Kell High School

12thHonors British Literature: Ann Tucker

Email: Class Blog:

Course Description: Honors British Literature is a rigorous, college preparatory class that focuses on the following:

  • Argumentative, synthesis and narrative writing, with an emphasis on written literary analysis
  • Research
  • In depth Literary analysis, with an emphasis on the deeper meanings of the texts rather than the literal
  • Informational text analysis, with an emphasis on Literary critiques
  • Classroom discussion to facilitate higher-level thinking skills, specifically Socratic seminars and formatted debates
  • Academic and Domain Specific Vocabulary Development (say that 5 times fast!)

Units include (but are not limited to) poetry, drama, informational texts, epics, vocabulary, research, essay writing, and novels. Each unit will focus on a specific time period in British culture (history, religion, literary contributions, politics, etc.), while simultaneously making connections to other cultures, both past and present, as well as to our own culture.

Anchor Texts: How to Read Literature Like a Professor,The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,Beowulf, Frankenstein,Othello, Paradise Lost, Brave New World, The Importance of Being Earnest, and other texts TBD.

Unit 1: Summer Reading

  • Pre-course reading: How To Read Literature Like a Professor***
  • Pre-course Reading The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde***

Unit 2: Old English-Medieval Periods

  • Beowulf
  • Parallel: Grendel and/or Eaters of the Dead***
  • Canterbury Tales
  • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Unit 3: Elizabethan Period

  • Othello
  • Parallel Reading: Brave New World***

Unit 4: 17th and 18th Century Literature

  • Ben Johnson
  • John Donne
  • Paradise Lost (Milton)
  • Inferno

Unit 5: Romantics/Gothic Literature

  • Byron Bysshe Shelley
  • William Wordsworth
  • Samuel Taylor Coleridge
  • Parallel Reading: Frankenstein***

Unit 6: Victorian Age

  • The Importance of Being Earnest

Supplementary On Line Resources:

Georgia Performance Standards of Excellence:

Websites that may be useful to you:

We may also utilize websites to enhance learning. Such websites include, but are not limited to:

  • Among others that will be linked on the blog.

***The British Literature textbook will be provided by the teacher, as there is only a class set available. The school media center contains most of the above mentioned works; however, you may wish to purchase your own copy of the selections we use in class. Many of the classic novels/plays we will read are free on kindle and are available for free on line. Links will be provided via my blog when applicable.

Class Materials:

  • Writing Utensils: pencil, different color pens, highlighters
  • Paper, paper, paper: Spiral bound or loose leaf does not matter to me 
  • Your brain!!

Grading Policy:This class will use a Standards-Based Gradebook: (80 % summative, 20% formative)

10% Formative: Reading/Writing, (Classwork, , Homework – none will be accepted late)

10% Formative: Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening (quizzes, class discussions)

25% Summative: Writing (essays, constructed responses, research, seminars, projects)

35% Summative: Reading (tests, seminars, projects, etc.)

20% Final Exam

***There is not an EOCor SLO for this course. There is a cumulative final exam at the end of the semester. There are exam exemptions this year and if you qualify, you will be able to exempt the final exam for this course. More information to come.

Policies, Procedures, and Expected Behavior:

  • Computer Usage: We may use the writing lab throughout times during the semester. When in the lab, students are to work only on the class assignment at hand. Food and drink ARE NOT allowed in the computer lab at any time. If you have water, it needs to stay on the floor and away from the keyboards.
  • Hall Passes: The first and last 15 minutes of class is considered “dead time” – no hall passes will be given. Students have no more than 5 minutes for a bathroom break, office pass, water fountain break, etc. Failing to return to class within 5 minutes will be considered skipping. No passes will be allowed during instructional time unless there is an absolute emergency. When I am not giving instruction, students who do have an emergency will be allowed to leave one at a time (no more than one student out at a time unless the student is requested by the office). YOU MUST USE YOUR AGENDA AS YOUR HALL PASS. As a personal courtesy to me, please have it filled out prior to seeking as signature to leave.
  • Late Work: If a student is present the day a summative essay/project/assignment is due, they may turn it in one day late for a MAXIMUM of 70%. After that, the essay/project/assignment will NOT be accepted for credit. In order to optimize feedback and learning, formative assignments will NOT be accepted late.
  • Absences & Make-Up Work Policy: In order to maximize learning and ensure students do not fall behind, students need to be in class. If a student is absent, he/she needs to obtain the missing work the day he/she returns. If the student misses a quiz or test, he/she will have one opportunity to make up the missed assignment in either LEAP tutoring or LASSO the Thursday immediately following the absence
  • Cheating/Plagiarism:“Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud.” -- Sophocles

Cheating will result in a zero for your assignment. Plagiarism is stealing someone else’s work and passing it off as your own, citing sources improperly, or failing to cite them at all. This falls under that category of cheating and will also result in a zero for the assignment. A “U” in conduct will be given to students who engage in these behaviors, and students will be referred to administration. We will use for major writing assignments as well.

  • Daily Expectations: Be prepared each and every day! Make sure to have your notebook paper and pen or pencil with you daily. Please be seated when the bell rings and ready to go to work. If you do not have a pen or pencil or paper, please ask your classmates before coming to me. I am a teacher, so I am too broke to buy materials for you.Pet Peeves (always good to know up front): When I am talking, please do not get up and walk around the classroom FOR ANY REASON. Also, block is double the amount of work in one class period and we do not have time to waste on this schedule, so please refrain from talking while I am giving instruction and while others are reading and/or asking questions in class.
  • Food/Drinks: Only water or approved drinks are allowed in class. No food from the cafeteria is allowed. Vending machine snacks will be allowed, but is a privilege and not a right. If students fail to clean up after themselves, the privilege will be taken away. One word: ROACHES! Additionally, if you do eat a snack and I am instructing, DO NOT GET UP TO THROW AWAY YOUR TRASH. Put it on the corner of your desk and wait until I am done or until I come by and collect it myself (this is where my OCD kicks in…it’s not you, it’s me ).
  • iPods/Cell Phones: No iPods or cell phones are allowed during class unless I specifically tell you that you are allowed to use them for a specific activity or during a specific time. Failure to abide by this policy will result in a referral for insubordination. Please also make sure that if you do have a phone in your purse, pocket or book bag that it is turned on silent or off…even if it is set on vibrate, it is very distracting and WAY TOO TEMPTING to take out and check.
  • Respect: Aretha Franklin said it best, “R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me!” Everyone’s definition of respect is different. In my class, respect your classmates, respect me, but most importantly respect yourself. Please refrain from interrupting others while they are talking and respect what they say even if you disagree with them. Again, please do not talk while I am giving instructions nor get up and walk around while I am teaching. Both of these are very distracting to me as well as to others who are trying to learn. And finally, my room is not the NBA playoffs so please do not throw paper balls (or anything else) across the room in your most inspired Lebron James (or Steph Curry, I am not biased) impersonation. When I am not instructing, please get up and throw your paper away or leave it on the corner of your desk for me to pick up.

Good luck and have a great FINAL year at Kell High School and….GO LONGHORNS!!!

***Please detach and return this sheet to Mrs. Tucker by Friday, August 5th, 2016.***

2016-2017 Policies & Procedures Contract

I have read, understand, and agree to abide by the policies and procedures for Honors 12th Grade World Literature taught by Mrs. Tucker at Kell High School.

By signing below, I acknowledge that I have read, understand, and agree to meet all portions of the expectations set my Mrs. Tucker in the provided Honors 12th Grade World Literature Expectations and Syllabus.

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