Course Syllabus - Senior English

2007-08  Mrs. Jennifer Fraser

Office: Bldg. 11, Room 60

Office Hours : Daily  8:00-11:00, 2:00-3:00, and by arrangement

Office Phone (voice mail):  (650 ) 574-6537

The literature focuses on writers involved with introspection : Who Am I ? What Has Made Me the Person I Am? Where Am I Going? What is My Place in the World? For seniors launching into a much bigger world than that of the high school, these issues are of para-mount concern. You will be asked to take sides on issues as well as examine your own motivations and beliefs. you may find yourself muttering, "I thought this was an English course, not a psychology course." Remember, as Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living " - much less writing about...

We'll cover the standard literature, writing, and grammar components , but they will be directed toward the following goals:

• Passing a standard writing placement test of typical junior and four-year colleges which all have a grammar and writing placement test
• Gaining preliminary speech expertise so you can comfortably make a presentation before a large group using PowerPoint technology - beginning with Friday Forum warm-ups and ending with the Senior Internship Project  presentation.
• Understanding some of the universal issues in literature ( love, war, self- knowledge, etc.) and learning to develop your own specific theme for a piece of literature
• Gaining familiarity with a range of genres and their specific characteristics: drama,  poetry, short stories, essays, and novels

Below are some guidelines for success in this course. My concern is that we use this course as a kind of bridge from high school to college courses; I don't assume that you already know how to succeed in a college class,  but I believe that you want "more" or something at least "different from a high school class: more freedom, more responsibility, more of a challenge. The procedures below are meant to help organize you in this course - and teach you some organizational options that you might find useful in college courses.

REQUIRED MATERIALS:
Binder* with the following 5 tabbed sections:

• POLICIES - syllabus, policies that govern classwork and participation, calendars and weekly schedules
• COMPOSITION - all essays and handouts on how to write them
• VOCABULARY - we will be building towards the SAT. Keep all tests and wordlists
• COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE
• GRAMMAR

*The binder may be the same as used in your U.S. History class

Pen (blue or black) and Pencil and Highlighter

GRADES
We will follow SMUHSD's schedule of three reports
We will have about 1000-1200 pts per semester consisting of

- several 100 point essays 
- vocabulary tests (100 pts.)   - participation grade (100 pts.)
- reading quizzes  (20 pts. each)
- work / career studies journal
- projects in conjunction with social studies

GRADE SCALE

A 93-100	C+ 77-79
A- 90-92	C 73-76
B+ 87-89	C- 70-72
B 83-86	F Below 70
B- 80-82

    

HOMEWORK
Get a planner or assignment book in  which to write all assignments. This will be vital in the college setting where your classes don't meet every day and long term assignments are often given. Find a planner with a calendar layout (week-at-a-glance, for example.)

• Homework will not be "busywork". It will be preparation for  essays, study for tests, or reading. DO IT.
• Major assignments drop a grade a day if late, down to D- (60%).
• Work under 25 points may not be made up as it is usually necessary  for classwork the following day.
• Please see me after class about make up work. (2:00-3:00 daily) I'm usually trying to get my head straight for class at the beginning of class and can't give you the attention I'd like to.

PARTICIPATION GRADE (10% OR 100 PTS.)
Last semester you all made a very accurate self-assessment of your participation throughout the fall semester. Many of you know what you need to work on to bring up this grade.

CHEATING
Nobody likes to talk about it, but let's get it out in the open. The following cases are punishable offenses:
 -giving to or using information from another student on a quiz or test
 -copying an independent homework assignment
 -taking material from the internet, Cliff Notes, or other published material and presenting it as your  own authorship
 - allowing a parent, relative or friend to do your work for you
  When in trouble/doubt - get help from me or another teacher!

RETRIBUTION
 1st offense:  0 pts.  on the assignment and parent phone call
 2nd offense: Parent phone call, college notified, student's  semester grade drops a full letter grade
 3rd offense: F for course, consider ation given to returning student to standard high school

ATTENDANCE/TARDIES
 You are all now aware that Professors are not 100% consistent about attendance in college; some  will drop you from their classlists after a certain number of absences - even "excused" absences! Excessive unexcused absences in MCHS courses may result in your being dropped from the program. GET TO CLASS!
 Out of respect to your fellow students and to me, get to class on time. Figure out when to eat so you aren't slurping fries in class or waiting in line at the kiosk instead of being in class. Three tardies this semester will equal an unexcused absence which will affect your grade by 20 points.

