Classroom: A239
Phone: 303-982-3915
Email: bstotts@jeffco.k12.co.us
One-on-One Conference Availability: Seminar
English 10 Honors Syllabus
Course Objectives:
The purpose of this course is to develop an understanding of the historical and cultural process
through which the America as we know it was created. Students will analyze and contextualize American
Literature from the Puritans to the modern era by exploring the customs and norms of each period and
investigating how each has influenced contemporary society. Students will also continue to improve their
writing skills by becoming more aware of stylistic choices both in what they read and what they write and by
learning the tools with which to vary syntax and diction.
Note: While the syllabus will provide you with a detailed outline of the progression of the semester,
due to unforeseen time constraints, items may be added or removed.
Classroom Expectations:
 Students will attend class regularly and arrive on time. Three tardies results in an office referral.
Two unexcused absences results in an office referral and a call home. Four unexcused absences
results in a possible trip to truancy court.
 Students will not have any electronic device visible during class unless accommodations are
otherwise stated in an official school document. Failure to comply with this rule will result in the
device being confiscated and turned in to the student’s AP to be picked up at the end of the day.
Three separate violations will result in an office referral.
 Food and beverage is not allowed in class. Any food or drink visible during class time will be
confiscated and disposed of (and maybe eaten) by me. Don’t waste your hard-earned money by
bringing food to class.
 Students repeatedly off task or talking at inappropriate times during class are subject to an office
referral and may be asked to spend the rest of the class period in the office detention room. Makeup work may be required upon the student’s return and it is the responsibility of the student to ask
for it (the same is true of any excused absence).
 All assignments are due at the beginning of the class period on the due date. Students may not ask
to print assignments in the flex area just before class or after class has already begun. Assignments
may be printed out in the library before class. Floppy disk drives are available there behind the circ.
desk.
 If a student feels that something is being conducted in an unfair manner, I would ask them to speak
to me in private about their issue. I will do my best not to single anyone out in class, and I would
appreciate it if we would receive the same courtesy.
 Late work will be docked one letter grade for each school day it is late until it reaches a C at which
point it will remain there as the maximum possible score until the end of the 6 week grading period
when it will no longer be accepted for credit (how ‘bout that for a sentence).
 Plagiarism is a serious criminal offense and will result in the assignment being marked as a zero.
Plagiarism is the use of any material (internet site, TV show, journal article, book, etc.) or idea from
that material without giving proper citation. In addition, even with proper citation, an assignment
should consist of only 10% or less quoted material.
English 10 Honors
Course Outline
First Semester
 August –October
Essential Questions:
What are the strengths and limitations of the genre I have chosen to produce?
What purposes do authors have when they write short stories and plays?
What role does the audience play in writing to entertain?
Is there a formula for telling a story? Who uses this formula? Why?
Do errors always matter? Why?
How do rehearsal and revision impact a story over time?
What makes for dynamic and compelling interaction between a protagonist and antagonist? Why purpose does
rising action serve?
8. How does language help a writer or speaker accomplish their purpose?
9. What role does vocabulary play in my understanding of ideas in school? In a career? In relationships?
10. How do I know when my words and ideas have impacted on an audience?
11. When have I read “well enough” to understand what a text really means?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Novel Study:
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain;
Genre Study:
“
“Young Goodman Brown” Nathaniel Hawthorne
“Rappacini’s Daughter” Nathaniel Hawthorne
“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” Ambrose Bierce
Damned Human Race,” Mark Twain (essay)
“Philosophy of Compostion” Edgar Allen Poe
Poetry of Edgar Allen Poe
Poetry of Emily Dickinson
Explanation:
For the first quarter students will write in variety of genre within the inform/entertain
mode. They will begin with an analysis from which they can assess effective writing within
the other genres. They will then move to the other genres and formative assessments/imitative
writings listed below, describing their features and engaging in writing within the selected
genre. The quarter culminates in open-ended assignment centered around Huckleberry Finn
where students are allowed to develop their own textual function and choose their own genre
that is most appropriate. They are assigned the skill set from the first quarter planning
template, and they develop their own rubric and explanation of how their project demonstrates
the skills.
Reading focus will be based on feedback from I2A, and a learning station model will
be employed to reach all students where they are. Students will create learning goals based on
their I2A feedback and engage themselves in activities centered around those goals. Students
will be given the autonomy to develop their own benchmark reading activities that they will
then submit for credit.
