International Baccalaureate Diploma Program
Philip Dixon
http://langlitquito.wikispaces.com
Fundación Colegio Americano Quito
philipdaltondixon@yahoo.com
Language A: Language and Literature Course Syllabus
Year 2 – September 2012 – May 2012
REAL vs. FANTASTIC
Course outline (with assessments):
Part 1: Language in Cultural Context :
WT, FOA, Paper 1 (CC)
Part 2: Language and Mass Communication WT, FOA, Paper 1 (CC)
Part 3: Literature – texts and contexts
1 free, 1 PLA, 1 PLT
Part 4: Literature – critical study
3 PLA WT, IOC
Parts 3, 4 – 2 genre, 2 time periods, 2 places
WT, Paper 2
IB Assessments:
Written Tasks (WT) (4 – HL) related to all course content - Written Task #2 (HL) is an essay
Paper 1 – covered throughout the year – compare contrast
Paper 2 – addresses questions on p.45-46 - related to Part 3 – Lit. Text and Context
Individual Oral Commentary (IOC) – part 4 works
Further Oral Activity (FOA) – 2 total turned in, one on part 1, one on part 2
Extended Essay
Course Description: English A: Language and Literature combines the study of language
and the study of literature, and “aims to develop in students skills of textual analysis and the
understanding that texts, both literary and non-literary, can be seen as autonomous yet
simultaneously related to culturally determined reading practices.” The course allows
teachers to select topics “relevant to their students while developing in students a range of
transferable skills.” English A: Language and Literature is not limited only to works
originally written in English but includes works in translation that will “contribute to a
global perspective, thereby promoting an insight into, and understanding of, the different
ways in which cultures influence and shape the experiences of life common to all humanity."
(DP Language A: language and literature guide) 5).
This year, we will investigate the intersection between the real and the fantastic. From a
literary perspective, we will examine examples of both genres and place each in a literary
tradition. As for non-fiction texts; we will analyze the role that: print and online new
sources, newspapers, blogs, television, satire, social media, and creativity play in society
Course REQUIREMENTS:
Read all the TEXTS completely:
Macbeth, William Shakespeare
Shakespeare, The World as a Stage, Bill Bryson
The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
Mindfire, by Scott Berkun,
Inhaling the Spore by Lawrence Weschler,
Why Are Beggars Despised? by George Orwell
Merchants of Cool
A Book of hoaxes
* A selection of poetry
*A selection of satire and fake news sites
*A selection of accompanying fiction and non-fiction
Follow all guidelines provided in the student handbook.
Come to class and participate in a respectful manner.
Observe the LATE WORK policy:
One day late - graded over 75%
Two days late - graded over 50%
Three days late - graded over 25%
More than three days late - not accepted
**Talk to me at least two days (small assignments) to a week (larger assessments) BEFORE
an assignment is due if you will not be able to make a deadline. I will record all student
interactions regarding late work in my teacher’s agenda, so if it not written down, NO
negotiation and loss of points**
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS 25%: Students are required to write regularly over the course of
the year in a variety of formats including essay, satire, newspaper, blog posts, reflective
papers, written tasks, practice exams, class responses, exit tickets, and reading quizzes.
PARTICIPATION: 25% In addition to occasional lectures, each class meeting will rely
principally on student participation by way of discussion, debate, presentations, breakout
groups, and conversation.
Raise your hand before speaking and LISTEN to you classmates. Active participation in all
class meetings is necessary to pass the course.
Warm-Ups, Exit Tickets, and daily homework assignments fall under this category
PROJECTS: 25%
Including (but not limited to): IB projects, a reflective portfolio, practice exam activities,
FOA and IOC
TESTS AND QUIZZES: 25%
Regular vocabulary and reading quizzes
PHILIP’S POLICIES:
Portable Electronic Devices: Cell phones, mp3players, I-pads and laptops, must be turned off
during class except with special permission from your instructor.
Policy on Academic Honesty: Colegio Americano believes strongly in academic honesty and
integrity. Plagiarism and academic cheating are, therefore, prohibited. Essential to
intellectual growth is the development of independent thought and a respect for the
thoughts of others. The prohibition against plagiarism and cheating is intended to foster this
independence and respect.
“Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of another person's labor, another person's ideas, another
person's words, or another person's assistance. Normally, all work done for course—papers,
examinations, homework exercises, laboratory reports, oral presentations—is expected to be the
individual effort of the student presenting the work. Any assistance must be reported to the
instructor. If the work has entailed consulting other resources—journals, books, or other media—
these resources must be cited in a manner appropriate to the course. It is the instructor's
responsibility to indicate the appropriate manner of citation. Everything used from other sources—
suggestions for organization of ideas, ideas themselves, or actual language—must be cited. Failure to
cite borrowed material constitutes plagiarism.
Undocumented use of materials from the World Wide Web is plagiarism.
Academic cheating is, generally, the thwarting or breaking of the general rules of academic work or
the specific rules of the individual courses. It includes falsifying data; submitting, without the
instructor's approval, work in one course which was done for another; helping others to plagiarize or
cheat from one's own or another's work; or actually doing the work of another person.
Students must assume that all graded assignments, quizzes, and tests are to be completed
individually unless otherwise noted in writing in this syllabus. I reserve the right to refer any cases
of suspected plagiarism or cheating to the Administration; I also reserve the right to assign a grade of
"F" for the given paper, quiz or test.
Controversial Subject Matter: In this class we will be discussing subject matter that some students
may consider controversial. Some students may find some of the readings and/or comments in class
(or in discussion conducted through an online forum) very challenging. Our purpose in this class is
to explore this subject matter deeply and consider multiple perspectives and arguments. Students
are expected to listen to the instructor and to one another respectfully, but of course are free to
disagree, respectfully, with views expressed in class, in electronic discussions, or in readings.”
(Dr. Seth C. Bruggeman, Temple University)
Please read and sign below, and then turn the bottom portion in to me before Friday,
September 7.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I HAVE READ PHILIP’S LANG LIT YEAR 2 SYLLABUS AND AGREEE TO FOLLOW THE
POLICIES MENTIONED ABOVE.
I WILL TREAT MY CLASSMATES AND MY TEACHER IN A RESPECFUL MANNER
THROUGHOUT THE 2012-2013 SCHOOL YEAR IN ORDER TO FACILITATE A WELCOMING,
SUPPORTIVE, AND GROWTH-ORIENTED CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT.
Name_______________________
Section_________
Signature___________________
Date_________________
Email_____________________
Circle one:
Diploma Student HL SL
Certificate High Level
Certificate Standard level
I’m not sure
Please Rate the following potential online learning tools or communities by numbering
them from 1-9.
1
being the most useful tool in your opinion - something you use or would use in class
9
being the least useful – I wouldn’t touch it, not interested
school email
moodle
tumblr
wikispaces
voicethread
turnitin.com
yahoo email
other________________
facebook
Remind yourself that you are a Renaissance Man or a Renaissance Woman and think about
what that means to you.
Take 5-10 minutes to respond to the questions below in a list or short answer.
What are you personally excited about for this academic year? What skills would
you like to reinforce this year? Writing personal statements? Writing essays? College
Applications? Speaking or Reading skills? Getting high marks on your IB assessments?
What would you like to see out of this course this year? Better classroom dynamics? More
technology? Less technology?
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COURSE OVERVIEW:
September 2012
Review part four texts: 1984, The Great Gatsby, The Crucible
IOC practice assignment, Personal Statement, Portfolio Assignment, Diagnostic Test
Paper 1 and Paper 2 - practice throughout the year!
Record IOCs - September 24 - 28
October 2012
College Applications/ Personal Statements/ Visit: Kate Bennett, International Relations
The Things They Carried and Story unit
Scott Berkun, Mindfire
November 2012
The Things They Carried and Story unit
Satire Unit – in the news and in literature
Written Assignment One
Written Task revisions– one related to Part 2 – mass comm.
