St. Francis Preparatory School
English 11: American Literature
Teacher: Mr. Doyle
Contact Information: sdoyle@sfponline.org
Office: N-102 (behind the security desk near the main entrance)
Course Description:
Welcome to junior year and English 11: American Literature! Much of what we study this year will be a
continuation and development of what you learned in tenth grade. We will investigate the major themes and
concepts at work in American literature, as well as the works by diasporic communities that respond to
American literature in order to question or challenge this genre. The course emphasizes the notion of
writing-as-thinking, where we will compose logically argued, clearly organized, and accurately documented
texts. This course will require you to develop clear and original responses to the texts we read and broaden
these responses into various different forms of writing. In this course, you will write “reader responses,”
narratives, feature articles, and essays, as well as other assignments that model and re-envision the texts.
Required Reading:
 Adventures in American Literature
 Sadlier-Oxford’s Vocabulary Workshop: Level F
 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
 The Great Gatsby
 The Catcher in the Rye
 Death of a Salesman
 The Things They Carried
 Various non-fiction works included on the “Common Core Complements” section of the website
Materials:
You will need a pen or pencil, a spiral-bound notebook with pockets—or a separate folder—from which work
can be neatly torn out and submitted, and the text we are working on that day. You may take notes on a
laptop or tablet, with the understanding that if work is to be turned in, you will submit a hard copy at the end
of class. You may not use a smart phone to take notes in class; you will lose points on your participation
grade if you do so.
Attendance:
Attendance is mandatory for ALL classes. Since class participation is a significant part of your final grade, you
should abide by this policy. Documentation is required for ALL excused absences. If you are regularly more
than ten minutes late to class, your grade will be adversely affected. Three unexcused latenesses will be
considered an unexcused absence.
Expectations:
 You should be respectful to your classmates and to me, though a sense of humor is integral to the
course. Do not let your fun be had at someone else’s expense or to their embarrassment.

You should not sleep or eat in the classroom, and though we’ll work in groups often, you should not
chat with you classmates for extended periods of time; this will result in points lost from your class
participation grade.

You should come to class expecting to learn and participate in that learning; while everyone has an
“off” day, or a touchy subject, your participation is necessary, and will directly contribute to your
performance on the written assignments.

You may discuss grades with me—outside of class—, if you feel you have gotten an undeservedly low
St. Francis Preparatory School
English 11: American Literature
grade; you may also work with me outside of class to design an alternate assignment.

You are undoubtedly busy, but I must have at least 5-7 days’ notice for any classes you will miss, or
any assignments you need extended time on.

Open-mindedness, curiosity, willingness to collaborate and a positive attitude are the keys to daily
success in this course.
Grading:
Every quarter will be graded on a scale of total points. Take-home and in-class writing assignments are worth
more points, and will vary in value. Quizzes and group work will be given more regularly, but are of lesser
value than the longer assignments and will also vary in value. I will inform you of how much a given
assignment is worth prior to its due date. All work is due in class on the date assigned; if you hand in work by
the end of the day it is due, you will lose—for example— five points, if you turn it in the next day, you will lose
ten points. You may make up any assignment you have missed, or on which you received a failing grade after
a discussion with me outside of class time. The make-up assignments will replace the original grade and must
be handed in within a cycle. Late penalties apply to make-up work as well. Finally, it is your responsibility to
decide on the kind of assignment that you do (see Critical Thinking Strategies under “files” on my web page),
and to be sure that I am aware of any make-ups you choose to do. You may not hand in any unsolicited work.
Plagiarism:
Plagiarism—presenting the words or ideas of another as if they are your own—is a serious offense and may
result in a zero on the assignment in question and an honor code violation.
Sample Assignment Types:
 “Five-minute” quizzes or Short-answer quizzes
 Memoirs/Personal narratives
 Vocabulary exercises and worksheets
 Argumentative essays
 Group work assignments
 Independent reading quizzes and long-form writing