English III Honors
Mrs. Alison MacDonald, English Department Chair
amacdonald@bchigh.edu
617.474.5166
Office Hours for Honors: Day 1 - 4a and 4b, Day 3 - 4b, Day 7 - 4a and 4b
How it works: Participating in Honors will not affect your letter grade in English. However, upon successful completion of
the program, your final grade for English will be listed as an English III Honors class (rather than English III regular) and will
provide a .5 bump to your GPA. This experience is meant to be a form of independent study and, as such, you will have
online feedback from your teacher, but the student/teacher interaction may be less than you’ve become accustomed.
Therefore, please feel free to avail yourself of the open Office Hours (listed above). Meetings are also available by
appointment. The honors credit is granted for the year’s worth of work; it is important that the student commits to the
program for the full year.
First semester, Honors students will read two texts:
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
We chose these two texts to complement your work in the English III classroom. First, The Screwtape Letters is a contemporary
work of British fiction by a writer whose popularity increases year after year. However, the subject matter is weighty without
becoming boring, hilarious without becoming trite, and theological without becoming preachy. It is not often that a reader
approaches a book compiled of a series of letters from one demon to another. (We also chose this book due to a guest
speaker, Dr. Peter Kreeft, hosted by the Corcoran Lecture Series – more on that to follow). Second, you’ll be reading Much
Ado About Nothing, the first (and possibly only) Shakespearean comedy you will approach at BC High. As a British literature
scholar, we think it is important for you to understand the complexity of Shakespeare beyond what you see in his tragic works.
You’ll be reading Macbeth this year in class, but you will be exposed to a whole different side of the Bard through your work on
Much Ado. It also affords us an opportunity to use a different medium in our program—a fantastic film version of the play,
directed by Kenneth Branagh in 1993, will be required viewing. (See http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107616/ for more info.)
In order to earn honors credit for English III, the student needs to fulfill the requirements to the standards set by the
Department. Those requirements include:
Semester One
 ten postings on the Wetpaint discussion site; a minimum of eight must meet the standards outlined in the assignment
description. Due dates are listed for each reading assignment and posting.
 an original, reflective essay describing an experience of listening to Corcoran lecturer Dr. Kreeft speak about his work
in relation to C.S. Lewis’ writing; the essay must be handed in on time (electronically) and earn a score of no lower
than a 5.
 an original essay that evaluates the film version of Much Ado About Nothing in relation to the text.
*Each assignment is paired with a rubric so that the student understands departmental expectations and how they can be
achieved.
A note on academic honesty: It is essential that all of the student’s work is his and his alone.
We ask that in your work, online and in your papers, you aspire to a scholarly tone. Proofreading and appropriate word choice
are important components of your work this year. The value of this project is the opportunity it provides for you to think
about the words and ideas of British Literature. We do not demand that you do this in a vacuum; in fact we encourage you to
discuss what you are reading with other classmates, parents, and friends. However, we would like to discourage you from
using reading guides such as Sparknotes, as they can sometimes inhibit your own progress as a thinker. If you choose to use
another scholar’s ideas, you must cite the source and give credit for that work. If you have questions about this, please make
sure you ask your English teacher before you submit the work as your own. We take plagiarism very seriously.
To participate in English III Honors, please email your intention to Mrs. MacDonald by Monday at 2:30 PM.
School email must be used on all documents for identification purposes and must be used for communication with the
Honors teacher(s).
Wetpaint: Online Discussion
http://bchighhonors12.wetpaint.com
To Register: Go to the above website. Click on “Sign Up.”
User ID should be: FirstnameLastname12. (ex: JayMahoney12) Use your BC High email address.
If you registered last year, you may keep the same username. Use your photo from the BC High portal.
As a scholar, you will be required to participate in sharing your insights and listening to your classmates’ insights in
regards to the texts. Since we do not meet in a real classroom, we have set up a virtual discussion space to fulfill
this requirement. Each week, you will be posting a thoughtful response to either another classmate or to a question
posted by the Department. Your responses need to be completed each week by no later than Mondays at 5PM.
