “what”? Essentially, the “how” is the study of style. I will help you see this.
3.
WHY: Why is the author making this argument? To answer this question, we must understand the
historical and cultural contexts of the writing of a text. What forces, conditions, and issues compel the
author to seek an audience and address it in this manner? What does the author hope to achieve by
presenting a particular argument? Another word for the “why” is significance. I will help you appreciate
this.
CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS: In addition to the keys for success, I ask that you be responsible for the
following:

Respect others. Always.

Be prepared. Have all necessary materials out on your desk by the time the bell rings. These materials would be
your binder, your notebook, the text we are reading, your homework, and a pen. In addition, part of being
respectful (see previous bullet) is that you do not pack up before the bell.

Bathroom: I would appreciate if you used the bathroom at the beginning of class, not during class.

All class work is to be completed on-time. Being respectful of deadlines is an important life skill and I
offer these suggestions to help you manage your time and do well:
o
Stay Organized: Keep track of all assignments in an assignment notebook.
o
Communicate: I understand the demands of being a high school student and am most interested
in you turning in your best work – even if that means more time. I simply ask, however, that you
respect my time as well. As long as your request for extra time is both reasonable and at least 24
hours in advance, I will always be flexible and reasonable with you in return. Always.
o
Check your student email: You are expected to be checking your student email EVERY DAY.
Problems with email are not an excuse – it is your responsibility to fix it.
o
Print all assignments before class: If you have to ask me to go print an assignment, it will be
considered late. Printer problems at home? Save your assignment to your flash drive as well as
email to yourself and print prior to class (the Internet at school is not always reliable; buy a flash
drive in the bookstore). Please do not email papers to me for printing.
o
Save everything: You must maintain an accessible electronic copy of all written assignments. I
encourage you to create a file folder for this class to save all typed assignments.
o
Late work: For smaller, formative assessments, late classwork is accepted for half credit (within
one week of due date). After that it is a zero. For summative assessments, I will accept late work,
however, it will impact your classroom engagement grade. Why classroom engagement? I want
your graded summative assessments to reflect your skills and abilities. However, as I stated,
meeting deadlines is an important skill so you will lose points in the classroom engagement
category.

ATTENDANCE: Attendance is critical. If you are absent, the key is to communicate. That means it is
your responsibility to find out what you have missed and do the following:
o
If you know of an absence ahead of time (i.e. field trip), please let me know beforehand – it is
not only appreciated but it reflects a strong academic identity on your part.
o
Be responsible for getting class notes and assignments. Identify two students in class you can
rely on and easily contact for information and assignments if you miss class. Also, when you
return, please see me to make sure you have everything you need.
o
Please make up work by the time we agreed upon. Quizzes can be made up in the Testing
Center during a free period.
o
If you are absent when a major assignment is due, the best thing to do is communicate with
me as soon as possible. That is the responsible thing to do. You are also encouraged to either
send the assignment with a friend or family member or leave assignments at the Front Desk or
in the drop box in A110.

EMAIL: We will discuss the importance of audience throughout the year. In short, know who you are
writing to and make sure your language is appropriate. In a class that teaches effective writing, I expect
all emails to be proofed, edited, and free of “text” language.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY: Plagiarism, cheating, forgery and lying will not be tolerated. I have tried to create
an environment that best supports you and allows you to do your best work. If you are busy and struggling to
complete an assignment – ask for extra time. If you are unclear about what to do – ask for help. If you want to
do well and it is unclear how to do so – ask for clarification. In my experience, these are the reasons why
students may be tempted to plagiarize. Please respect our work and make smart choices.
GRADING: All assignments will be placed into one of three weighted categories:

Writing Assessments (50%): This category will include a number of shorter writing pieces as well as 12 longer pieces each quarter. The best advice I can give you is that your success here relies on a close
reading of the texts and thoughtful attention to our daily classwork and all process work.

Reading Assessments (40%): This category will consist of annotation checks, reading quizzes, and
assessments designed to measure your ability to read closely and thoughtfully.

Classroom Engagement (10%): A successful class relies on each of you becoming active and
responsible members of our course. This means being prepared, being engaged, and being a positive
contributor to class discussion. This does not mean just raising your hand and responding in class –
the best way to show me you are prepared is to ask good questions. This assessment will happen
monthly and through graded discussions.
COMMUNICATION AND FEEDBACK: My preference is face-to-face. Emails will almost always be
responded to within 48 hours (see email expectations above). Work will be returned in a timely manner,
though it does take time to provide the feedback you will need to move toward skill mastery.
While I’ve provided some very specific guidelines for this course, I’ve found the attached poem more
eloquently captures my expectations and philosophy. Enjoy!
That should cover it -- I look forward to a great year!
All I Really Need To Know
I Learned In Kindergarten
by Robert Fulghum
All I really need to know I learned in kindergarten.
Remember the little seed in the styrofoam cup:
ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW about how to live
The roots go down and the plant goes up and
and what to do and how to be I learned in
nobody really knows how or why, but we are all
kindergarten.
like that.
Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-
And then remember the Dick and Jane books
school mountain, but there in the sandpile at
and the first word you learned - the biggest
Sunday School. These are the things I learned:
word of all – LOOK.
Share everything.
Everything you need to know is in there
Play fair.
somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic
Don't hit people.
sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and
Put things back where you found them.
sane living.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Take any of those items and extrapolate it into
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your
Wash your hands before you eat.
family life or your work or your government or
Flush.
your world and it holds true and clear and firm.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Think what a better world it would be if
all the whole world had cookies and milk about
Live a balanced life – learn some and think some
three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down
and draw and paint and sing and dance and play
with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments
and work every day some.
had a basic policy to always put things back
where they found them and to clean up their own
When you go out into the world, watch out for
mess.
traffic, hold hands, and stick together.
And it is still true, no matter how old you
Be aware of wonder.
are – when you go out into the world, it is best
to hold hands and stick together.