Hinsdale South High School
EIIH—Honors British Literature
2014-15
Mr. Thelen
(630) 468-4000, ext. 4370
bthelen@hinsdale86.org
It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it.
-Oscar Wilde
Course Objectives:
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes.
-Marcel Proust
Honors English II is a continued, in-depth study of the English language, both technically and
artistically. To that end, students shall review and practice concepts of traditional English grammar
and composition while engaging in an accelerated study of British literature. Ultimately, the course
will provide a comprehensive survey of British poetry and prose emphasizing authors of historical
impact, their seminal works, and the context in which they written.
Materials:
Distrust any enterprise that requires new clothes.
-Henry David Thoreau
Students are expected to come to class prepared with necessary materials for reading and writing
(pens, pencils, paper, glasses, books, etc.). New clothes not required.
Class Policies for the Submission of Work:
Time is a cruel teacher. She kills all of her students.
-Anonymous

Students are expected to submit all assignments on time. In the case of major projects, the
failure to so will result in a one letter-grade reduction for each day the assignment is late,
weekends included. Homework assignments are not accepted for late credit.



Successful completion of the course is contingent upon the submission of all major
projects.
Students themselves are responsible for work missed during absences and should consult
with the teacher whenever absent. Typically, students are granted a number of days
equivalent to the length of the absence to complete assignments.
MLA style documentation is expected for all major assignments. Works Cited pages are
compulsory.
Grading Policy:
Each quarter’s grade will be assigned based upon a standard point value system: points earned
divided by points assigned. Roughly speaking, points are distributed as follows:
 40-50% Major Projects and Formal Writing
 30-40% Tests and Quizzes
 20% Participation in Discussion
Semester grade will be determined by combining quarter grades at a weight of 40% each together
with the semester exam grade at a weight of 20%.
Few things are impossible to diligence and skill…Great works are performed,
not by strength, but perseverance.
-Samuel Johnson
On Revision: It is commonplace among architects and painters, writers and rappers—all who
create and produce—to regard their compositions as existing in a perpetual state of flux. The road
leading to (but never quite reaching) perfection consists of many steps. Few creators would
consider their first attempt to be their best. To that end, revisions will be mandatory and assessed
in the case of major papers.
On the Research Project: Students will complete a substantial research paper during the second
semester. This project is designed to improve critical thinking and writing skills while allowing
students to demonstrate intellectual growth made during the year.
On Participation: Participation is a prerequisite of growth. This is particularly true in humanities
courses where the sum of all voices, philosophies, and ideals constitutes the pulse of the class. As a
group, students will determine whether each discussion is stale or full of life. Participation grades
will hinge on (listed in ascending order of importance): punctuality, attendance, completion of
homework assignments, overall improvement, and a student’s contribution to the intellectual
climate of the class. Since it is not in my practice to offer extra credit, I suggest students take every
advantage of the participation element of the grade, as it is quite effort-based. On a related note,
absences can affect a student’s grade if the absence is not properly addressed. (Should you have to
miss a class for any excused reason, be certain that you check with me for opportunities to make up
the work and the points that you missed. Failure to do so will result in forfeiture of credit. This is
not to suggest you be excessively worried if you must miss a class, but you should be appropriately
concerned.)
Grading Scale: Marks will be assigned according to the following scale, which is commensurate
with the school’s policy. As this is an honors class, it carries a weighted GPA value:
97-100%=A+
87-89%=B+
93-96%=A
83-86%=B
90-92%=A80-82%=B-, Etc.
Classroom Rules:
Kings will be tyrants from policy when subjects are rebels from principle.
-Edmund Burke
All school rules are to be observed at all times.
Most Importantly:
You are expected to conduct yourself with decorum at all times. When it comes to your behavior
in this class, I have one supreme rule: Be respectful. Respect your classmates, respect members of
the faculty and staff, respect your school, and respect yourself. Behavior that compromises
the learning of any student in the class will not be tolerated.
Cell Phones:
Please set your phone to silent or off, and put it away. You don’t need it for this class. For 50
minutes each day, you are effectively out of touch.
Five Tips for Success:
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.
Carve out a positive niche for yourself in this class.
Read for understanding.
Learn to effectively take notes and annotate your text.
Cite evidence from the text (in your writing and during class discussion).
Ask for help.
In old days books were written by men of letters and read by the public. Nowadays books are written by the
public and read by nobody.
-Oscar Wilde
Honors British Literature—Mr. Thelen
Following is a list of many of the cornerstone texts we will be studying this year.
Slight alterations may be made in the interest of time and to conform to the specific
academic needs of each class, but this gives you an idea.




























Beowulf, author unknown, trans. Heaney
*The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer, translations vary
*Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, trans. Raffel
*Morte d’Arthur, Mallory
Renaissance Sonnets by Wyatt, Spenser, Sidney, and Shakespeare
Macbeth, Shakespeare
“The Passionate Shepherd to His Love,” Marlowe
“The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd,” Raleigh
“Of Studies,” Bacon
The “Holy Sonnets” of John Donne
“Easter Wings,” Herbert
* Paradise Lost, Milton
“On His Having Arrived at the Age of Twenty-Three” & “On His Blindness,” Milton
“To His Coy Mistress,” Marvell
“To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,” Herrick
“A Modest Proposal,” Swift
“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,” Gray
“To a Mouse” & “To a Louse,” Burns
*Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, Blake
“Tintern Abbey”; “London, 1802”; “The World is Too Much with Us,” Wordsworth
“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” Coleridge
“Bright Star!,” “When I Have Fears,” “Ode to a Nightingale,” & “Ode on a Grecian Urn,”
Keats
“Ozymandias,” “Sonnet: England in 1819,” & “To a Skylark,” Percy Bysshe Shelley
“Apostrophe to the Ocean,” *Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, “On This Day I Complete My
Thirty-Sixth Year,” Byron
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
“The Lady of Shalott” & “Ulysses,” Tennyson
“My Last Duchess,” Robert Browning
“Dover Beach,” Arnold














“The Darkling Thrush,” Hardy
“Spring and Fall: To a Young Child,” Hopkins
“To an Athlete Dying Young,” Houseman
Sonnet 43, Elizabeth Barrett Browning
“Silent Noon,” Rossetti
The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde
“The Door in the Wall,” Wells
“The Celestial Omnibus,” Forster
“Miss Brill,” Mansfield
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel,” Rhys
“The Rocking Horse Winner,” Lawrence
“Homage for Isaac Babel,” Lessing
The Remains of the Day, Ishiguro
Student choice text(s) corresponding to research project on literature of the British Empire
*Material will be studied in excerpts.