AP?H English 12 – 2008-2009 (Honors / College Now)

Dercher – Room 30 phone 913-993-7921

                  E-mail – marladercher@smsd.org

Brief Description of Course

“Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.” – Sir Francis Bacon

                Those who enjoy discussing and writing about what they have read will want to take this class! This advanced course focuses on the world’s most complex literature. Special emphasis is given to literary criticism through Socratic Seminar discussions and written analysis. The course is designed to assist students in attaining a high level of sophistication in language perception and in literary analysis. This course is designed to comply with the curricular requirements described in the Shawnee Mission AP English Course Description. As a culminating assessment students may take the AP English Literature and Composition Exam with the option of also taking the AP English Language and Composition Exam as well. College Now hours may also be earned thru JCCC.

                As students write during this class, they have frequent opportunities to rewrite formal, extended analyses and timed in-class responses in all of the following modes: writing to understand, writing to explain, and writing to evaluate. Students benefit from instruction and feedback on writing assignments as they work with writing circles and peer partners in editing their work.

Goals

The student will

§ demonstrate knowledge of literature from a variety of genres, cultures, and historic periods

§ appraise universal themes, philosophies, and literary movements, through the study of major British writers, and classic and contemporary world literature

§ refine understanding of literary terminology and apply appropriate terminology in analyzing and interpreting literature

§       analyze and evaluate how authors use text structure (e.g., sequence, problem solution, comparison-contrast, description, cause-effect) to achieve their purposes in narrative, expository, persuasive, and technical texts

§ experience, interpret, and evaluate works of literature from a variety of critical perspectives allowing for pre-critical impressions and emotional responses that moves through a close reading and an understanding of multiple meanings and results in assessment that notes the quality and artistic values and considers social and cultural dynamics

§ engage in at least twenty writing experiences, including:  a personal essay;  a literary analysis of theme, mood, tone, style or imagery using limited secondary sources;  a documented research project;  an imaginative poem;  numerous timed writings or in-class essays;  definition paper;  a formal resume

§ recognize the characteristics of style and refine personal style

§ apply the six traits (ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence structure, conventions) in producing and reflecting on own writing

§ make and assist others to make significant revisions in the organization and development of written ideas using comments from other students and the instructor based on the assessment criterion published by the College Board in their released exam rubrics

§ understand and use the conventions of standard written English

§ engage in oral language activity with an emphasis on creative dramatics

§ use a variety of types of sentence patterns

§ refine information-gathering/ research skills with emphasis on MLA documentation (end notes / internal citation), and the smooth incorporation of source material

§       use current technology to enhance reading, writing, speaking, listening and viewing

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

1. Writing is a critical skill needed to be successful in college and most career fields. This course will focus on writing as a process, writing for a certain purpose, employing literature as subject matter for writing, developing writing and thinking skills that students will be able to use outside the English classroom, and writing clearly and concisely. Students are expected to know the material studied in this course. How well they communicate that knowledge will determine their grades. Whether explaining or persuading or arguing, the paper/test must present valid points. Citing specific evidence and providing sound reasoning are essential.
2. Most of the required reading for this course must be completed outside of class. Sometimes annotation will be required as part of the reading assignment. The most important requirement is that students read every assignment with care. As a guideline keep in mind that preparation varies for types of genre. Poetry selections should be read and reread. Novel reading should be planned for and scheduled like any daily assignment to meet deadlines. Students should observe textual details. Besides structure, style, and themes, we will note the social and historical values of the literature.
3. Students will write fourteen essays using the writing process. Evaluation will include students completing the steps of the writing process. Throughout the writing steps class time is scheduled enabling students to receive instruction and feed back from one another and the instructor. Students are to word process all final drafts of the essays and projects assigned. Include all steps of the writing process when submitting final drafts of essays written outside of class. Selected writings will be assembled into a portfolio by end of term.
4. Each student will complete a research project. MLA format is required.
5. Most tests in class will be essay. From time to time there will be an objective part to a test. Students may have quizzes over assigned reading, but these quizzes will be objective, literal-level evaluations.
6. Students will have in-class timed essay exams over some of the literature.
7. Students will be expected to come prepared and to participate in Socratic Seminars conducted over the readings.
8. Students are expected to participate in daily sponge activities including but not limited to: mini-reads taken from released AP exams, SAT, and ACT test prep materials; mug shots of sentences needing corrections for common conventions errors; MLA format practice items; self assessments over required reading.
9. Written class work is to be written on notebook paper in ink on every other line.
10. Late Work: ten percent of the total points possible is deducted for each school day an assignment is late. After an absence, the student is responsible for finding out about make-up work.
11. Plagiarism: misrepresenting another’s work as ones own is a serious offense. Refer to the Language Arts Handbook for more details.