December 2012
Shakespeare, The World as a Stage, Bill Bryson (selection)
Macbeth, William Shakespeare
Finish Written Tasks (3 SL / 4 HL) DEADLINE = December 17th
January 2013
Macbeth, William Shakespeare
Quimestral Exams
Advertising – Merchants of Cool, OCC resources, commercialized culture
February 2013
Macbeth, William Shakespeare
Film versions
March 2013
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
"Sheep Go to Heaven" by Cake
Kevin Smith's 1994 film Clerks
Existentialism
Complete FOA #2 – related to part 2 content - DEADLINE = March 29
April 2013
Mock Exams
Social Media
May 2013
Paper 1 and Paper 2 IB exams
Current state of the media: Failure of traditional media with Iraq War, Satire, Alt. Media
June 2013
Complete Portfolio Assignment – students with an 85 or below present their portfolio
Exams
Prepare Class Anthology – brainstorm title
July 2013
Existentialism
Writing for LIFE
International Baccalaureate Diploma Program
Philip Dixon
http://langlitquito.wikispaces.com
Fundación Colegio Americano Quito
philipdaltondixon@yahoo.com
Language A: Language and Literature
Year 2 – September 2012 – May 2012
REAL vs. FANTASTIC
COURSE OVERVIEW: (in progress)
September 2012
Review part four texts: 1984, The Great Gatsby, The Crucible
IOC practice assignment, Personal Statement, Portfolio Assignment, Diagnostic Test
Paper 1 and Paper 2 - practice throughout the year!
Record IOCs - September 24 - 28
October 2012
College Applications/ Personal Statements/ Visit: Kate Bennett, International Relations
The Things They Carried and Story unit
Scott Berkun, Mindfire
November 2012
The Things They Carried and Story unit
Satire Unit – in the news and in literature
Written Assignment One
Written Task revisions– one related to Part 2 – mass comm.
December 2012
10 min. history of the Eng. Lang. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3r9bOkYW9s&feature=plcp
Shakespeare, The World as a Stage, Bill Bryson (selection)
Macbeth, William Shakespeare
January 2013
Macbeth, William Shakespeare
Quimestral Exams
Advertising – Merchants of Cool, OCC resources, commercialized culture
Finish Written Tasks 3 SL / 4 HL) DEADLINE = January 21
February 2013
SPRING BREAK –
Macbeth, William Shakespeare
Film versions
March 2013
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
"Sheep Go to Heaven" by Cake
Kevin Smith's 1994 film Clerks
Existentialism
Complete FOA #2 – related to part 2 content - DEADLINE = March 29
April 2013
Mock Exams
Social Media
May 2013
Paper 1 and Paper 2 IB exams
Current state of the media: Failure of traditional media with Iraq War, Satire, Alt. Media
June 2013
Complete Portfolio Assignment – students with an 85 or below present their portfolio
Exams
Prepare Class Anthology – brainstorm title
July 2013
Existentialism
Writing for LIFE
Vonnegut´s "truths" through the "back door” compared to O’Brien´s “story truth”
ADDITIONAL::
Oct. – Dec.
Work on and complete WT #3 - related to part 2 content
Dec. – March 2013
Part 3 works Waiting for Godot (PLT), No Exit (PLT),
Mtamorphosis ((PLT), Macbeth (PLA), Poets (female and male) (paper 2 practice
throughout)
Feb. – March 2013
Paper 1 – comparative analysis – practice – compare to Diag. Test to see growth!
Cat’ Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut
Vonnegut´s "truths" through the "back door” compared to O’Brien´s “story truth”
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
"Sheep Go to Heaven" by Cake
Kevin Smith's 1994 film Clerks
Existentialism
Cat’ Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut: A Retrospective by Kevin McGowin
School Year 2012-2013
FIRST QUIMESTRE
Date
Period
Necessary Evaluations
Sep 3 to Oct 19
First Partial
Minimum 4 formative evaluations
1 summative evaluation
Oct 22 to Nov
Second Partial
Minimum 4 formative evaluations
30
1 summative evaluation
Dec 3 to Jan 18
Third Partial
Minimum 4 formative evaluations
1 summative evaluation
Jan 21 to 25
Quimestral Exams
Jan 28 to 31
Course Grade
20% of Quimestre Grade
Meetings
Reports Cards Issued
* The average of the 3 partial grades becomes 80% of the Quimestre grade; the
remaining 20% represents the Quimestre exam.
Student vacations from February 1st to 15th.
SECOND QUIMESTRE
Date
Period
Necessary Evaluations
Feb 18 to Apr 5
First Partial
Minimum 4 formative evaluations
1 summative evaluation
Apr 8 to May 17
Second Partial
Minimum 4 formative evaluations
1 summative evaluation
May 20 to Jun
Third Partial
Minimum 4 formative evaluations
21
1 summative evaluation
Jun 24 to 28
Quimestral Exams
Jul 1 to 5
Course Grade
20% of Quimestre Grade
Meetings
Reports Cards Issued
* The average of the 3 partial grades becomes 80% of the Quimestre grade; the
remaining 20% represents the Quimestre exam.