Course Syllabus (cont.)
English 12A Mrs. Mordica
English Literature Honors
Mills E. Godwin High School
There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.
Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows
and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat.
And we must take the current when it serves,
or lose our ventures.
- Shakespeare
DESCRIPTION:
At the very least, this course will introduce seniors to significant literature of the English canon; along the way, students will write about, discuss, and research everyone from Beowulf to Winston Smith. My hope is that from the minimal requirement, a broader picture of how that literature connects to now, will be realized. After all, British literature and history is ours as well. If my plan comes together, English literature becomes a framework on which we build a study of philosophy, music, art, and ourselves.
Emphasis:
1. Reading British literature & making connections outside of the literature
2. Classroom discussions (graded)
3. Research- a minimum of three research projects, personal narratives and essays.
4. A year-long focus on Rhetorical analysis emphasizing nonfiction.
RESOURCES:
The Dell Laptop, Prentice Hall Literature: the British Tradition, novels
EVALUATION:
Papers/Projects/Presentations/Tests 50%
Quizzes 30%
Classwork/Homework 20%
LATE WORK
Long-standing research projects involving multiple steps, drafts, and components are NOT accepted late. Student is expected to turn in whatever they have for applicable credit.
Homework is not accepted late.
Any other assignments are accepted late with a 20 point per day penalty.
Trips & opportunities
An all-day seniors-only English field trip to Blackfriar’s Theater in Staunton, VA is an annual event for my class in the fall. Plans are still in the works, but parent volunteers are welcome!
For a fourth year, Godwin students may participate in Poetry Out Loud, a fantastic forum for poetry memorization and recitation. Check out the website for details. The GHS competition will be in the auditorium on Monday, December 12 from 6-9 pm. Any of my students who participate will receive an extra presentation grade for the first semester. Last year’s national winner received $20,000! Please speak to me directly if you are interested.
English 12A M. Mordica
Course Schedule
*Summer reading discussions, annotations, journals, and test will take place in the first three weeks of the school year*
Syllabus items below represent a menu of units in a hopeful order.
Some units may not be covered this year.
Era / Collections / Literature /20th- 21st Centuries / The Novel / Brave New World: Huxley
1984: Orwell
21st century connections
The Beatles
Writing: The College Essay/personal Narrative
Research: Infographic, Annotated Bibliography, Oral Presentation
The Anglo-Saxons
449-1066
*60 Minutes interviews with “Mark Owen” / 1-Songs of Ancient Heroes / Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth
“Beowulf”: trans. Burton Raffel
Grendel by John Gardner
A-S Elegiac verse
“The Seafarer” “The Wife’s Lament” “The Wanderer” “The Ruin” trans. Burton Raffel
Elegaic writing
The Middle Ages
1066-1485
* A study of Medieval art, architecture & music / 2- The One Story Worth Telling / The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer
Everyman
Elegaic verse
from The Decameron, Boccaccio
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Writing: rhyming couplets & iambic pentameter
Research Project: Medieval Humanities connections
The Renaissance
1485-1660
*Poetry Out Loud opportunities / 3- Love, Death, and Time / Poetry:
The Sonnet(Petrarch, Spenser, Shakespeare)
Sonnet writing , memorization, recitation
The Renaissance Theater
A contemporary Shakespearean adaptation / 4-Under A Hand Accursed / The Tragedy of Macbeth (for sure)
Twelfth Night? The Taming of the Shrew? Much Ado?
The Romantics
Art/verse connections / 6-The Power of Imagination / Burns, Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge
Byron, Shelley, Keats
Writing in the Romantic style.
American counterparts research/writing
Souvenirs of the Romantic era: research project
The Victorians
Croquet! / 7-The Paradox of Progress / Tennyson, Browning, Housman, Kipling
The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde
Each of the literary units presents interesting opportunities for enrichment with film, and my students have always found my lessons enhanced by a diverse approach (and an opportunity to not hear me droning on and on). We will never replace reading with watching, but will include a balance of both when possible. Below are the films I have in my cache, and which I utilize when I can. They are listed in chronological order of when I typically show them.
1. Short clips (depicting the same scene) from two modern “Beowulf” adaptations: Beowulf and Grendel(2005) Gunnarsson, Beowulf (2007) Zemekus.
2. Becket (1964) A fantastic way to lead into the Medieval Era!
3. Select Scenes: Macbeth (1971) Polanski, Macbeth (2010) Goold , Macbeth (1948) Welles, Throne of Blood (1957) Kurosawa. For comparison- this is fun.
4. The Taming of the Shrew (1967) Zeffirelli, or Ten Things I Hate About You (1999) Junger Or Twelfth Night (1996) Nunn, Or Much Ado About Nothing (1993) Branagh
5. Select Scenes: Gulliver’s Travels(1996) Sturridge, Gulliver’s Travels(2010) Letterman
6. The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) Parker
7. The Island (2005) Bay
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