EVALUATION AND GRADING SCALE:

        Most essays will range from 50-100 points.

        Quizzes and tests will range from 50-100 points.

        Final Exam will be 20% of the semester grade.

        Quarter grades are determined by total points earned divided by the total number points possible.

        Each quarter grade is 40% of the semester plus the final exam.

        The following grading scale will be used:

                90-100% A

                80-89%   B

                70-79%   C

                60-69%   D

                Less than 60% F

TEXTBOOKS:

                Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Austin: Hold Rinehart, and Winston, 1995.

                Allison, Carr, and Eastman, eds. Masterpieces of the Drama 4^th Edition. New

                                York: Macmillan Publishing, 1979.

                Austin, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. New York: Doherty Associates, 1994.

                Bullock, Richard and Maureen Goggin. Norton Field Guide to  Writing with Readings. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2007.

                Goshgarian, Gary.  The Contemporary Reader. 8th ed. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2005.

                Greene, Graham. The Quiet American. New York: Penguin Group, 1955.

                Hamilton, Edith. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. New York:

                                Penguin Group, 1940.

               Hardy, Thomas. Jude the Obscure. New York: Penguin Group, 1965.

               Heller, Joseph. Catch-22. Simon and Schuster/Scribner, 1961.

               Joyce, James. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Random House, 1992.

                Kennedy, ed. An Introduction to Poetry. 5^th Edition. Boston: Little, Brown,

                                and Company, 1982.

                Kirszner, Laurie and Stephen Mandell. The Blair Reader. 6^th Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008.

Lunsford, Andrea A. Easy Writer. 3^rd Edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2006.

                Mowat, Barbara A. and Werstine Paul, eds. Hamlet by William Shakespeare. New York: Washington  Square Press. 1992.

            Murdoch, Iris. Under the Net. London: Penguin Books, 1987.

               Pickering, ed. Fiction 100 3^rd Edition. New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1982.

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1994.

Wilhoit, Stephen W. A Brief Guide to Writing from Readings. 4^th  Edition.  New York: Pearson Longman, 2007.

Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway. London: Penguin Books, 1987.

TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE:

        Unit Timeframe:

        First Quarter - Approximately nine weeks

Content Taught:

General

Sponge activities daily include but are not limited to conventions review, AP exam released passage practice, Word of the Day definitions review, MLA format review, 6-trait assessment practice, revision instruction, peer editing and writing circle critiquing of student writing.

Students receive instruction and assistance in writing college admission essays and scholarship competition essays. I keep a posting of scholarships available in the classroom and make appointments with students individually to review drafts.

Unit Timeframe: Weeks one and two

Content Taught:

                After introductions, course overview, and class management procedures, Socratic Seminars are held for each of the summer reading novels. Jane Smiley’s definition of the novel as a “lengthy, written, prose, narrative with a protagonist” (Smiley 14) is used as a focus concept. American literature in junior English precedes this course; British literature represented by Austen’s piece is broadened to world literature evidenced by the multi-cultural choice readings in senior English. Narrative voice and diction are among the analysis elements discussed.

                Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen   (summer reading assignment)

                Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf (summer reading assignment)

                Multi-cultural novel of choice           (summer reading assignment)

                                Suggested titles:

                                In the Time of Butterflies, Julia Alvarez

                                The Garden of Forking Paths, Jorge Luis Borges

                                Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison

                                Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini

                                A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini

                                Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver

                                Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez

                                Beloved, Toni Morrison

                                Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison

                                Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, Azar Nafisi

                                The Bookseller of Kabul, by Asne Seierstad

Major Assignments and/or Assessments:

Task: Tests over summer readings. Write an essay on a controversial issue tied to the summer reading assignments.          

