Shelton

S. Shelton sshelton@mccsc.edu

Syllabus: AP American Literature/Language and Composition 330-7714 x51170

2008-09, Trimester I (Section I)

This course will: cover the material suggested for inclusion in the junior American Literature curriculum; will incorporate a strong focus on grammar, literary terms, and rhetorical devices; will give (much) opportunity to practice critical reading and writing skills, with a particular focus upon the genre of non-fiction; and will aim to help each of you prepare for the AP exam in May. We have much to do! (Please note: You are not required to take the AP Language and Composition Exam in May, but should feel adequately prepared to do so, should you choose to sign up for the exam.)

The climate we establish in this classroom will have an impact on the success you each will enjoy. I expect that each of us will make every necessary effort to establish a comfortable, collaborative, professional environment in this classroom. The tone of our discourse must be, at all times, respectful and appropriate to the subject at hand. To foster this environment, we all must come to class each day, fully prepared, and with all required materials. In order for you to exercise and enjoy a level of self-direction and independence, the expectations of comportment must be followed.

Course Reading/Instructional Materials:

Summer Reading Choices: The Turn of the Screw AND Daisy Miller (Henry James) OR Slaughterhouse-Five (Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.)

Literature: American Literature (literature anthology)

Elements of Writing and Grammar for Writing (grammar texts)

Patterns for College Writing/Everything’s an Argument (readers)

I’m A Stranger Here Myself (Bill Bryson)—independent reading choice

The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail (Lee and Lawrence)

The Partly Cloudy Patriot (Sarah Vowell)—independent reading choice

Pudd’nhead Wilson (Mark Twain)
The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne)

selections from Walden (Henry David Thoreau)

Practice AP Exams and various handouts

You will complete a variety of writing and reading exercises and demonstrate your understanding of material in a number of ways, including:

Formal and informal writing (in-class and outside of class)

Quizzes and tests

Notebook responses (and other notebook exercises) {see Notebook section below}

Daily homework

Oral presentations/Creative projects (individual and group)

Cumulative final exam (worth approximately 20% of final grade)

MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS FOR THE 1^st trimester will include: Timed, in-class writings; persuasive speech (written and oral components required); formal essay(s).

Daily, informed class participation is a requirement.

BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT MATERIAL TO BE COVERED:

We will study grammar throughout the trimester.

We will cover material in the literature text through Unit IV.

A detailed weekly or unit plan will be distributed in advance of major written and reading assignments. Please refer to this sheet for assignment due dates, vocabulary lists, and other important information.

Classroom Policies: Learning is our reason for being here. To meet that goal to the best of our abilities, we all must do the following:

Be respectful in word and gesture.

Ask questions freely.

Bring all things that you need for class, everyday.

Arrive on time and be seated when the class-start bell rings.

Only water is permitted in the classroom—DO NOT bring anything else.

Cell phones must not be seen, heard, or used in the classroom. The same extends to any other communication devices. If seen, heard, or used in the classroom, the device will be confiscated, and a referral will be submitted to the office.

Music devices may never be used during instructional, group, or discussion time. These, too, will be confiscated if seen, or used at inappropriate times.

Backpacks are, by definition, any bag large enough to contain my teacher’s handbook. Bags of this size or larger are not permitted in the classroom.

Please note that all school rules listed in your BHSS handbook apply in this room.

Self-control and rules of decorum should be common knowledge by this point in your education. If any problems should arise, however, I will speak to you privately and then will proceed to other levels of intervention, as necessary. Please use common sense about two other issues: there is never a need to use inappropriate or profane language in this classroom, and be wise and discriminating in your use of passes.

Please note: The policy for tardies is the school policy; i.e., after the 3^rd, I will contact your parents, and after the 4^th, a referral will be sent to the office. Make it a habit to be punctual.

Homework and Grading Policies:

All work is due at the beginning of the period, unless otherwise noted.

Late daily work or small assignments will ONLY be accepted within one week of the due date, and will be worth only 50% of the original value.

Notebooks will ONLY be accepted on the day on which they are due.

Essays will lose 10% of value per day for each day they are late.

Please make up missed quizzes and tests as soon as you can, preferably within one week. Be proactive in scheduling time before or after school or during SRT for making up quizzes and test. Do not expect to use class time for this purpose.

Refer to your weekly suggested agenda for information about what happened in the event of your absence. Also, ask a reliable friend for reading or writing assignments, or email me with questions. Making up work you missed is your responsibility. This includes work that is to be included in the notebook.

Work may only be made up (and quizzes/exams taken) when the absence was EXCUSED.

Confirmed plagiarism means NO CREDIT on the assignment. Please see below for the BHSS Language Arts Department’s policy on plagiarism, and http://www.south.mccsc.edu/~sou_lad/index.htm for other interesting information. Also, see Indiana University’s Writing Tutorial Services page for tips on avoiding plagiarism : www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html

A NOTE ABOUT EXAMS: You will always have the chance to see all of the graded work you complete for the course; most of it will be yours to keep. However, you will not be permitted to keep a copy of unit or end-of-trimester exams. There will be an opportunity for discussion of and reflection upon these assessments in class, but I will retain the exams in my class files.

Language Arts Departmental Policy on Plagiarism:

Plagiarism is a form of cheating and is a serious academic offense that occurs when a person passes off someone else's work as his or her own. This can range from failing to cite an author for ideas incorporated into a student's paper, to cutting and pasting paragraphs from different sources, to handing in a paper downloaded from the internet. ALL ARE PLAGIARISM!

