Honors English IV
Spring 2015Kelley Ross, NBCT
Class Rules / Expectations
*Come to class prepared with the appropriate materials. This includes your agenda, textbook, binder, and a writing utensil. I will also recommend that you purchase a jump drive to save your work. For your binder you will need loose-leaf paper and dividers. The divisions of your binder will be determined as the year proceeds. Your first three sections need to be labeled 1) General Resources, 2)Summer Reading, and 3) Poetry. As we do various units, you will add sections to your binder.
*Being prepared also means having your assignments completed. Smaller homework assignments of 50 points or less will NOT be accepted late. For all assignments worth more than 50 points, 10 points will be deducted for each day it is late. NO EXCEPTIONS. (Procedures)
*Come to class on time. When the tardy bell rings, believe it or not … you willbe counted tardy. (Procedures) This is also important after lunch. I expect all students to be in the room by 2:57. (The bell rings at 2:55.)
*Be present. It really is not a good idea to miss any class, but especially an honors class. If you have had an attendance problem in the past, you will need to make drastic changes in the way you approach your school attendance. Missing this class will create more stress on both of us. If you do miss with an excused absence, it is entirely your responsibility to get the work you missed. I will not approach you when you return to school and fill you in on missed work. It is your responsibility to ask me what work you missed. (Procedures)
*Do your own work. No cheating. No plagiarizing. Do not in any way or form copy another's work or ideas and try to pass them off as your own. This includes your classmate, a former classmate, a published author, or any type of Internet source. This also includes just changing the words yet not giving credit to the original source. Plagiarism is an extremely serious offense. Just don't do it. This enters into the realm of honesty and integrity, and if you are in this class, you should be intelligent enough tocreate and compose your own ideas. Please do not insult your own intelligence or mine. Plagiarism / cheating will result in a zero on any and all assignments.
*No whining/complaining. If you have a legitimate concern, see me privately and we will discuss the matter in a mature manner. I consider a positive attitude and respectfulness the keys for a successful classroom experience--keep this in mind.
*Class participation is extremely important. Part of being prepared for class means you have completed your reading for that class period. When we have class discussions, I expect everyone to participate and be active listeners. That simply means that you give others eye contact and agree or kindly disagree with their comments. When we are doing large class discussions, I will be taking a grade based on the quality of your comments and the regularity of your comments. Also, when grading, I will consider whether or not you monopolized the discussion and did not allow others to converse.
*At various times throughout the year, you will be involved in group and individual projects which will include standing in front of the class and presenting to your peers. Periodically, I will allow you to choose groups. Cooperative learning is not optional.
☼ Literature Units
This is a sampling of the texts I may choose to cover this semester. I am leaning more toward doing short prose, rather than long novels. Short prose will consist of short stories and novellas. Poetry will be mingled throughout.
Summer Assignment (Overview of all aspects of this class)
How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster
This book provides a road map of how to approach literature critically.
Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (20th century American)
Through these works a framework for approaching literature will be established. A study of how
theme is developed through figurative language and author's style will be studied. You will also
begin studying narrative style, imagery, and tone.
Point of View
"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
either Tim O'Brien book The Things They Carried or Going after Cacciato (20th century American)
"The Lady and Her Pet Dog" by Joyce Carol Oates and Anton Chekhov
"To My Last Duchess" Robert Browning
The premise of this unit will be point of view. However, throughout the study of the unit various skills / topics will be covered. Juxtaposition, allusion, and narrative structure will also be addressed. The recognition of elements of feminist literature and 17th century poetry will also be studied.
Author’s Style
"A Clean Well-Lighted Place" by Ernest Hemingway
King Lear or Macbeth by William Shakespeare (16th century British)
"I Stand Here Ironing" Tillie Olsen (20th century American)
"Miss Brill" by Katherine Mansfield (20th century American)
sonnets
Oedipus the King by Sophocles (Greek)
"Araby" by D. H. Lawrence
Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot (20th century American)
By reading Murder in the Cathedral, the students will be learning about the wheel and still point,
symbols, themes, dilemma, etc.
Other skills addressed in this unit will be juxtaposition and paradox, imagery, narrative structure, dramatic irony, and elements of tragedy.
Tone
The Awakening by Kate Chopin (19th century American)
"The Storm" by Chopin
Reading and understanding Kate Chopin also requires a reading and understanding of feminism.