Unit Timeframe: Week  three

Content Taught:

                Initial planning of research project begun. Lessons preparing students to research successfully and complete research project integrated throughout first four weeks of the course. Norton Field Guide to Writing reading Chapter 9 “Arguing a Position,”  Chapter 39 “Developing a Research Plan,” Chapter 40 “Finding Sources,” Chapter 41 “Evaluating Sources,” Chapter 42 “Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing,” Chapter43 “Acknowledging Sources, Avoiding Plagiarism,” Chapter 44 “Documentation,” and Chapter 45 “MLA Style.”  Students sign up for topic, due date, and teacher consult on preliminary draft sometime before first mid-quarter. The paper and oral power point presentation are due when the topic due date is scheduled.

                Creating a persona and developing an individual writing style follows the summer reading discussion activities. Students read the introduction, Part 1 “Rhetorical Situations” and Chapter 6 “Memoirs”  and Chapter 50 sample essays in Norton Field Guide to Writing

Major Assignments and/or Assessments:

Task: Write a literacy narrative.

 Unit Timeframe: Weeks four and five

Content Taught:

                Where do the many of literature’s allusions originate? Knowing the basics of Greek and Roman mythology helps. Class activities encourage students to investigate and to recall this heritage of Western literature. Students review reading strategies by taking self assessments, creating visual graphics, delving into dramatic story telling, and engaging in a scavenger hunt, as they read Edith Hamilton’s work. Joseph Campbell’s plethora of publications are referenced throughout this review.

                Mythology, Edith Hamilton

                Norton’s Field Guide, Chapter 8 “Reporting Information” reading.

Major Assignments and/or Assessments:

Task: Test essay

Unit Timeframe: Week six

Content Taught:

                The classic tragic hero? Oedipus - This week students immerse themselves in Greek drama by studying the legend and the play by Sophocles.

                Oedipus, the King, Sophocles

                Norton Field Guide to Writing, Chapter 14 “Literary Analyses”

Major Assignments and/or Assessments:

Task: Analysis essay

Unit Timeframe: Week seven

Content Taught:

                Seeds to the modern novel can be found in the collections of stories by Chaucer. Emphasis on vernacular, meter, frame story, satire, imagery, symbolism, irony, and Beast Fable during discussion.

                The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer

                                Prologue

                                The Nun’s Priest’s Tale

                                The Pardoner’s Tale

                Norton Field Guide to Writing, Chapter 16 “Profiles”

Major Assignments and/or Assessments:

Task: Write a profile about an intriguing person that fits in the category for one of the Modern Day Counterparts of one of Chaucer’s Pilgrims.

Unit Timeframe: Week eight

Content Taught:

                Interpret literary elements with special emphasis on poetic meter, sonnets, metaphysical poetry, blank verse, imagery, diction, and figurative language.

Renaissance Poetry

“Whoso List to Hunt,” Sir Thomas Wyatt

“from Amoretti Sonnet 30,” Edmund Spenser

“from Amoretti Sonnet 75,” Edmund Spenser

“The Fowle Duessa from The Faerie Queene,” Edmund Spenser

“Sonnet 29,” William Shakespeare

“Sonnet 73,” William Shakespeare

“Sonnet 116,” William Shakespeare

“Sonnet 130,” William Shakespeare

“The Passionate Shepherd to His Love,” Christopher Marlowe

“To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,” Robert Herrick

“Death Be Not Proud,” John Donne.

Read text (An Introduction to Poetry by Kennedy) description and model of Explication p. 428-430.

Norton Field Guide, Chapter 20 “Resumes and Application Letters”      

Major Assignments and/or Assessments:

Task: Write an explication essay for one of the sonnets read this quarter.

Unit Timeframe: Week Nine

Content Taught:

                Exploration of thematic connections between British and world literature with an emphasis on making inferences about characters’ motives and importance of setting. Students participate in Socratic Seminars prior to writing activity.

                The Quiet American, Graham Greene

                Norton Field Guide to Writing, Chapter 12 “Evaluations”

Major Assignments and/or Assessments:

Task: In-class timed essay writing analyzing tone through structure, setting, and theme. Selected quotes taken from pivotal points in the novel.

Task: College essay for scholarships and application work time.

