English 10
Corey McCartney
Office: 425.408.7450
Classroom: 425.408.7570
Email: cmccartney@nsd.org
2013 – 2014
Room 230
Description
English 10 exists to further your reading, writing, speaking, listening and thinking – skills
necessary for working with the more complex materials and tasks found at and beyond the high
school level. We will explore a range of literary genres and across various mediums. We will
read fiction, nonfiction, plays, poetry, speeches and journalism while studying writing
technique, literary analysis, rhetoric and culture. This class places an emphasis on student
interest so as to foster genuine joy and appreciation within the English disciplines. We will
think independently and engage actively while working to hone existing skills and develop
many new ones. This will certainly be a productive, enjoyable year in Sophomore English!
Schedule
September
Introduction to English 10 and classroom culture
Performing a Close Reading; SOAPSTONE
“To A Mouse,” Robert Burns
Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
Characterization & Imagery Focus
Project: Sensory Characters
October
Overview of Socratic Seminar
Library skills & research literacy
West With the Night excerpts, Beryl Markham
Figurative language focus
November
Introduction to Epistemology
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson
Advanced seminar
Project: Synthesis Essay
Narrative arc & sequencing
December
Introduction to editing
The Writers’ Workshop
The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery and select short fiction stories
Literary technique focus
Project: Short Fiction Writing
January
Introduction to Ethical Theory
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
Project: Juxtaposed Places Poster
Project: Literary Analysis & Meta-ethics Essay
February
Introduction to rhetorical analysis and symbolic logic
Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare
Introduction to speech and debate
Research literacy focus (student choice)
Project: Oxford Format debate
March
HSPE Preparation: Expository Essay, Persuasive Essay, and Reading Comprehension
The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros
Project: poetry writing & reading
April
Introduction to film analysis: concepts & terminology
Film analysis study
Project: Film Analytical Essay
May
Introduction to Memoir: Excerpts
This Boy’s Life, Tobias Wolff
Narrative Composition focus
June
Project: Memoir Writing
Personal reflection
Necessary Materials
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
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Dedicated English Composition Notebook
Pen, pencil, highlighter, sticky notes
Personal book copies encouraged but not required
Dedicated English Organizer/Folder
Planner/Calendar
Technology in the Classroom
Turnitin.com
Significant coursework will be submitted electronically. Please enroll:
Website: http://www.turnitin.com
Course ID
Period 2: 6913903 | Period 3: 691392 | Period 4: 6913930 |
Password: English10
Period 6: 6913951
Course Webpage
Assignments, due dates and a contact form can be found electronically on the course website:
www.nsd.org/cmccartney (also searchable through WHS homepage).
Personal Electronics
Phones, tablets, audio players, etc. may be utilized as classroom resources, but only at
appropriate times and for appropriate purposes. It is a class objective that all students develop
excellent judgment of this appropriateness. Repeated poor judgment will quickly result in the
loss of this resource. When not instructed to do so, please ask permission before using any
personal electronic in class.
Assessment & Policies
The grade you earn in this class is an indicator, designed to reflect your achievement in
reaching objectives that will be clearly specified. Earning a high grade in this class should not be
the object of your focus while participating in class. That would be like gazing off at the prize on
display while attempting to hit the bullseye in an archery competition. You’d miss the target.
Instead, I hope you come to view the task at hand as most deserving of your full attention. Your
involved participation, pride in work, open mindedness, and willingness to grow intellectually
will create success in this class. The following percentages are approximations:
Classwork (e.g. freewrite, note taking, in-class essay): 20%
Homework (e.g. socratic seminar prep. questions, research, text annotation: 20%
Test & Quiz (e.g. reading puppy): 20%
Performance (e.g. essay, socratic seminar, project, debate): 40%
Deadlines
If you fail to meet a deadline on an assignment, then it likely means one of a couple different
scenarios. (1) If you have been absent, then you will be given the number of days absent as the
number of days to make up all missed work for full credit. One exception to this is for in-class
participation, which occurs in class only (e.g. seminar, debate, puppy). An absence during an inclass participation assignment will result in an alternate assignment will be assigned. (2) If you
have not been absent, then 10% will be subtracted from the grade of the late assignment for
each class day that it is late. No assignment will lose more than 50%, no matter how late it is
submitted.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the act of taking another’s work or idea and submitting it as one’s own. Plagiarism
is a serious offense and will result in receiving no credit for that assignment and contact with
home. Collaboration and plagiarism are different things. If you are ever unsure of what
constitutes plagiarism, just ask.
Grading Scales
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
F
+
100%
100–93%
92–90
89–87
86–83
82–80
79–77
76–73
72–70
69–67
66–60
59–0
+
90

75
50
0
4.0-3.8
3.7-3.4
3.3-3.1
3.0-2.8
2.7-2.4
2.3-2.1
2.0-1.8
1.7-1.4
1.3-1.1
1.0+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
(based on collegeboard.com)
Attendance & Tardiness
Arriving less than 10 minutes late is marked as tardy.
Arriving more than 10 minutes late is marked as absent.
Unexcused absences will receive a phone call home from the WHS attendance desk. Attendance
errors are resolved by the student collecting the appropriate form at the attendance desk,
getting the teacher’s signature, and returning it to the attendance desk. Regarding school
attendance policies, see WHS Handbook.
Classroom Principles
The most vibrant classroom culture is one in which each student takes full responsibility for
him or her self through constant awareness and self-monitoring, with occasional helpful
feedback from peers and teacher on this. Some essential rules will be established at the
beginning of our class, and additional rules will be dispensed and enforced as is necessary to
fully protect the emotional, intellectual, and physical well being of all class members. Rules are
limitations, and progress will be hindered by having too many of them in our class. It is a shared
goal of all class members, then, to always act responsibly, respectfully, and keep additional
rules unnecessary. This is a classroom of shared inquiry -- a safe environment for reading,
writing, speaking, listening and exploring.
I thank you for being a member of our class. I am excited to build a fun and rewarding
classroom community together as we share many good times in English 10!
Warm regards,
Corey McCartney
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Student Signature:
_______________________________________________________________________ Date ___________________
Parent/Guardian Signature:
________________________________________________________________________ Date __________________