During this unit, the class will study not only Feminism but other forms of criticism, such as
Formalist, Biographical and Psychological, Marxist, Cultural, etc. Our study of the various forms
of criticism will come from The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature 7th Edition pages
1533-1556
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (20th Century German)
During this study, students will learn to identify the Kafkaesque quality of literature which
revolves around his use of absurd occurrences and tone of helplessness. Students will study the
symbolism behind Gregor Samsa’s transformation and the how this novel is an example of
political allegory. After completing the book students will write an AP essay from the list of AP
released #3 questions.
"I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen (20th century American)
"Out, Out" by Robert Frost
"Five O'Clock Shadow" by Sir John Betjeman
Other Short Stories
"A & P" --John Updike
"Hills Like White Elephants" --Ernest Hemingway
"The Death of Ivan Ilych" -- Leo Tolstoy
"Young Goodman Brown" --Nathaniel Hawthorne
"The Rocking Horse Winner" -- D.H. Lawrence
"The Lottery" -- Shirley Jackson
"The Lesson" -- Tony Bamberra
"Once More to the Lake" -- E.B. White
"The House of Mango Street" --Sandra Cisneros
Something to consider the next time you question something you are asked to read:
The works of literature which appear on this syllabus are challenging, college-level reading for mature, discerning students. The purpose of literature is not to please but to make the reader think. The purpose of literature is not to affirm the reader's beliefs, but, rather, to challenge them, so that they might be affirmed or rejected. Each work of art is an expression of the human experience in all its richness--its diversity--its conflicting opinions. Some literature at this level may be seen by some as dark and depressing; however, a mature reader knows that light and dark, pleasure and pain, joy and sadness are inextricably intertwined as part of the human experience, each defining and making possible the alternative. The themes of these diverse works attempt to question life's important issues: the nature of man, the purpose of life, the existence of a higher power, the acquisition of knowledge and wisdom, the moral dilemma of good and evil and more. I don’t necessarily care if you like a work of literature or not. What I care about is whether or not you can understand why it was written.
☼ Presentations
At various times throughout the year, students will be involved in group and individual projects which will include standing in front of the class and presenting their findings to their peers. Students are expected to present professionally. The speeches should be mostly memorized and they should always have visuals. Each assignment will have its own rubric.
☼ Writing Units
Reflective writing – Students will write college essays. These essays can be specific in nature (if the student knows exactly what a particular university wants) or they will be more broad and generic so that they may be applied to multiple essay topics, both for college admittance and scholarship awards.
Analytical writing / Essay writing -- essay writing involves students drawing upon textual details to develop an extended explanation/interpretation of the meanings of a literary text through analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.With many of pieces of the literature we read, you will write an essay.
Documentation and Research writing -- The students will be asked to do a literature-based research paper. They must read at least two works by the same author and create a thesis statement about a common thread found throughout the works. The paper will consist of 3-4 sources and the students will learn and use MLA style formatting.
Writing to demonstrate learning/understanding -- During the various studies of literature, students will be asked to write informally and through exploration to demonstrate understanding of text. Assignments such as reading logs, journals, free writing, and annotation are included.
AGAIN! *Plagiarism and Cheating: According to Webster’s dictionary, plagiarism is taking ideas from another and passing them off as one’s own. Do not compromise your integrity by cheating or copying information from another source. Plagiarism and academic dishonesty are serious offences. The academic work of a student is expected to be his/her own effort. Students must give the author(s) credit for any source material used. To represent ideas or interpretations taken from a source without giving credit is a flagrant act. To present a borrowed passage after having changed a few words, even if the source is cited, is also plagiarism. Students who commit any act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade in that portion of the course work. Acts of academic dishonesty will be reported to the administration.
Point Breakdown:
These are estimates but may not always be the case on every assignment.
Honors English IV
Spring 2015Kelley Ross, NBCT
Tests = 100 points
Writing Rough Drafts = 50 points
Writing Final Drafts = 100 points
Quizzes = 50 or below
Bell Ringers = 25 points weekly, 5 points each day (I will not grade each week.)
Socratic Seminar = 60-100 points
Honors English IV
Spring 2015Kelley Ross, NBCT
Please return this page.
Student Signature: ______
Parent/Guardian Signature: ______
Your signature confirms that you agree with the above guidelines for your child’s class and will earn him/her 10 points of extra credit. Please feel free to contact me any time during the school year with questions, concerns, or to discuss your child’s progress. You may reach me at school until 3:30 each day at (270)651-6315 or by email at
**If you have any questions about the class or syllabus, please contact Ms. Ross.
Parent/Guardian Email Address: ______
Be sure to put an email address that you access regularly. I will bi-monthly updates about our class progress.