There are three central things all students should know about the consequences of plagiarism:

1) Plagiarism is a course and department offense. I am expected to report all instances of plagiarism to the English Chairperson and to the BHSS Administration. In other words, in addition to dealing with me, students who plagiarize may also deal with an administrator. Students found guilty of plagiarism will have this entered into their disciplinary record and will automatically lose all credit for the assignment.

1^st Offense: Loss of credit and referral to administration

2^nd Offense: Loss of credit, referral to administration, in-school suspension/Saturday school

3^rd Offense: Loss of credit, referral to administration, 3 days out-of-school suspension

2) Plagiarism is easy to identify and expose. The very force that makes plagiarism easy and tempting to some students--the internet--makes its detection easy. Most teachers can locate the source of suspected plagiarism within a few minutes of searching sources and the web. Students should be aware that all BHSS teachers have access to Turnitin.com, a very effective resource for catching plagiarism.

3) All parties responsible are considered equally guilty. If you share your coursework with another student and he or she plagiarizes it, you are considered as guilty as the one who has plagiarized your work, since you enabled the plagiarism to take place. Under no circumstances should a student make his or her coursework available to another student unless the instructor gives explicit permission for this to happen.

*Collaboration means that both you and your partner(s) understand how to complete the main concepts of a particular assignment. It DOES NOT mean that you have the same answers word-for-word.

In other words, students who plagiarize are likely to be caught, and the consequences will be severe and will include anyone who enabled the plagiarism to take place. Classroom policy will kick in, regardless of the feelings of either the students or the instructor. Avoid plagiarism at all costs!

Grading Policy/Grading Scale: I use a point-system for grades which means that grades are determined by dividing points earned by points possible. This is the official grading scale of the school:

97–100 = A+ 89–87 = B+ 79–77 = C+ 69–67 = D+ 59 and below= F

97–93 = A 86–83 = B 76–73 = C 66–63 = D

92–90 = A- 82–80 = B- 72–70 = C- 62–60 = D-

THE NOTEBOOK:

Thinking, reading, and writing, revising, re-reading, and re-writing are essential skills that we will hone in this class. You get better at reading and writing by reading and writing! Your notebook will be an important repository of information you will create and collate over the course of the trimester. Please devote a 3-ring binder/notebook to this class. Each time you add notes or make an entry, please label it with the date and the name of the assignment. When we are completing this work in class, I will provide you with the necessary headers for your notebook. Provide this information on your own if the assignment is one to be completed independently. The following are required items to include

Highlighted and/or annotated works, and reading notes on texts –either from your own reading of materials or from notes taken in class and discussion. Use this section of your notebook to keep a record of the main ideas of what you have read and what we have discussed. I will not always assign note-taking on a reading, but it is always a good idea to do this on your own. Your notes can be quite helpful when reviewing material for writing assignment or for quizzes, tests, and exams. Occasionally, these notes may be consulted when writing essays.

SPAM+ (=Speaker, Purpose, Audience, Method + analysis and summary) responses to literature. This is a structured response to a piece of writing that focuses on identifying the rhetorical situation, practicing summarizing skills, and taking note of important elements of the text.

Journal entries and in-class writing assignments. These will sometimes be "free writes" or more structured, in response to an article, a homework assignment, or a statement or question. Sometimes, you will be asked to write the answers to questions from the text you are reading in this section.

Reflection. This is the section of the notebook in which you will write your response to assessed work. What do you need to do better in your next essay? How could you have strengthened your thesis? How can you prepare for the next test to do so well again—these are simply suggestions for guiding your reflections.

Current events: one summary/analysis as assigned—it is strongly suggested that you include the article itself whenever possible; the summary will cover the main points of the article and will also include a response to the question "So what?" which will link the current event to a larger trend and discuss the importance of this topic. The summary should be in your own words and should be at least 300 words in length. Choose reputable sources of information for your articles, yet feel free to be creative in finding such sources. Using proper MLA format, please cite each source you summarize for your current events entries.

Vocabulary: All vocabulary words need to be entered in your notebook in this format: WORD, part of speech, definition, original sentence (that is, a sentence of YOUR creation) illustrating correct usage of the word. Be prepared for weekly vocabulary quizzes. On a notebook check, each vocabulary list is worth 10 points.

Literary and Rhetorical terms: There is a "technical" vocabulary of sorts that one needs to know when discussing written works as we will in this class. A user-friendly list of rhetorical terms will be a benefit to you for this class, and for others you will take. If you’d like to keep these terms in the vocabulary section, that makes a lot of sense. If you choose to dedicate a separate section, that is fine, too. Just keep them!

Graded essays/drafts/other pieces of writing. Keep these works in your notebook. If you wish to store them in the folder in the classroom, simply insert them into your binder before turning it in for a notebook check. It is your responsibility to keep track of and to include these materials in the notebook.

N.B.: Any other sections that you would like to create and maintain in your notebook may be done so at your own discretion. This notebook is considered a class work product, not a personal journal or diary. Feel free to share personal ideas and reactions to the pieces we will read and comment upon, but keep in mind that this is not a great place for keeping the notes you write to your special friends or receive from them.

Keep up with notebook work: I will check your notebooks at least twice during the trimester; some checks may be unannounced. Bringing your notebook to class everyday is a very good idea.

I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.
Joan Didion

By signing this form, I hereby state that I have read the policies listed above and understand the terms that they discuss regarding classroom expectations and disciplinary procedures regarding plagiarism.

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