Unit Timeframe:

        Second Quarter - Nine Weeks approximately

Content Taught:

General

Sponge activities daily include but are not limited to conventions review, AP exam released passage practice, Word of the Day definitions review, MLA format review, 6-trait assessment practice, revision instruction, peer editing and writing circle critiquing of student writing.

Unit Timeframe:    Weeks one and two

Content Taught:

                The tragic elements of comedy are explored as students read, discuss, and analyze The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare. 

                 Writing from Readings, Chapter 8 “Rhetorical Analysis”                 

Major Assignments and/or Assessments:

Task: After reading and discussing The Merchant of Venice write an analysis essay from a pool designated questions.

Unit Timeframe: Weeks three and four

Content Taught:

                Students are offered the opportunity to explore thematically linked literature from different world cultures and time periods. Emphasis on structure, diction, characterization, and symbolism. Students participate in Socratic Seminars prior to writing activity.

                The Death of Ivan Ilych, Leo Tolstoy

                Norton Field Guide to Writing, Chapter 7 “Analyzing a Text”

Major Assignments and/or Assessments:

Task: After reading The Death of Ivan Ilych write an analysis essay from a pool designated questions.

Unit Timeframe: Weeks five and six

Content Taught:

                Drama’s moral and social commentary is easily explored while reading Ben Johnson’s Volpone. The conflict of two worlds is the basis of this satire on emerging capitalism.

Annotation and discussion of the Acts (emphasis on tone, motif, symbolism, allusion, allegory, Beast Fable)

                Volpone, or the Fox, Ben Johnson

                Norton Field Guide to Writing, Chapter 33 “Defining”

Major Assignments and/or Assessments:

Task: Write an essay concerning this play. Like the classic plays of Sophocles and the Beast Fables of the past, Jonson ends with a moral statement: “Let all that see these vices thus rewarded, / Take heart, and love to study ‘em. Mischiefs feed / Like beasts, till they be fat, and then they bleed.”  Apply this quote to the play plot and character development.

Unit Timeframe: Weeks seven and eight

Content Taught:

                The dynamics of Ibsen’s portrayal of real people and real situations and tackling of political and social issues of his era effect on modern drama and literature is explored.

                A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen

                Norton Field Guide to Writing, Chapter 19 “Reviews of Scholarly Literature”

Major Assignments and/or Assessments:

Task: After reading A Doll’s House, discuss the play and write an essay modeled after the released AP Literature and Composition exam.

Unit Timeframe: Week nine

Content Taught:

                The drama in one act! Students explore the techniques used by the playwright along with exploring the philosophy of the feminist movement by reading this tightly constructed play.

        Trifles, Susan Glaspell

Major Assignments and/or Assessments:

Task: After reading and discussing Trifles, in-class timed essay writing which analyzes the play’s structure in terms of rising action, climax, resolution, and falling action. Think of the play’s structure and discuss how the structure helps achieve the writer’s purpose.

Unit Timeframe:

         Third Quarter - Approximately nine weeks

Content Taught:

General

Sponge activities daily include but are not limited to conventions review, AP exam released passage practice, Word of the Day definitions review, MLA format review, 6-trait assessment practice, revision instruction, peer editing and writing circle critiquing of student writing, and presentations of research projects.

Specific review of format and grading of AP Literature and Composition Exam and AP Language and Composition Exam using released exams and the College Board Website.

Instruction on the rhetorical web analysis as published by Dr. David Jolliffe, De Paul University, Chicago.

Unit Timeframe: Weeks one and two

Content Taught:

 Writing from Readings, Chapter 14 “Timed Writing Assignments”

Romantic Poetry 

                “To a Mouse,” Robert Burns

                “The Tyger (Experience),” William Blake

                “The Lamb (Innocence),” William Blake

                “The Chimney Sweeper (Innocence),” William Blake

                “The Chimney Sweeper (Experience),” William Blake 

                “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey,” William Wordsworth

                “She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways,” William Wordsworth

