COURSE SYLLABUS: HONORS ENGLI SH I , 2012 -2013
Miami Beach Senior High School
Instructor: Pamela Taylor
Goal & Course Description: The purpose of this course is to
introduce a diversity of short stories from literature selections ,as
well as new and classic novels. We will, compare contrast,
analyze and COMPREHEND what we read. We will expand our
vocabulary and utilize college level language. This course will also
include creative projects as well as analysis, research, and
synthesis in a variety of genres. We will work tirelessly on improving
your writing and understanding the writing process. If you ever
feel lost or falling behind, come talk to me – I am happy to speak
to you about your confusion or desperation, both of which are
sometimes necessary steps in learning.
Textbook: Literature Grade 10, MacDougall Littell (available at classzone.com)
Contact Information:
Email: pamelataylor@dadeschools.net
Phone: (305) 532-4515 ext.2245
Website: http://miamibeachhigh.schoolwires.com/6277_7012732037/site/default.asp
Essential Questions:
How do we determine if a work of literature has merit?
What are Human Rights?
What Does it Mean to Be Human?
When you determine what is right, what do you do?
Writing & Analysis
Persuasive essay writing
Personal narratives
Compare and contrast essay
Research writing
Journals
Literary analysis
Readings:
Numerous selections from literature book:
Possible novels:
Of Mice and Men
Animal Farm
Night
Touching Spirit Bear
Dr. Jekyll Mr. Hyde
This list is tentative, subject to change by the instructor as time constraints dictate.
ENGLISH COURSE CONTRACT 2012/2013
MRS. TAYLOR
1. Preparation for Class
When the bell rings for class, be at your seat with these materials:
a. folder or binder with pockets for handouts
b. sufficient paper for class folder/binder
c. blue or black pens
d. # 2 pencils with erasers
e. one inquisitive and energetic human mind
Recommended: sticky notes, highlighters, jump drive, hand sanitizer, personal reading book
2. Grading Weights and Scale
1. TESTS/QUIZZES – 15%
2. PORTFOLIO/CLASSWORK - 30%
3. PROJECTS/ORAL PRESENT. - 25%
4. HOME LEARNING - 15%
5. Class participation 15%
A=4 points 90-100
B=3 points 80-89
C=2 points 70-79
D=1 point 60-69
F=0 points 0-59
3.5 and above
2.5-3.49
1.5-2.49
1.0-1.49
0.9 & below
Some special projects and assignments may be given extra weight. In case of an
excused absence, you must ask the instructor for the missed assignments.
3. Conduct & Procedures
I. With mutual respect, we can create trust, and when we trust each other, we can
make ourselves better together. These rules and procedures mean little without
this shared understanding.
II. Cell phones, electronic games, etc. will not be permitted in the classroom
because they disrupt the learning environment and distract others. Disruptive
devices will be confiscated and returned only to your parent when he/she comes
to school.
III. No student should feel she needs to submit at an assignment which is not the
product of her own mind. If you are tempted to do so, approach me and talk
about the issues that are keeping you from doing an assignment. It is all of our
responsibilities to maintain the integrity of the class’s work.
IV. Challenge yourself, your classmates, and your teacher.
I have read the syllabus & contract for this class, and agree to abide by it.
Student’s name____________________________________ID#____________Period________
Student’s signature______________________________________________ Date:____________
I have read the syllabus & contract for this class, and agree to help my child abide by it.
Parent/Guardian’s signature______________________________________ Date:____________
August 18, 2012
Dear students,
As I lean back in my lint-covered rolling chair, lounging in the stale air, I feel
the quickening of the energy you will soon bring to this decrepit room. The room
anticipates its return to purposeful life, reanimation by the minds and voices of each
of us who will work within it. Without you, I’m just an adult reading alone in a very
large, poorly ventilated office. Together, we will grow to be capable of
experiences and accomplishments we had not thought or known possible.
A Russian writer named Mikhail Bakhtin has remarked that each word we
speak or write is “half someone else’s. It exists in other people’s mouths, in other
people’s contexts, serving other people’s intentions: it is from there that one must
take the word, and make it one’s own.” When we use words, we must work to
make them internally persuasive – our first audience is ourselves. While it’s true that
most every word we use has been said or written before, our challenge is to
orchestrate words so that they mean something fresh and real when we use them.
