English Literature
Course Syllabus
Mrs. Macias
E-Mail: Ellen.Macias@d128.org
Voicemail: 932-2000 x8678
Office Hours: 3rd Period, 5th Period, 6th Period, and before and after school by appointment
Course Description: This course will offer an exploration of British literature and culture
through reading, writing, speaking, and researching. The focus will be on thinking critically,
expressing ideas, and defending those expressions. I hope the contents of this course will be
interesting and meaningful to you and will help you grow as readers, writers, and thinkers.
Required Materials:
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Text (either purple textbook or other current text)
Note-taking and organizational system of your choice
Writing utensil
Course Objectives:
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We will explore English literature, paying specific attention to important themes, literary
elements, and archetypes.
We will study English history and culture in an effort to broaden our understanding of the
literature and the language.
We will strive to make the readings relevant and meaningful in our own lives.
We will work to improve our reading, writing, and critical thinking skills.
Course Expectations:
Assessment Policy:
 To get the most out of this class, it is essential that you turn in homework assignments on
time. As such, homework may be turned in late for half credit. Completion of all writing
assignments and projects is necessary for a passing grade in the class. Late writing
assignments and projects will receive a deduction of one letter grade per day up to
four days. After four days, students will automatically receive a 50% for papers and
projects turned in.
 If a student has a scheduled excused absence the day an assignment is due, he or she
must turn it in by the beginning of class on the due date. If he or she has an
unscheduled excused absence, he or she must turn it in upon returning to school. If
the absence is extended, students can negotiate a due date as necessary, but please note that
is your responsibility to do so.
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If a student misses a test or other in-class assignment due to a scheduled excused
absence, arrangements must be made to make it up prior to the absence. In the case
of an unscheduled excused absence, the students will have the number of days
missed plus one to make up the test or assignment. It is the student’s responsibility
to come to me for make-up arrangements.
Grading Distribution:
30% WRITING and PROJECTS
30% HOMEWORK
25% TESTS and QUIZZES
15% CLASS PARTICIPATION (Includes both in-class assignments as well as verbal participation)
Grading Scale:
100-97: A+
89-87: B+
96-93: A
86-83: B
92-90: A82-80: B-
79-77: C+ 69-67: D+
76-73: C
66-63: D
72-70: C- 62-60: D-
59-0: F (Not Passing)
*Assessment will be used as a tool to gauge your progress and understanding. It will take the form of
homework assignments, tests and quizzes, writing assignments, and class participation. Grades will
be updated on PASS regularly.
*For each unit, students will receive a calendar with class activities and assignments so that they may
plan ahead. This information will also be available on the class website as will all handouts.
Behavior Policy:
 Disrespectful behavior will not be tolerated. This refers to respecting oneself, one’s
classmates, one’s teacher, and one’s environment. Everyone has a right to his or her own
ideas and the forum to share those ideas.
 Please arrive to class on time and stay on task until the bell rings. Let’s not cut our time
together short!
 Come prepared with the required materials. (See above for a list.)
 My door is always open. Please feel free to talk to me about any questions, concerns,
difficulties, or ideas. This is our class, and I hope that you will help make it work for you.
(See above for office hours.)
 Have fun, be positive, and stay curious!
Course Outline
Please note, the following selections and order are subject to change.
Semester 1:
The Middle Ages-The Early British Hero
Beowulf
Grendel
Becket
The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer
Everyman
Le Morte Darthur, Sir Thomas Malory
Renaissance -Discovering Mortaility
Poetry selections that may include the following:
“Whoso List to Hunt,” Thomas Wyatt
“The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd,” Sir Walter Raleigh
Selected sonnets, Shakespeare
“The Passionate Shepherd to His Love,” Christopher Marlowe
“To the Virgins to Make Much of Time,” Robert Herrick
“On My First Son,” Ben Jonson
“On My Daughter,” Ben Jonson
“Song: to Celia,” Ben Jonson
“To His Coy Mistress,” Andrew Marvell
“Song,” John Donne
“A Valediction forbidding Mourning,” John Donne
“Death, Be not Proud,” John Donne
“Dr. Faustus”, Christopher Marlowe
Renaissance Plays: Vaulting Ambition
*Macbeth
*Amadeus (not Renaissance)
*Shakespeare Comedy TBA
Semester 2:
Restoration: Questioning the Status Quo
“Paradise Lost,” John Milton
“A Modest Proposal,” Jonathan Swift
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,” Thomas Gray
Rape of the Lock, Alexander Pope
“Journal of the Plague Year,” Daniel Defoe
Romanticism: A Call for Change
Poetry selection that may include the following:
“The Lamb,” William Blake
“The Tyger,” William Blake
“The Chimney Sweeper,” William Blake
“The Poison Tree,” William Blake
“Tintern Abbey,” William Wordsworth
“Strange Fits of Passion Have I Known,” William Wordsworth
“She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways,” William Wordsworth
Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
“She Walks in Beauty,” Lord Byron
“Don Juan,” (selections), Lord Byron
“Ozymandias,” Percy Bysshe Shelley
“Ode to the West Wind,” Percy Bysshe Shelley
“To a Skylark,” Percy Bysshe Shelley
“Ode on a Grecian Urn,” John Keats
“Ode to a Nightingale,” John Keats
“Ode on Melancholy,” John Keats
Victorian Era: The Reign of Social Status
1) Selections of student-taught poetry
2) *Literature circles, students may choose from the following texts:
a. Great Expectations
b. Pride and Prejudice
c. Wuthering Heights
3) The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde
20th Century: The Modern British Hero
“The Prophet’s Hair,” Salman Rushdie
“B. Wordsworth,” V.S. Naipaul
“The Garden Party,” Katherine Mansfield
“The Destructors,” Graham Greene
“Araby,” James Joyce
“The Rocking Horse Winner,” D. H. Lawrence
“No Witchcraft for Sale,” Doris Lessing
“Once Upon a Time,” Nadine Gordimer
*Denote texts that students will need to purchase. If you this will be difficult for you, please talk to
me or your counselor to discuss alternatives.