American Literature II Syllabus
Dear Parents:
Below a reader will find a course description
and objectives, supplies, grading policy, assessment, classroom expectations,
and communication with the teacher. All
materials are available at my main page. Few handouts will be given.
Course Description
and Objectives:
My students can attain success in this American Literature II class. When the semester is over, the students will
have an understanding of some of the literature from 1855 to the present. Some of the authors we will study are Emily
Dickinson, Langston Hughes, and Robert Frost.
The Madeline Hunter Process Model of Teaching is used daily. We also work in Gardner’s Theory of
Multiple Intelligences and Bloom’s
Taxonomy.
Supplies:
The student will need the following: pens,
pencils, paper, folder, and highlighters.
Grading Policy:
Grades are calculated on the board approved
grading scale.
93-100 = A; 90-92 = A-; 87-89 = B+; 83-86 = B;
80-82 = B-; 77-79 = C+; 73-76 = C; 70-72 = C-; 67-69 = D+; 63-66 = D; 60 – 62 =
D-; 59 – Below = F.
There is no extra credit.
American Literature
II Semester Breakdown
I.
First
nine weeks - Unit 5 and ˝ of Unit 6
1.
Emily
Dickinson
a. This
is my letter to the World
b. ``Hope’’
is the thing with feathers-
c. Success
is counted sweetest
d. Much
Madness is divinest Sense
e. Letter
to Thomas Wentworth Higginson
f. My
life closed twice before its close-
g. After
great pain, a formal felling comes-
h. I
heard a Fly buzz-when I died-
i. Because
I could not stop for Death-
2.
Kate
Chopin – The Story of an Hour
3.
Rita
Dove – Adolescence-III
4.
Tillie
Olsen – I Stand Here Ironing
5.
Carl
Sandburg –
6.
Paul
Laurence Dunbar – We Wear the Mask
Sympathy
7.
Anzia
Yezierska –
8.
Langston
Hughes
a. I,
Too
b.
c. The
Weary Blues
d. When
the Negro Was in Vogue
9.
James
Weldon Johnson – My City
10.
Countee
Cullen – Any Human to Another
11.
Claude
McKay – If We Must Die
12.
James
Baldwin – My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My
Nephew
13.
Francis
Scott Key Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
II.
Second
nine weeks - ˝ of Unit 6 and Unit 7
1.
Robert
Frost – Acquainted with the Night and
Mending Wall
2.
Ernest
Hemingway – The End of Something
3.
T.S.
Eliot – The Love Song of J. Alfred
Prufrock
4.
Katherine
Anne Porter – The Jilting of Granny
Weatherall
5.
Sylvia
Plath – Mirror
6.
Anne
Sexton – Self in 1958
7.
Bernard
Malamud – Armistice
8.
John
Steinbeck – Why Soldiers Won’t Talk
9.
Tim
O’Brien – Ambush
10.
Martin
Luther King, Jr. – from Letter from
11.
Anne
Tyler – Teenage Wasteland
12.
John
Updike – Separating
13.
Ernest
Hemingway - The Old Man and the Sea
Assessment:
Tests are meant to be an accurate reflection
of the curriculum objectives. Make up
work follows the school policy in the student/parent handbook. A child must show his or her admit slip upon
returning. Once back, the student has
the same number of days missed to make up assignments. Please turn these assignments into the
teacher.
Late work receives a one-letter grade
deduction per day late. All students
need to keep a weekly planner with all assignments written in it, and it will
be checked from time-to-time.
Tests/Writings
Objective multiple-choice tests will be
given. The students will show what they
have learned through tests and writing. In
addition, with papers, the students will be given the following material: a
rubric, a due date, and a location on the web site to use as a reference. I will check their paper against the rubric,
so students can earn a better grade. In
between the date the material was given and the due date, students may submit
papers and have them evaluated without a penalty. Once the paper is graded, if students are not
happy with a grade, they may make corrections, and earn half of the lost points
back. Essentially, students choose their
own grade.
Why
Do We Do This? Since writing is a process, a
key point in writing is revision. Even
great writers like Harper
Lee rewrite hundreds of times. By
doing this, students are forced to revise, rewrite, and follow the
process.
Classroom
Expectations and Guidelines:
Upon entering the room students are to get into an assigned seat, so I
may take attendance. If a student is not
in his or her seat when the bell rings, he or she is late. We will have assigned seats during the first
quarter. During the second, third, and
fourth quarters, students may select seats.
The teacher reserves the right to change seats if necessary. At the beginning of class, I will raise my
right hand meaning class is beginning.
In addition, this signal will be used during the class to bring the
class to attention for things like announcements. When turning in or passing out an assignment,
all paper work will be passed to the side.
Hall passes are available from me. A bathroom pass will be given to a student
once a week (unless there are extenuating circumstances).
All people in the room are expected to work together to ensure a safe
environment. If a student has a
question, please raise a hand; also, if we are working in groups or if another
student is presenting a project, a student is expected to stay on the
educational objective. In order to
guarantee your child, and all the students in my classroom, the excellent
learning climate they deserve, I am utilizing the following assertive discipline plan starting today.
Mr. Marsala’s
Classroom Guideline
A student must work to reach the
educational objective for each day.
If a student chooses to breaks this guideline, the consequences are as
follows:
First consequence: Verbal warning.
Second consequence: A talk with the teacher and a detention.
Third consequence: A call home and two detentions.
Fourth consequence: Parent/teacher conference.
Fifth consequence: An office referral.
The tardy policy follows the parent/student handbook.
Computer Lab
Procedure:
A student may sit where he or she likes, but I
reserve the right to change seats. Also,
a student may listen to music while typing provided it does not distract from
finishing an assignment; also, he or she must have headphones. A student may not listen to music without
headphones.
Parent/Teacher
Communication:
If we work together, the child will have a better chance at
success. Midterm and quarter notices
will be sent and state a child’s progress.
Please feel free to call me at (440) 933-6290. In addition, I have established an e-mail
address at vmarsa@leeca.org. The phone number and email address shown are
for educational use only by parents/adults.
Student phone calls and/or emails will not receive a response at any
time. As with any email, I can be
reached 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Papers
and Plagiarism:
Material may not be copied at all. If
the material is not your work, it must be attributed to its creator.
Key
items to remember about plagiarism
– You CANNOT use a writer’s exact words without using quotation
marks and the page number where the quote can be found in the text, and a
complete citation in the reference pages.
You CANNOT
simply rephrase another’s words and present the revised version as your own.
You CANNOT
present another’s ideas, no matter how differently it is phrased, as your own.
Disclaimer:
This is not meant to be all encompassing. As the year progresses, there may be a need
for additional assignments or modifications to expectations.
Sincerely yours,
Vincent Marsala
Teacher