10th Grade Syllabus (2014 – 2015)
abramsr@hohschools.org
royalr@hohschools.org
Mr. Ross Abrams
Ms. Robyn Royal
photo by Robert Frarck
Year Overview: The Art of Reading and Writing
Writing is easy. Reading is easy. We do both almost all the time and, for the most part, think little of
them. When we scribble a shopping list, text message our parents to pick us up from “If I Stay” or “The
November Man,” or scan the supermarket shelves for a box of our favorite sugar cereal, we engage in a
rather complex set of mental and physical negotiations; however, we rarely stop to fully consider the
choices we are making - should I use full sentences or fragments in this e-mail? Why are most of the
cartoon characters on cereal boxes male? How should I tell my best friend I may have, sort of, kind of,
gone out with her boyfriend without telling her?
The purpose of this course is to make you more conscious readers and writers and to demonstrate how
small language choices make big differences. We will share with you all we know about reading and
writing as an art-form and encourage you to take risks in your perception and craft. We hope to create
challenges that demand both effort and intellectual stretching. Think of yourself as language detectives,
intent not on solving what a book or a sentence means, but on tracing the complicated, interesting
paths that lead to your deductions.
In many other academic classes, success may be measured by everyone in the classroom arriving at the
same answer at the same time. Success in this class will look different. We find the most successful
writing and reading prompts are those that inspire the greatest range of interpretation and complexity.
We are interested in your unique voice, your unique angle, and what you can bring to the discussion
that is new or provocative.
What You Can Expect From Us
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Challenging assignments – expect to be “optimally frustrated”
Lots of care and attention as you struggle and learn
Accessibility – you can meet with us before or after school most days. Don’t be shy – I’m happy
to talk with you about anything related to the course (or music, or books…)
Fair and equitable treatment
Challenging class sessions
Prompt return of papers and assignments
Book Recommendations
An open ear and an open mind
A positive attitude
What I Expect from You
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A “no-fear” attitude when it comes to challenges
Respect for classmates, teacher, and the class materials
Assignments handed in on time, all the time
Consistent, punctual attendance and preparation for class
Participation – contributing to class discussions, working well in groups, actively listening to
others, reading, writing, and taking notes
Effort and honesty
About four hours of homework in a seven-day period
An open ear and an open mind
A positive attitude
Homework
Your time is precious. You spend seven hours a day in school – many of you play a sport or participate in
extracurricular activities. Some of you have jobs and others of you are responsible for taking care of a
younger sibling. You have passions outside of your academics – jazz on vinyl, community service, MRPG,
dance, etc. You must know what Kanye West is twittering at 10PM.
We will do our best to be respectful of your time by only giving assignments that we deem essential to
continuing your growth in English. You have been blessed with a brain that is particularly elastic at this
moment in time and we want to capitalize on that by pushing and challenging it but we also don’t want
to see the circuits overloaded. You can expect somewhere around two hours of work during each week
and an additional hour-and-a-half over the weekends. We are sticklers for time. If we ask you to work
on an assignment for half-an-hour,we mean an honest half-an-hour (with facebook closed, cell phone on
standby) but that also means we do not expect you to go beyond a half-an-hour, even if the assignment
is not completed.
Occasionally, you will find yourself particularly overwhelmed by work in other subjects or by other
commitments. All we ask is that you seek me out prior to an assignment being due – in person, on the
phone, or by e-mail – and we will do our best to work with you on figuring out an appropriate timeline
for completion. When it comes to homework, we are on your side.
Help!
You might find it interesting to know that we are both currently enrolled in an advanced graduate
programs, which means that while you are up at ten o’clock struggling with that impossible English
paper, chances are, somewhere across town, we are doing exactly the same thing! One of the most
valuable lessons we have learned from being students for over twenty years now is the importance of
seeking out help from others – from our peers, teachers, and families. Often times, we just need a
sounding board for our ideas or someone to ask the questions we may have missed.
We are happy to spend as much time as you need talking through any of the assignments or
requirements from this course. Our schedules can be pretty hectic but we will always find time to meet
with you to work on whatever you need.
Grading/Assessment
We like reading student papers – no, really, we do! We enjoy writing comments in praise of beautiful
turns of phrase, smart insights, and good humor. We also spend a good deal of time thinking about the
specific writing choices that separate sophomoric writers from accomplished writers and will gladly give
you constructive criticism to help you bridge that gap.
Alas, we will also give you grades.
We grade the work and not the student. We will assess your writing pieces on a very high standard for
clarity, originality, consistency, and conciseness. An “A” or practitioner piece of writing will be a thing of
perfection, good enough to end up in a local newspaper or magazine – it will be thoughtful,
demonstrate an awareness of audience, and add something new to the conversation. We do not expect
you to get A’s on your assignments at the beginning of the year; rather we expect you to slowly, through
lots of hard work, to rise to the standards we have set.
Expect most of our assessments (tests, papers, quizzes, discussions) to be “formative” rather than
“summative.” What that means is that we are giving the assessment with the expectation that it will
reveal concrete areas for growth – for you as a student and for us as teachers.