                “The World Is Too Much with Us,” William Wordsworth

                “Kubla Khan,” Samuel Taylor Coleridge

                “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” Samuel Taylor Coleridge

                “A Thing of Beauty Is a Joy Forever,” Lord Byron

                “She Walks in Beauty,” Lord Byron

                “The Destruction of Sennacherib,” Lord Byron

                “from Don Juan, Canto II,” Lord Byron

                “Ozymandias,” Percy Bysshe Shelley

                “Ode to the West Wind,” Percy Bysshe Shelley

                “To a Skylark,” Percy Bysshe Shelley

                “On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer,” John Keats

                “When I Have Fears,” John Keats

                “Ode to a Nightingale,” John Keats

                “Ode to a Grecian Urn,” John Keats

Major Assignments and/or Assessments:

Task: Students are taught the TP-CASTT (an acronym for title, paraphrase, connotation, attitude, shift, title again, and theme) strategy of poetry analysis using the wide range of poetry studied during this term.

Unit Timeframe: Week three

Content Taught: Victorian Poetry

                “Tears, Idle Tears,” Alfred, Lord Tennyson

                “Flower in the Crannied Wall,” Alfred, Lord Tennyson

                “Break, Break, Break,” Alfred, Lord Tennyson

                “The Lady of Shalott,” Alfred, Lord Tennyson

                “Ulysses,” Alfred, Lord Tennyson

                “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” Alfred, Lord Tennyson

                “My Last Duchess,” Robert Browning

                “Porphyria’s Lover,” Robert Browning

                “Sonnet 43,” Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Major Assignments and/or Assessments:

Task: Students are taught the TP-CASTT (an acronym for title, paraphrase, connotation, attitude, shift, title again, and theme) strategy of poetry analysis using the wide range of poetry studied during this term.

                In-class timed essay analyzing poem.

Task: Creative Writing – Poem (sonnet, ode, meditation)

Unit Timeframe: Weeks four and five

Content Taught:

                The monster within? Finding and exploring the dark side of human nature along with questioning man’s use of technology ties this Gothic novel to modern times. Students annotate this novel and participate in Socratic Seminars prior to writing. (Emphasis on diction, allusions, setting, symbolism, syntax, structure, frame device, rhetorical techniques, Gothic novel elements, doppelganger, and style).

                Frankenstein, Mary Shelley

                Writing from Readings, Chapter 12 “Documentation”

Major Assignments and/or Assessments:

Task: Students write an essay on an assigned question. As they use research as part of the writing, they are required to document using MLA format requirements.

Unit Timeframe:    Weeks six and seven

Content Taught:

                Interpretation of literary elements with special emphasis on theme, structure, tone, diction, setting, character, plot, dialogue, and point-of-view.

                Selected short stories:

                “The Country Husband,” John Cheever

                “A Rose for Emily,” William Faulkner

                “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” Flannery O’Conner

                “Hills Like White Elephants,” Hemingway

                “A Tree, a Rock, a Cloud,” Carson McCullers

                Choice of:  “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” Ambrose Bierce

                                 “They Can Only Hang You Once,” Dashiell Hammet

                                 “Four Meetings,” Henry James

                                 “The Dead,” James Joyce

                                 “A Hunger Artist,” Franz Kafka

                                 “The Rocking-Horse Winner,” D. H. Lawrence

                                 “The Grave,” Katherine Anne Porter

St. Martin’s Guide to Writing 7^th Edition, Chapter 10 “Interpreting Stories”

Writing from Readings, Chapter 5 “Summary”

Major Assignments and/or Assessments:

Task: Students are taught to apply the SIFT (an acronym for symbol, images, figures of speech, tone and theme) method of analysis using the selected short stories read during this term.

Task: Writing informative and explanatory summaries of researched critiques analyzing short stories read.

Task: Timed testing where students select from a pool of questions to respond in essay format.

Unit Timeframe: Weeks eight and nine

Content Taught:

                Appearances may be deceiving. What seems to be a light comic read turns out to be a read where characters are immersed in philosophical turmoil. Iris Murdoch’s fame drives from her ability to write novels aligned with the Existentialist movement. Students read Under the Net and explore the technical skill, the philosophical ideas, the allusions, and the moral vision an author uses in novel writing.

                Under the Net, Iris Murdoch

                Writing from Readings, Chapter 8 “Rhetorical Analysis”

Major Assignments and/or Assessments:

Task: Students select topic and write analysis essays, MLA format required.