Each posting should:
 have an opening sentence that identifies the person and/or idea to whom/which your post is responding.
 directly utilize text by typing the exact words which your analysis references with parenthetical
documentation that includes the chapter/act and page.
 utilize appropriate language and academic tone while thoughtfully responding to literature.
Wetpaint due dates
Mon, Sept 13: Send email confirming your participation to Mrs. MacDonald; register on Wetpaint and post photo
Mon, Sept 20: Read ch 1-13 (include epigrams and preface) of Screwtape Letters and answer one teacher question
Mon, Sept 27: Read chapters 14-25 of Screwtape Letters and answer one of the teacher questions
Mon, Oct 4: Respond to another student post concerning Screwtape Letters
Mon, Oct 11: Finish reading Screwtape Letters (chapters 26-31 PLUS Screwtape Proposes a Toast) and answer one
of the teacher questions
Mon, Oct 18: Read Act 1 of Much Ado About Nothing and answer one of the teacher questions
Tues, Oct 26: Read Act 2 of Much Ado About Nothing and answer one of the teacher questions ***Because of the
lecture with Dr. Kreeft, this week’s posting deadline is extended by 24 hours.
Mon, Nov 1: Essay on author talk and Screwtape due electronically to Mrs. MacDonald by today at 5 PM.
Mon, Nov 8: Read Act 3 of Much Ado About Nothing and answer one of the teacher questions
Mon, Nov 15: Respond to another student post concerning Much Ado
Mon, Nov 22: Read Acts 4 and 5 of Much Ado and answer one of the teacher questions
Mon, Dec 6: Have watched Kenneth Branagh’s film of Much Ado and answer one of the teacher questions
Mon, Dec 13: Essay comparing film and play due electronically to Mrs. MacDonald by today at 5 PM.
“Do we find this valuable?” box Criteria:
yes= appropriate text, clear topic sentence, and thoughtful response
no= no or inaccurate text, unclear topic or rushed, unclear response or a simple repetition
Note: DO NOT mark “Yes” or “No” on someone else’s posting. Only the teacher will answer whether or
not it is valuable. 8 of your 10 responses need to be marked valuable by teacher in order to earn honors credit.
Author's Talk Reflection Assignment: C.S. Lewis through the eyes of Dr. Peter Kreeft
Due electronically by November 3, 2010
BC High has its own Corcoran Library series, which presents author Peter Kreeft on Wed, October 25 at 4:00
PM. Professor Kreeft teaches at Boston College and will present a lecture on writers C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.
English III Honors students are required to attend the lecture and respond to its content in light of their reading of
The Screwtape Letters. If you are unavailable to attend Prof. Kreeft’s talk, you will need to check out the film version
of his presentation and watch it here at school on your own time. We highly suggest that you attend in person,
however. An honors teacher will be present to take attendance.
After you attend this lecture, you'll write a reflection about the experience. This essay should be a personal, two
page narrative that specifically addresses major points of the author's talk and your reaction to those moments in
light of your reading. You must incorporate elements of The Screwtape Letters in your reflection. You must receive a
score of 5 on the rubric below.
Rubric for Author Talk Reflection:
Categories
0
Description
The detail does not convince
the department that the
student was present, engaged
and/or paying appropriate
attention.
Completion
The essay falls short of two
pages or uses trickery to
achieve the two pages.
MLA
Reflection
MLA format is ignored.
The student’s reflection is
inauthentic, incomplete and/
or ignores the text at hand.
Convention
There are errors of grammar
or syntax.
1
The descriptive writing gives
the department the sense
that the student was present,
engaged, and paying
appropriate attention.
The writing is purposeful
and fully describes and
reflects on the experience in
the two pages.
MLA format is utilized.
The student spends time
considering the author’s talk
in relation to his experience
as a reader of The Screwtape
Letters and as a writer.
There are no or very few
errors of grammar or syntax.