FINALLY.......
I will do all that is in my power to help you succeed in my class. We at MCHS feel  lucky to  be part of a program whose main goal is to encourage and support students in their pursuit of a college education. I have much more time than the average high school teacher to meet with you out of class. I'm here to listen, help you on your assignments for my class as well as other classes. If you have trouble taking notes for a class, tell me. I've sat in on students' classes, helped them make sense of college essay assignments, etc. When you need help - or even think you might - just ask!!
 

Sample Week:

Monday &Tuesday	Literature study
Wednesday	Grammar Review
Thursday	Communication in the Workplace: Teambuilding and ProblemSolving: Work on Senior Internship Project
Friday	Quizzes/Friday  Forums

           

THEMES AND READINGS:

YOUR PAST: What factors have contributed to make you who you are?

The Quest for Self-Knowledge : Where are you now? What stages have you experienced?

Summer reading essay

QUEST CHART -personalize it.

Demian - Herman Hesse

(Autobiographical Incident: First Glimpse of the Dark Side)

(Analytical Essay: Demian)

Mandalas

Photo poems

 

Readings in Genetic Theory: Are our personality traits predetermined? "Double Mystery" - Lawrence Wright

"The Nature of Nurture" (TIME Mag.)

Emperor of the Air - Ethan Canin

(Common Themes Essay)

 

Readings on Impact of Culture; How are we influenced by our cultures?

"The Ghost in My Uncle's House" - Rose Del Castillo

"Bricklayer's Son"

(The Precis & Reaction)

"Complexion"- Richard Rodriguez

 

Free Reading Novel of Choice - cultural conflict: White Boy Shuffle, Always Running, Feather on the Breath of God,Caught Inside, Hoop Dreams, Like Water for Chocolate, Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice

Essay: Cultural conflict

 

YOUR PRESENT: What Do You Believe? The Search for Truth

The Stranger - Albert Camus / Existential poetry / Short Allegories

Trial of Meursault

Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller

"The Long Sheet" - William Sansome

Films : "Cool Hand Luke"

" A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" - Hemingway

PORTFOLIO REVISION AND EVALUATION

 

 

YOUR FUTURE: Dreams, Goals and Fantasies

        Death of a Salesman -  Arthur Miller
        Working - Studs Terkel                
        Utopias and Dystopias: An on-line unit

ISSUES  IN LITERATURE ( Goal: familiarize yourself with common literary themes. Learn to determine the theme of any novel, short story.)
        Short story review  (terminology, issues, themes)
        Sample Themes/Issues

Gender  Issues: The Eternal Conflict: Male vs. Female
                Othello - William Shakespeare
            Man vs. Society, vs. Self, vs. Nature, vs. Man

 

SENIOR PROJECT Please note: This is a requirement of the coure. It must be completed to earn a pssing grade. Stay on track with the deadlines for each part of the project.

 

 

CAREER AND WORK SKILLS

Since one of the components of the MCHS curriculum is an internship - paid or unpaid - part of the coursework deals with the challenges and concerns you will have as part of the workforce. One to two days a week will be spent on Communication and Problem-Solving in the Workplace. This semester you are to find one problem or challenge in your place of internship that you would like to attempt to solve. During this semester and the spring semester you will be researching the political and economic aspects of the problem and the various solutions you propose. You will be learning to use the presentation program PowerPoint so that you can professionally present your problem/solution project to a wider audience in May during Senior Career Project Presentation Week. More later.

 

COMPOSITION:

• Practice for the college application essay will help those who plan on transferring to four year colleges
• Practice and instruction on the RRR (read, reduce, rewrite) aims to help all seniors pass the new competency test as well as the type of essays required by many college freshman English courses.
• Review of vocabulary and grammar will help in college reading as well as various college placements tests

 

WHO AM I ? - PORTFOLIO

Since the subject of this portfolio will be you yourself, I hope that you will want to put these essays together in an interesting manner. Students may elect to have theirs bound in either spiral or other fashion through a Copy Center. They would be particularly interesting to look through in five years..or ten... or twenty.

There will be a separate grade for the portfolio - one based mostly on your improvement this semester, but also on its completeness and aesthetic appeal

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

1. THE QUEST IN LITERATURE AND LIFE- SUMMER READING

2. QUEST CHART PERSONALIZED

3. MANDALA - COPY will be your cover page

4. PERSONALITY REVIEW - analytical essay

5. A CULTURE CLASH - autobiographical essay

6. TURNING POINTS IN MY LIFE - or SOMEONE WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE TO ME (reflective or descriptive essay using literary allusion as hook)

7. FAMILY STORY - semi-creative writing assignment

8. SOMEONE OF VALUE - poem or letter of loss

9. METAPHORS OF LIFE

10. SENIOR PROJECT - CAREER EXPLORATION

 

INCLUDE:

One essay written for Econ/Gov.

One essay written for any other college class.