Among our challenges this year will be to work together to help each other express
meaning well, putting old words into our own voices, and new ideas into ancient
sentence structures. This art of presenting oneself through language should prove
useful to you, whatever your goals; indeed, you must actively customize the vessel
of language-skill that will best enable you to follow your own star.
I have spent most of my life reading, writing, and thinking about words; and I
firmly believe in the importance and relevance of language and literature as
sources of knowledge, communication, and power. Learning is an active process of
reading, thinking, and writing; it is something that you do, which no one else can do
for you, and which no one can strip from you. I look forward to working with each of
you toward our goals.
Sincerely,
P. S. Please write back and tell me who you are, what you want to do and become,
and one important decision you have made.
Poetry Checklist
Read the poem once straight through--AND READ IT ALOUD. Don't linger over things that
confuse you. Read slowly--more slowly than you would read most prose--but keep going. Try to
get an overall idea of what the poem is saying, at least on the surface.
Most poems are imitations of speech, that is, they are meant to be imagined as something
someone says, or could say, in a given situation. That's why, "Who's the speaker?" is usually
the first question asked about a poem. It's also a reason why reading the poem aloud is important.
Try to identify the poem's situation. What is said is often conditioned by where it is said and by
whom. Identifying the speaker and his/her place in the situation puts what s/he says into
perspective.
Articulate for yourself what the title, subject and situation make you expect. Poets often use false
leads and try to surprise you by doing "shocking" things, but defining expectations lets you be
conscious of where you are when you begin.
Be willing to be surprised. Things often happen in poems that turn them around. A poem may
suggest one thing at first, then persuade you to its opposite (or at least be a significant
qualification or variation).
Find out what is implied by the traditions behind the poem. Verse forms and metrical patterns
all have frames of reference, traditions in the way that they are usually used and for what reasons
they are used.
Dust off your encyclopedia. Look up anything you don't understand: an unfamiliar word (or an
ordinary word used in an unfamiliar way), a place, a person, a myth, an idea--anything the poem
uses.
Take a poem on its own terms. Adjust to the poem; don't make the poem adjust to you. Be
prepared to hear things you do not want to hear. Not all poems are about your ideas nor will they
always present emotions you want to feel. Be tolerant and listen to the poem's ideas.
Argue. Discussion usually results in clarification and keeps you from being too dependent on
personal biases and preoccupations which sometimes mislead even the best readers. Talking a
poem over with someone else (especially someone very different) can expand the limits of a toonarrow perspective.
Assume there is a reason for everything, from the space between words to the period at the end
of the line. You’ll start to make observations that you never could have imagined.
Questions to ask:
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What's it about? Get to know the subject matter of the poem.
What form is the poem written in - and why?
How does the poem work? Look at the language words the poet has used (diction). Think about
the sound the poem makes when you read it.
Develop your ideas about the poem. What ideas does the poem give you? What attitude does the
poet have to the subject matter? What tone does the poem have - how would you read it aloud?
Persusasive Essay Models -- January
“Darkness at Noon” Harold Krents 454 (disability)
Ain’t I a Woman (persuasive poem) – rhetorical ?, concession/refutation
An Indian’s View of Indian Affairs / Chief Joseph 446
Antony’s Speech-
Melian DialogueTV essay (ask Ms. Nobil)
Concepts:
Audience
Adjust for audience type
Assume audience disagrees
Topic: must be controversial, with no clear right/wrong answer
SUPPORT: evidential – facts, stats, experts, logical examples/illustrations, case
studies
Motivational – personal incident, loaded words, metaphors/similes/figurative
lang., sensory detail (imagery), rhetorical question, intentional repetition,
parallel structure
Be clear about what’s being argued: needs & values
Topic vs. thesis: topic is a general idea; a thesis is a clear statement
Thesis vs. claim – claim is a thesis answering the “whether or not” question
Claims of
a. Value (good/bad, effective/weak)
b. Fact (true/false)
c. Policy (“should,” “must” DO)
Concession: consideration of an opposing argument; shows audience you are
giving weight to their viewpoint
Refutation: your side of the argument, proves why the concession is incorrect or
weak compared to your argument
Logicalexamined up close