Formative Assessments: Analysis of author’s purpose and historical/cultural context
Development of thesis
Personal Narrative (share in oral presentation)
Comparison/contrast essay
Declaration essay
Analysis of theme
Poetry explication
Timed essay to prompt
Reading Quizzes
Summative Assessment: Short Allegorical Narrative
Reading Skills:
Identify/articulate theme; Identify/articulate author’s purpose
Universal themes
Questioning for prediction, comprehension
Use context clues to create meaning
Idioms
Historical/cultural context
Inference
Elements of plot
Literary elements: satire, style, mood, tone, symbol, point of view, parallel structure,
punctuation for effect
Connotation /denotation
Writing Skills:
Imagery and figurative language
Punctuation for effect: dash, semi-colon, comma
Grammar: subject/verb agreement; pronoun/antecedent
Diction and voice;
Author’s purpose; analysis; evaluation
Appositives
Development of thesis; logical support
Interpret prompt
Writing Process
Syntax, Sentence variety
Editing/revision/ six traits
First Semester
 October-December
Essential Questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
How can “reading like a writer” help me write in a genre that may be new or unfamiliar?
Does writing an analysis or evaluation help me to deepen my own understanding of a text?
What are my own biases, and how do they influence the way that I evaluate and write about a text?
How do I know when I have used “enough” background information and specific evidence to justify my
critique/evaluation?
What are the characteristics and organization structures of a review? Why is this so?
How can I craft and organize my review to both engage the readers and reinforce my credibility as a critic?
What does an analysis of my own writing reveal about my writing style? Can examining the work of other
writers help me to define my own writing style?
What words or terms are unique to the genre of reviews, and how can I best define them for my readers?
Can a movie be read and analyzed using the same terminology and strategies that I use to analyze written
texts?
Novel Study: The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Genre Study:
Explanation:
Harlem Renaissance poetry
“The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,” Langston Hughes (essay)
“Drenched in Light,” Zora Neale Hurston (allegory)
Citizen Kane (film)
Various Critiques of selected readings
“An Animal’s Place” Michael Pollan
“Parallel Universes” Scientific American
Select nonfiction readings from the Norton Reader
The second quarter will focus on the contemporary essay. Students will be learning
how to look at their world with a critical lens. Students will evaluate various genres of writing
in quick writes, and explore the formulas, diction, and reasoning behind contemporary essays.
Students will begin the quarter by developing a scientific method approach to
investigation. As the quarter progresses, reading logs and class journals will keep track of
students’ feelings toward issues, and we will investigate ways to integrate those emotions into
their analyses without seeming overly biased.
Formative Assessments: Analysis of text; development of thesis
Cause and effect essay (Gatsby)
Imitative Poetry and critique of self
Character critique
Critique of artwork
Summative Assessment: Contemporary Essay
Reading Skills:
Identify/articulate theme; main idea and support
Identify/articulate author’s purpose
Universal themes
Questioning for prediction, comprehension
Use context clues to create meaning; prefix/suffix/root
Historical/cultural context
Inference; connotation and denotation
Elements of plot
Literary elements: satire, style, mood, tone, symbol, point of view, diction, parallel structure,
punctuation for effect
Connotation/denotation
Writing Skills:
Analysis/evaluation; development of thesis
Logical support: five things to do with a quote
Imagery and figurative language
Punctuation for effect: dash, semi-colon, colon, comma
Grammar: subject/verb agreement; pronoun/antecedent
Diction and voice,
Parallel Structure
Appositives
Author’s purpose; analysis; evaluation
Interpret prompt
Writing Process
Syntax, Sentence variety
Second Semester
 January – March
Essential Questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
What characteristics are notable in editorials, commentaries, or persuasive pieces?
To what extent should the beliefs and attitudes of the audience influence the decisions made by a writer?
What are my own biases, and how do they influence the way I evaluate and write about a text topic or idea?
How does the interplay of fact and opinion affect the persuasiveness of a piece of writing?
What factors should I evaluate when deciding how to interpret and use researched evidence.
How can I craft, structure, and organize my writing both to engage readers and reinforce my credibility?
Genre Study:
Explantion:
“If Hitler Asked You to Electrocute a Stranger, Would You? Probably,” Philip Meyer (cause/effect
essay)
“Fifth Avenue, Uptown,” James Baldwin (description essay)
Fireside Chats, Franklin D. Roosevelt
WWI, WWII and Cold War propaganda
“Adam” “Unknown Soldier” “Happy Birthday 1951” Kurt Vonnegut (short stories)
“A Call for Unity” Birmingham Clergymen
“Letter From Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King
“I Have a Dream” Martin Luther King
“A More Perfect Union” Obama’s speech on race
The semester begins with a CSAP style argumentative essay as a pre-assessment.
Specific focus on persuasive skills will be based on the feedback.
Students begin the quarter by doing a semiotic analysis of propaganda posters from
WWII in an effort to discover what effective persuasion looks like. They complete a synthesis
essay discussing the goals of American propaganda posters and how those goals were
achieved as a starting point for their own persuasive writing as well as an introduction to the
skill of synthesis. This essay works so effectively as an introduction to synthesis because the
sources they find for the research (the propaganda posters) do not address the topic directly,
and students are forced to connect the dots themselves in order to answer the prompt.
