Sophomore English
Ms. Yoo
2015-2016
Welcome to the Journey!
This year is a big one for you. You have freshman year under your belt, and you
are more equipped and ready to take on the challenges and rigors of student life at
Highland Park High School. In addition, you are growing more acclimated to having
more freedom, opportunities, and POWER. And yes, as Uncle Ben told Peter Parker,
“with great power comes great responsibility.” This course will address the challenges
that adolescence and young adulthood brings in learning who we are and the choices we
make to become responsible citizens in our global marketplace. What is my obligation
to my family? What is my obligation to my community? What is my obligation to
myself? And what is my obligation to my world?
In addition, this course will continue to facilitate your entry into the academic life
at Highland Park High School and beyond. With its emphasis on critical thinking,
reflection, and collaboration, the course will lead you to develop specific skills and
general habits of mind important to your future success. The most prominent among
those skills are the following:

How critically and fluently do you read? We will be reading fiction as well as
non-fiction texts in order to strengthen your critical reading skills. Here, I want to
emphasis that we are not only trying to complete the reading (and on time), but
read inferentially and analytically.

How well do you listen? Listening to your classmates—the questions, insights,
and debates—will be just as important to your intellectual growth in this class as
will be listening to the text, to the world around us, to me, and of course, to
yourself.

How well do you write? Here, the emphasis will be on analytical writing—rather
than editorial or creative. I will ask you to use the text to support your ideas and
your writing should reflect the inferences you gather from your reading as you try
to persuade your reader to feel, understand, or agree with your point of view.
Required Materials:
MacBeth, William Shakespeare
Outcasts United, Warren St. John
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
Selected essays, short stories and poems I will distribute in class
Supplies:
 3-ring binder; 1 inch minimum. THIS IS MANDAOTRY!!!
 Tabs (at least 5 labeled as : Writing, Handouts, Quizzes, Grammar/Usage, )
 Composition Notebook – no spiral notebooks please. SO IMPORTANT
 Assignment notebook
A few words about my Course Expectations:
Each class, I expect the following three things from you: ponderings, participation, and
preparedness.
Ponderings
 About texts. What I mean by ponderings are your questions and responses to the
text you read. I do not include reader response comments like, “wow” and “no
way!” as critical ponderings. Of course, I expect you to annotate these
ponderings in your texts
 About new ideas. We will be experimenting with new ideas—the text’s, yours,
our world’s, mine—indeed, you and I will be learning together. I encourage you
to take intellectual risks (i.e. with your response to readings, with your class
participation, with your writing).
Participation
 As you well know, the success of any given English course relies heavily on
stimulating discussion. I work hard to create a warm and open atmosphere in the
classroom where everyone can feel free to express his or her views—and where
everyone is respected. For these reasons, participation is a mandatory part of the
class that culminates to about 10% of your overall semester grade. Having said
that, I will assess your participation on specific days (not every day) and you will
be given plenty of notice on when those discussion days will occur. Take risks
and make this course important to you as an individual and not merely as a grade
on your transcript. Remember, you can participate in the form of questions you
raise (not only the responses you provide).
I hope you will be honest and probing in discussion, challenging each other and myself
when you like, but never cruelly.
Preparedness:
 Reading Completion is critical. I will give a reading quiz every time I assign
reading. It is responsibility not only to complete the reading, but to
understand and analyze the text WELL.
 Homework. Homework is due on the date assigned, at the beginning of each
class. People who need to leave the classroom to print will be given a late
penalty. I try my best to assign homework that is essential to the class and
your development, not extraneous work. For essays, I expect you to meet the
due dates given. If you need to arrange a different deadline due to special
circumstances, please see me before the day of the deadline—and before I do
not mean the period before, the night before at midnight, on the day of, etc.)
 I expect you to meet deadlines for major assignments and papers. If you feel
you will not be in class the next day, it is your responsibility to email the
assignment or paper (including major papers) to me so I receive them on the
day it is due. I will not give you a pass to print out your paper at the
beginning of the class, and computer problems will not excuse your
assignment from being late. In addition, please do not email me your work
right before class as I will not have time to print it—that, dear student, is your
responsibility.
 Late work. There will be deductions for late work. Usually, depending on the
assignment, there will be a one grade penalty on minor assignments. For
example, if as assignment is worth 20 points and you earned a 17/20. I will
deduct one letter grade from your score (so your final score would be 15/20)
for lateness. For major assignments, I will deduct a percentage of the overall
score.
Finally, a note on plagiarism.
Every year, I have a few students who plagiarize their assignments and essays. The
temptation to plagiarize is manifold— stress, the demands of a rigorous academic
schedule, procrastination, and/or lack of confidence. Whatever the reasons may be, let me
say this gently but firmly: I do not tolerate plagiarism, and I will follow the protocol for
disciplining Academic Dishonesty at Highland Park High School as delineated in the
Student Handbook.
Most common examples of plagiarism include:
- Copying daily homework from your peers or past students. The excuse
that you thought it was a “group project” or that it was “collaborative”
will NOT fly.
- Using, or “borrowing”—not only copying—ideas from Sparknotes,
Gradesaver, and other internet sources without giving due citations
- Copying sparknotes or the like as class notes to use on quizzes
- Copying the wording on homework assignments of another classmate
even if you worked “collaboratively” on an assignment with a group or
another partner
- Using the work of a student in a different class or a previous student
or sibling in my class to write papers, complete projects, or any other
assignment in my class
Expectations of the Teacher:
In addition to the above expectations which I hold for myself as well as for you, I have
the following expectations for myself:



I will attempt to select text with a high interest level, a challenging style, and rich
themes.
I am nearly always available for extra help before or after school, and during my
office hours. If you would like to meet with me outside of class, please make an
appointment with me.
I will make considerable effort to be in written and spoken contact with you, your
parent(s)/guardian(s), and counselors. I believe that it is important for them to
know how you are progressing, to see the work you are producing, to know how
your behavior/attendance is contributing to your success or lack thereof. I will
make every attempt to include you in this discussion.
Grading Policy
I use the HPHS grading scale. All assignments have a point value and fit into a
particular category in Infinite Campus. Here are my weighted categories:
Reading comprehension (reading quizzes) are 10% of overall semester grade…...10%
Close and Analytical Reading …………………………………………...………..15%
Reflections (thoughtful and detailed journal entries about your own work)………15%
Writing (both in class and out of class)…………………………………………....25%
Grammar and Usage ………………………………………………………………15%
Discussion …………………………………………………………………………10%
Projects and/or Final Exam ………………………………………………………..10%
In closing, I am excited, ready to dig in, and get started. Please do not hesitate to call,
email, or make an appointment to see me. I am here to help you be successful in this
class!
Ms. Yoo
English Teacher
Phone: 224-765-2143
Email: jyoo@dist113.org
Office Hours: Periods 2 and 5 in English office, 7 in TLC