“But wait!” you scream. “That’s not fair! In all my other classes, it does not take an act of Herculean
intellect to receive a 98.” This is true, which is why we will “soften” the hard grading of papers with a
series of “all or nothing grades.” These are assignments that you will receive an automatic “100” on just
for turning them in. By combining “soft” and “hard” grades we hope to fairly measure your work as a
high school sophomore but also give you a high standard for which to reach.
Academic Integrity, Plagiarism and Collusion Policy
Pundits have dubbed this the Information Age and with good cause. We are awash in information.
Obscure literary theorists, once relegated to the upper echelons of elite university libraries can now be
“googled” in mere seconds. Perhaps a better tag for our time would be the Age of Access. The
unprecedented access we have to academic sources necessitates a consistent and transparent effort on
the part of teachers and students to protect authorship. Abraham Lincoln once said that “books serve
to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren’t new at all” (ironically, not the first time this
sentiment has been expressed).
However, the “willful appropriation of another’s ideas or expressions as your own” (Webster’s) also
known as plagiarism, as well as “secret co-operation to defraud” known as collusion, come with severe
penalties in the real world (fines, debarment, expulsion). In this class, collusion or plagiarism will be
caught (We’re pretty good at this) and penalized – students will re-write work with us after school for
half the grade. If you find yourself at the point of desperately needing to copy someone’s work both
you and we are doing something wrong and it is imperative that you come see us immediately so we can
work through the problem together.
What You Need
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A notebook with plenty of lined paper for notes and in-class writing
A school google account
A folder capable of holding the tons of handouts I will give you
If you prefer typing and have a laptop, you are welcome to bring it to class
Our Classroom
While you may not always have the choice of who you sit next to, or what book we will read next, it is
you who will ultimately choose what kind of class we have this year. Your participation, feedback, and
attitude in the classroom will set the tone and mood for our studies. We will rely on you to let us know
of any concerns or questions you might have in regards to any aspect of this class.
This should be a great year!
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What the Year Looks Like (for now)
The curriculum for this course will bend, twist, and meld to fit the needs and interests of our class;
attached is a list of the major foci for each marking period, along with the texts and assignments we may
undertake.
Marking Period One: The Art of Noticing; The Joy of Saying Something
Texts:
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Caravaggio, Amerighi. David and Goliath
Laux, Dorianne. The Book of Men
Arbus, Diane. Boy with Toy Hand Grenade
Schwartz, Ruth. “The Swan at Edgewater Park.”
White, Victoria. “Elephant Grave”
Komunyakka, Yusef. “We Never Know”
Szymborska, Wislawa. “The End and the Beginning”
Stafford, William. “Travelling Through the Dark”
Bukowski, Charles. “The Black Birds are Rough
Today”
Major Assessments
 Poetry Archeology – Original Poems
 Art Lecture
 Independent Reading Responses
 Poetry Analytical Paper
Goals:
Students will…
 notice five kinds of details in a work of art
 utilize thin (factual) and thick (inferential)
questions to spur analysis and exposition.
 differentiate between and use the three
building blocks of essay writing: exposition,
argument, and analysis.
 employ techniques for re-vising writing
 consider audience’s understanding and
questions in their writing
 use powerful verbs for exposition
incorporate non-restrictive elements, such as
appositives, into the sentence structure
 analyze the effectiveness of word choices
 notice and analyze literary elements used in
poetry
 keep an “archeology” journal to inform their
own creative writing
 produce and revise writing for publication
 write organized speeches, keeping in mind
audience
 employ techniques, such as eye contact, for
effective public speaking
 use context to deepen, broaden, and
complicate analysis and argument
Maya Lin’s “Wave Hill”
Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the
ash. – Leonard Cohen
Marking Period Two: One Equals Two; Finding Competing Meanings in a Work of Art
Texts:
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Lahiri, Jhumpa. The Interpreter of Maladies
Anderson. M.T. Feed
Sophocles, Oedipus Rex
Shaffer, Peter. Equus
“Loving the Internet (Reuters)
Kennedy, Pagan. “The Cyborg in Us All”
Independent reading: 1,000 years
Major Assessments
 Interpreter of Maladies comparison paper
 Harkness discussions
 “Inspired By” Transformation
 Film Comparison Paper
 A New World, exposition and argument
 Dialectics
Goals:
Students will…
 connect analysis of specific details to analysis of a
work’s larger “projects.”
 create and evaluate competing theories/claims.
 utilize the theory of parsimony in evaluating
analytical claims.
 effectively compare two works of art.
 employ a range of subordinate conjunctions.
 evaluate what can be quoted and what can be
paraphrased from a work of art.
 In academic discussions, participate in more than
one way.
 use verbal and physical cues to show engagement in
academic discussion.
 notice five kinds of details in a work of art.
(continued)
 utilize thin (factual) and thick (inferential) questions
to spur analysis and exposition. (continued)
 differentiate between and use the three building
blocks of essay writing: exposition, argument, and
analysis. (continued)
 employ techniques for re-vising writing. (continued)
 consider audience’s understanding and questions in
their writing. (continued)
 use powerful verbs for exposition incorporate nonrestrictive elements, such as appositives, into the
sentence structure. (continued)
 analyze the effectiveness of word choices.