From there, students will be exploring effective persuasion from WWI to today,
writing imitative essays or creating imitative media along the way. These will serve as their
formative assessments. The quarter culminates in an open-topic multimedia project where
students are asked to address a contemporary issue and develop a persuasive essay and a
multimedia piece on it. Student choice is integrated in the multimedia piece as they are able to
choose any form of media they wish as long as there is some visual component associated
with it. If a student demonstrates mastery on the formative assessments, they will be able to
submit an alternative assignment proposal for the summative assessment.
Reading focus will be based on the January feedback from I2A, and once again
students will be developing personal reading goals and activities to achieve them. Because
CSAP takes place during this quarter, we will also be spending some time reviewing pertinent
information for success on the test.
Formative Assessments: Propaganda synthesis
In-class argumentative essays
“Letter from Conifer Jail”
Summative Assessment: Synthesis Essay
Reading Skills:
Identify/articulate theme; main idea and support
Identify/articulate author’s purpose
Universal themes
Questioning for prediction, comprehension
Use context clues to create meaning; prefix/suffix/root
Historical/cultural context
Inference; connotation and denotation
Elements of rhetoric
Literary elements: satire, style, mood, tone, symbol, point of view, diction, parallel structure,
punctuation for effect
Connotation/denotation
Writing Skills:
Persuasion; development of thesis
Logical support: five things to do with a quote
Imagery and figurative language
Punctuation for effect: dash, semi-colon, colon, comma
Grammar: subject/verb agreement; pronoun/antecedent
Diction and voice,
Parallel Structure
Appositives
Author’s purpose; analysis; evaluation
Interpret prompt
Syntax, Sentence variety
Editing/revision/ six traits
Second Semester
 March – May
Essential Questions:
1. How does the act of synthesis help me uncover new truths?
2. What structures and features of language allow me to “see”? What structures and features bind me?
3. How does connecting to my background knowledge, other texts, and the world around me help me to break
something apart and then use the pieces to create something new?
4. Why might I need to develop an awareness of my biases and the biases of others to uncover new “truths”?
How might I develop an awareness of my biases and the biases of others to uncover new “truths”?
5. How does my own personal quest for truth influence the arrangement of my essays?
Novel Study:
The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
Genre Study:
“The Spider and The Wasp,” Alexander Petrunkevitch (process essay)
“The Fish,” Elizabeth Bishop
“Son,” John Updike
“Let Us Make a Vow to the Dead,” Ronald Reagan (speech)
“Election Night Victory Speech,” Barack Obama
“I Want a Wife,” Judy Brady (persuasive essay)
Music from the Vietnam era
Up-to-the-minute examples of persuasive writing or speaking
Explanation: The final quarter will focus on the skill of synthesis. Students will begin with an overview of effective
research skills including how to search databases, locate print materials, find appropriate web
resources, and research questions that are not addressed explicitly in the available resources. Students
will first apply those skills to AP-style synthesis prompts, where the sources are provided; then to the
Vietnam Protest Music Synthesis Project, where they will be asked to create both an essay and a
festival poster depicting their view on the war; and finally to the Researched Argumentative Essay and
Presentation, where they will be developing a research question and then attempting to answer it in
both print and oral formats.
Formative Assessments: AP-style in-class synthesis essays
“This I Believe” personal essay
Vietnam protest music synthesis
Summative Assessment: Debate Essay
Oral Speaking:
Researched Argumentation/Synthesis presentation
Reading Skills:
Identify/articulate theme; main idea and support
Identify/articulate author’s purpose
Questioning for prediction, comprehension
Use context clues to create meaning; prefix/suffix/root
Historical/cultural context
Inference; connotation and denotation
Punctuation for effect
Connotation/denotation
Research strategies
Determining appropriate resources
Conversing with texts
Writing Skills:
Rhetorical questions, parallel structure, repetition, Aristotelian appeals, opposing arguments
Analysis/evaluation; development of thesis
Logical support: five things to do with a quote
Imagery and figurative language
Punctuation for effect: dash, semi-colon, colon, commas
Grammar: subject/verb agreement; pronoun/antecedent
Diction and voice,
Parallel Structure
Appositives
Author’s purpose; analysis; evaluation
Interpret prompt
Writing Process
Syntax, Sentence variety
Editing/revision/ six traits
Grading:
Students will be graded using a standards-based system modeled after the ACT. There will be two
standards sections in the gradebook (reading and writing) and each will comprise 30% of a student’s final
grade. The two sections are skill-based and the scores within each category will change as a student
demonstrates improved skill or decreased skill. The other 40% will be task-based and will evaluate the
timeliness and thoroughness with which a student completes assignments. Rubrics are available on my
website, and parents may track student progress toward ACT college readiness on
live.thecooperativeproject.com, an online formative assessment machine that a colleague and I invented.
Parents, be sure to get your student’s login information in order to track their progress. If you have any
questions, don’t hesitate to call.