Syllabus

Course Description

This course is designed to provide opportunities for senior level English students to engage in an in-depth examination of variations of literature and the writing process as required by the Common Core. In English IV, we focus primarily on British Literature. Opportunities will be provided for the student to examine practical and creative applications of the course content in order to enhance reading and writing enrichment.

Course Objectives (Outlined by common core Standards)

Writing:

All writing standards can be found here.

Speaking and Listening:

All speaking and listening standards can be found here.

Language:

All language standards can be found here.

Key Ideas and Details:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1 - Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2 - Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3 - Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.1 - Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.2 - Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.3 - Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.

Craft and Structure:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4 - Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5 - Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.6 - Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.4 - Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term or terms over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.5 - Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.6 - Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness or beauty of the text.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.7 - Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.9 - Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.7 - Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.8 - Delineate and evaluate the reasoning in seminal U.S. texts, including the application of constitutional principles and use of legal reasoning (e.g., in U.S. Supreme Court majority opinions and dissents) and the premises, purposes, and arguments in works of public advocacy (e.g., The Federalist, presidential addresses).]
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.9 - Analyze seventeenth-, eighteenth-, and nineteenth-century foundational U.S. documents of historical and literary significance (including The Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address) for their themes, purposes, and rhetorical features.

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10 - By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.10 - By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Texts

Beowulf by Unknown (excerpts)
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Animal Farm by George Orwell (excerpts)
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Various short stories, poems, and informational pieces as selected and assigned by Ms. Sanders

Course Outcomes

improve close reading and analytical strategies reading and annotating text
stretch their imaginative abilities in reaction to literature
improve their ability to find and explain (through discussion and writing) what is of value in literature
revisit the purposes and strategies of rhetoric in order to develop an effective use of rhetoric, including controlling tone, establishing and maintaining voice, and achieving appropriate emphasis through diction and sentence structure
improve organization in writing through techniques to improve coherence, such as repetition, transitions, and emphasis
effectively state, support and explain their claims in their arguments
advance vocabulary skills to cope with unfamiliar language

Requirements

Successful completion of English III
A spiral notebook or a composition book to be kept in class (students are responsible for keeping up with these, and they will be checked periodically)
#2 pencils
Black or blue ink pen(s)
Highlighter(s)
Students will be assigned activities to do online outside of class on occasion. If you have spotty or are without internet access where you live, be prepared to complete these assignments over your open POWER blocks or during one of my tutorials.

Methods of Evaluation

20% - NC Final
25% - Assessments
25% - Classwork
15% - Homework
15% - Enrichment Time

Late Work Policy

Late work is only accepted if a student is absent or participating in another school activity during the time of \class on that day (ex: a field trip).
If a student knows they are going to miss class due a school activity or for another reason, it is expected that they retrieve the classwork in advance so that it may be handed in the next class period.
Students absent for another reason must remain accountable for retrieving the work, completing it, and handing it in for a grade by the next school day.

Grading Scale

As established by the NC Department of Public Instruction:

A (Excellent) 90-100

B (Above Average) 80-89

C (Average) 70-79

D (Below Average) 60-69

F (Failing) 59 and below

English IV NC FINAL and Final Grades

The English IV NC Final will be administered at the end of the semester.
The English IV NC Final will be worth 20% of the student's final grade.
Students will be given two benchmarks (one per quarter) prior to the exam itself.

Final Grade Breakdown by Percentage

40% - Q1 or Q3 grade

40% - Q2 or Q4 grade

20% - English IV NC Final grade