(continued)
 produce and revise writing for publication
(continued)
 use context to deepen, broaden, and complicate
analysis and argument (continued)
“It is always possible to argue
against an interpretation, to
confront interpretations, to
arbitrate between them and to seek
for an agreement, even if this
agreement remains beyond our
reach.”
- Paul Ricoeur
Marking Period Three: Close Reading of Literary Text
Texts:
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Golding, William. The Lord of the Flies
The Great Tragic Openings (Shakespeare) or
excerpts from The Bible
Erdrich, Louise. “The Red Corvette”
Saunders, George. “Tenth of December”
Alexie, Sherman. “Breaking and Entering”
Dubois, W.E.B. “The Comet”
Nelson, Antonya. “In the Land of Men”
Major Assessments
* Difficult Reading Quizzes
* Creative Transformation
* Drafted Short Story
Goals:
Students will…
 use S.L.I.D.E.R. conjunctions for transition.
 paraphrase deeply.
 integrate quotations in multiple ways.
 correctly identify, analyze and use the following
literary elements: figurative language, narrative
point-of-view, setting, conflict, imagery, and
characterization.
 recognize and imitate stylistic choices made by an
author.
 connect analysis of specific details to analysis of a
work’s larger “projects.” (continued)
 create and evaluate competing theories/claims.
(continued)
 utilize the theory of parsimony in evaluating
analytical claims. (continued)
 effectively compare two works of art. (continued)
 employ a range of subordinate conjunctions.
(continued)
 evaluate what can be quoted and what can be
paraphrased from a work of art. (continued)
 In academic discussions, participate in more than
one way. (continued)
 use verbal and physical cues to show engagement in
academic discussion. (continued)
 notice five kinds of details in a work of art.
(continued)
 utilize thin (factual) and thick (inferential) questions
to spur analysis and exposition. (continued)
 differentiate between and use the three building
blocks of essay writing: exposition, argument, and
analysis. (continued)
 employ techniques for re-vising writing. (continued)
 consider audience’s understanding and questions in
their writing. (continued)
 use powerful verbs for exposition incorporate nonrestrictive elements, such as appositives, into the
sentence structure. (continued)
 analyze the effectiveness of word choices.
(continued)
 produce and revise writing for publication
(continued)
 use context to deepen, broaden, and complicate
analysis and argument (continued)
Marking Period Four: Writing the Right – Studies in Ethics
Texts:
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LeGuin, Ursula. “The Ones Who Walk Away
from Omelas”
Plato, The Republic (excerpts)
“Parable of the Prodigal Son”
Kant, Immanuel. “The Categorical
imperative”
“Morality and the Brain.” Radiolab
Book Club Reading Choices: The Bluest Eye
(Toni Morrison), The Road (Cormac
McCarthy), Macbeth (William
Shakespeare), Tracks (Louise Erdrich),
City of Thieves (David Benioff), and
Slaughterhouse Five (Kurt Vonnegut)
Philosophical essays by Don Marquis, Mary
Anne Warren, Tibor Machan, Alastair
Norcross, Louis Pojman, and Stephen
Bright.
Major Assessments:
 Evolving Argument Research Paper
 Book Club Presentation
 Final Speech
Goals:
Students will…
 organize extended arguments.
 use parallel structure to build transitions.
 introduce, paraphrase, and quote from academic sources.
 use S.L.I.D.E.R. conjunctions for transition. (continued)
 paraphrase deeply. (continued)
 integrate quotations in multiple ways. (continued)
 correctly identify, analyze and use the following literary
elements: figurative language, narrative point-of-view,
setting, conflict, imagery, and characterization.
(continued)
 recognize and imitate stylistic choices made by an author.
(continued)
 connect analysis of specific details to analysis of a work’s
larger “projects.” (continued)
 create and evaluate competing theories/claims.
(continued)
 utilize the theory of parsimony in evaluating analytical
claims. (continued)
 effectively compare two works of art. (continued)
 employ a range of subordinate conjunctions. (continued)
 evaluate what can be quoted and what can be
paraphrased from a work of art. (continued)

In academic discussions, participate in more than one
way. (continued)
 use verbal and physical cues to show engagement in
academic discussion. (continued)
 notice five kinds of details in a work of art. (continued)
 utilize thin (factual) and thick (inferential) questions to
spur analysis and exposition. (continued)
 differentiate between and use the three building blocks
of essay writing: exposition, argument, and analysis.
(continued)
 employ techniques for re-vising writing. (continued)
 consider audience’s understanding and questions in their
writing. (continued)
 use powerful verbs for exposition incorporate nonrestrictive elements, such as appositives, into the
sentence structure. (continued)
 analyze the effectiveness of word choices. (continued)
 use context to deepen, broaden, and complicate analysis
and argument. (continued)
 write organized speeches, keeping in mind audience.
(continued)
 employ techniques, such as eye contact, for effective
public speaking. (continued)