Unit Timeframe:

        Fourth Quarter - Approximately nine weeks

Content Taught:

General

Sponge activities daily include but are not limited to conventions review, AP exam released passage practice, Word of the Day definitions review, MLA format review, 6-trait assessment practice, peer editing and writing circle critiquing of student writing, and presentations of research projects.

Specific review of AP Literature and Composition Exam and AP Language and Composition Exam using released exams and the College Board Website.

Portfolio requirements established. Portfolio includes self-assessment, instructor-assessment, and peer-assessment components.

Norton Field Guide to Writing, Chapter 27 “Compiling a Portfolio.”

Unit Timeframe: Weeks one and two

Content Taught:

                How the modern dramatist incorporates elements of classical tragedy is evidenced by this study of the Nobel Prize winning St. Joan by George Bernard Shaw. In class reading and discussion of the play.

                St. Joan, George Bernard Shaw

                Writing from Readings, Chapter 6 “Response Essay” and Chapter 7 “Critique.”

                The Blair Reader, Review Introduction on how to read and write critically. Reading and discussing essays structured using comparison and contrast as well as division and classification (“Without Apology: Girls, Women, and Desire to Fight,” Leah Cohen; “Men Are from Earth, and So Are Women,” Rosalind Barnett and Carl Rivers) and process (“Kicking the Secularist Habit,” David Brooks).

Major Assignments and/or Assessments:

Task: Students select from a pool of designated questions and write an analysis essay. They are directed to provide specific evidence and adequate explanation to support their assertions. Correctly documented quotes and references using MLA format is required.

Task: Students write response and critique essays following the readings from The Blair Reader.

Unit Timeframe: Weeks three and four

Content Taught: Modern Poetry

                “Dover Beach,” Matthew Arnold

                “To Marguerite,” Matthew Arnold

                “Channel Firing,” Thomas Hardy

                “The Convergence of the Twain,” Thomas Hardy

                “Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?” Thomas Hardy

                “The Man He Killed, Thomas Hardy

                “When I Was One-and-Twenty,” A. E. Housman

                “To an Athlete Dying Young,” A. E. Housman

                “Terence, This Is Stupid Stuff,” A. E. Housman

                “Dulce et Decorum Est,” Wilfred Owen

                “Preludes,” T. S. Eliot

                “The Hollow Men,” T. S. Eliot

                “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” William Butler Yeats

                “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night,” Dylan Thomas

                “Musee des Beaux Arts,” W. H. Auden

                “The Virgins,” Derek Walcott

Writings from Reading Chapter 7 – Critique

Major Assignments and/or Assessments:

Task: Students use the previously taught TP-CASTT (an acronym for title, paraphrase, connotation, attitude, shift, title again, and theme) strategy of poetry analysis using the wide range of poetry studied during this quarter.

Unit Timeframe: Week  five

Content Taught:

                This modernist narrative is neither simple nor straightforward and allows for exploration of the full spectrum of analytical criticism.

                The Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad    

                Writing from Reading, Chapter 9 and Chapter 10 on two types of synthesis essays.

                The Blair Reader - Student selection of further articles from topical choices determined by instructor.

Major Assignments and/or Assessments:

Task: Students select essay topic over Heart of Darkness or create one of their own approved by the instructor.

Task: Students write synthesis essays following the readings from The Blair Reader.

Unit Timeframe: Weeks six and seven

Content Taught:

Putting it all together. Students conclude their study of the novel with the ability to select from three pivotal works.

Student’s choice:

                Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe

Catch 22, Joseph Heller

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce

Jude the Obscure, Thomas Hardy

Major Assignments and/or Assessments:

Task: Students having worked on the same novel share responses. Directed to cover author’s style (diction, syntax, figurative language, rhythm and sounds); symbolism, perspectives of author, character, audience; and apply critical theories (cultural criticism, feminist, Freudian, historic, etc.). Students generate essay topics and write analysis essays.

Unit Timeframe: Weeks eight and nine

Content Taught:

                Putting it all together.  Students conclude their study of drama by reading, annotating, and discussing Hamlet by William Shakespeare.

                Hamlet, William Shakespeare

Major Assignments and/or Assessments:

Task: Timed writing test essay

Task: Portfolio submission.