Ms. D. Hernandez
English 2
msdhernandez.wikispaces.com
American Literature MP 1 Syllabus
Core Texts: Holt Online McDougal and The Crucible
Literary Passage Pairings: The Possibility of Evil, Farewell to Manzanar, and other readings.
Historical Period: Early America
Supplementary Material: Non-fiction articles related to class readings
Focus: Writings of Native Americans, Puritans, settlers…
Theme: The American Identity (Values of the American)
Writing Genres: Character Analysis, Compare/Contrast, Literary Passage Analysis, Narrative Writing, and Argumentative Writing.
Reading Skills: Close Reading, Annotation, Analyzing multiple texts and media, compare/contrast, analysis of literary elements and their functions, methods of characterization.
Vocabulary/ Grammar: Developing own vocabulary logs and SAT preparation
Grading System:
· Class grades 60%
· Portfolio 40%
Materials You Need: post-its in different colors, a pencil and pen, binder or notebook (section for SAT vocabulary and questions), folder or other binder for hand-outs, highlighters, and a notebook.
Articles:
· from “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards
· “Witches” by Stephanie DuBarry
· “Why I Wrote The Crucible” by Arthur Miller
· “Dyaspora” by Joanne Hyppolite
· “The Plot Against People” by Russell Baker
Poetry:
· “Half-Hanged Mary” by Margaret Atwood
· “To Nobodaddy” by William Blake
· “To My Dear and Loving Husband” by Anne Bradstreet
· “By Night While Others Soundly Sleep” by Anne Bradstreet
· “Verses Upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666” by Anne Bradstreet
Media:
“Inside a Witches Coven”
“FBI, NSA Spied on American Muslims” by David Welna
Film:
Clips from The Crucible
Art:
“The Puritan” (sculpture)
“Historical Images of Witches”
“Image Collection: The Aftermath of September 11”
Upcoming Assignments and Projects:
1. SWT’s Project Based Learning: Virtual witch hunt and two journals
2. Passage Analysis Circles: Fiction and Non-fiction passages to analyze in small groups. (Close reading/annotation)
3. Completion of SOAPstone and TP-CASTT graphic organizers for articles and poetry.
4. Smith/ Bradford: Compare and contrast essay
5. Character Analysis: based on a character from The Crucible applying the methods of characterization.
6. PCR Questions: Answering questions that require textual evidence and are connected to themes from class readings. (Converting answers from PCR’s to Compare/Contrast essays).
7. Argumentative Writing: After reading several pieces, each student will need to write an argumentative essay using the readings as support for the argument. (TBA)
8. Narrative Writing: Using Smiley Face Tricks, each student must take the personal journal from SWT-PBL and convert it into a narrative.
9. Explanatory Writing: Select three readings/media from the marking period to explain the relationship between women and witchcraft.
Assessments:
1. Working portfolio: This component requires each student to create demonstrate improvement in his/her writing ability especially in the areas of analysis, narrative, and argumentative writing.
2. Final Portfolio: This will be presented for grading a week before the end of each marking period.
3. SAT related multiple choice
4. SAT grammar exercises
Other Requirements:
· SAT Vocabulary Log: Every marking period you must add at least 50 words to your list and to use some in your writing intermittently as well. This should be a separate section in your binder or notebook.
· All final work must be typed in MLA format, including some working portfolio work. Online sites that can help with MLA format.
· Being prepared and ready to participate is critical. A way to ensure this is to actively read on your own. This means taking notes, underlining quotes, questioning, etc.
· All major papers will need to be processed through Grammarly.
Make sure you have an active account with the following sites:
Grammarly College Board
Questia School