Ib Language A1

IB Language A1: English Part 1 [11th Grade Honors HL] Clarke County High School Mrs. Kimberley H. Wilt, TR. 9 [email protected] [or better yet: [email protected]] 955.6130ext. 242

A [play, book, short story, film, poem, article, essay, etc] should give you something to think about. When I…understand it the first time, then I know it can't be much good. --T. S. Eliot

IB ENGLISH 11 HL: Out of the Blue, Into the Black Goals •

The official goals for the course, from the IB Language A1 Subject Guide include: a. to develop the power of expression, both in oral and written communication, and provide the opportunity for practicing and developing the skills involved in writing and speaking in a variety of styles and situations; b. to encourage a personal appreciation of literature of literature and develop an understanding of techniques involved in literary study and criticism; c. to introduce students to literary classics and to a range of modern writing in different literary genres, styles and contexts; d. to promote an international perspective through the comparative study of works from the students’ own culture and from other cultures; e. to introduce students to ways of approaching and studying literature, leading to the development of an understand and appreciation of the relationships between different works; f. to develop the ability to engage in close, detailed and critical examination of written text; g. to promote in students an enjoyment of, and learning lifelong interest in, literature.

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In addition to these laudable goals, I hope you will: a. surprise yourself with the power and value of your own thought processes; b. learn discipline & responsibility and cultivate a work ethic you can be proud of; c. encounter some memorable stories, characters, and turns of phrases that will stick with you for life; d. discover the value of thinking, writing, and learning for your own sake; irrespective of more tangible rewards.

Classroom Rules & Procedures The Basic: In this classroom, we follow all school rules. This means, among other things: •

There is no eating or drinking in class. Quench your thirst and fill your stomach before you come to class.

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You may not have electronic devices visible in class. This includes cell phones, iPods or any other mp3 devices, games/DVD players, etc., etc (i.e. anything else you can imagine). If I see them (or hear them?), I must take them away. Let us not put each other in this position. You must come to class fully clothed in a respectable manner. Please do not make me call attention to your indiscreet fashion choices.

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Don’t complain about anything (the amount of work, the temperature in the trailer, not getting enough sleep, yadda yadda). Such may not suit everyone, but remember what Kurt Vonnegut said: “So it goes.” Suffering in silence builds character.

The Intangibles: There are two essential operating principles in my classroom: RESPECT & FAIRNESS. Please show respect by:

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Arriving in class on time and prepared, with homework, your text, notebook/binder/folder, a writing implement, and some extra paper just in case.

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Participating fully in class; not speaking when someone else has the floor, distracting others or interrupting class unnecessarily. Paying attention the first time around.

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Taking the efforts of everyone in class—you, me, the other students—seriously. I try hard to create an interesting curriculumwith texts and questions to engage your minds. I expect you to give your best thought and energy to the work in this class. It is important to me that my students find value in the work that we do in class other than the crass bottom-line of grades and college acceptance. If these are the only reasons for taking this course, please have the courtesy to keep that information to yourself. Trust your own intelligence and instincts; eschewCliff, Spark and Wiki. Those are hackneyed, surface-level interpretations compared to the explication of which you are capable. Never indicate that any work you are giving me is less than your best; if I hear you say how little time or effort you put into an assignment, I will certainly grade it accordingly.

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You receive FAIRNESS by having the opportunity to share your ideas, revise your work, do meaningful assignments for extra credit and by having my expectations for you grow as you master new material and complexity of thought. And if you can’t take a joke—well, you know…

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Reading: This is an advanced course which requires that students read much and with purpose. You must demonstrate that you are prepared for class discussions. The only way to do this is by making sure you bring your marked-up text, notes and ideas to class. It is certainly fine to forge ahead (practicing courtesy towards those who don’t know what happens next!), but you must, at the very least, keep up…

There may be times that you do not enjoy a particular text we are reading. You may even come to despisean author or work. So be it! That is fine: good literature should stir emotion and be controversial. Use those feelings to learn how to express your opinions succinctly and support them with text-based rationales. Regardless of your opinion of the work, I ask that you try always to be objective and develop respect for the work. Remember, literature is a STUDY, just like any other discipline, and is meant to inspire thinking Speaking: Especially as we prepare for the Formal Oral Exam (your FOE, if you will--a senior year standard), a large portion of your grade will be based on oral presentations (OPs), Surprise Oral Commentaries (SOCs), classroom discussions (CDs) and seminars (SEMSs?). I will provide detailed information about this component of class as we move forward. Writing: Assuming you have mastered the basics of correct formal writing, now is the time for you to own voice in literary analysis. In class you will write in a variety of formal and informal ways, from major papers (MPs) to informal reactions (IRs)to questions posed for classwork or homework. OTR, revisions of formal assignments are permitted at my discretion and only after conferencing with me about the assignment.

Assessment:

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Assessment is varied and ongoing. I will be evaluating your skills in accordance to the IB Program. This includes: ○ Writing analytically and creatively ○ Writing commentary and mature, convincing, disciplined analytical essays. ○ Effectively revising and editing your work and the prose of others ○ Explicating literature ○ Making formal and informal presentations discussing literary works ○ Building vocabulary ○ Demonstrating an understanding of and a functional use of grammatical structures ○ Empathizing with others by learning about cultures, ideas and philosophies beyond one’s immediate experience.

Classroom Assessment (or the clamoring of “What about my grade?!? Seriously, What About My Grade?”) Each quarter you will complete a number of assignments in and out of class, from major papers, assessments, tests, quizzes, classroom presentations, class participation, etc, Each assignment is weighted accordingly to its relative difficulty and importance; a test may be 100 points while an in class reflection on a literary passage might be 25 points. Please keep in mind the following: ○

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Grades must be earned, not given. As part of your growing up experience, you will make choices about how you spend your limited time and energy—this is good, and to be expected. Just be mature enough to accept the consequences of your choices. Clarke County gives you extra points on your GPA just for attempting this course. Keep this in mind. Grading is, accordingly, rigorous.

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Good and excellent grades in class result NOT from guessing or listening to what I think and parroting it back, but from engaging thoroughly with the texts, creating your own original interpretations, and grounding them thoroughly with textual support. Late and missing work: Late work is accepted only at the teacher’s discretion and only then if we have come to an agreement BEFORE the assignment is due. Part of learning is time management. Never wait until the last moment to begin a major assignment—I will always give you ample notice of due dates. Do not expect pity for last minute problems. You should finish assignments before the last moment, as it were. I follow CCPS/CCHS’s policy regarding missing work for excused absences.

My My, Hey Hey--The Small Print: **Important Note About Texts: It is quite important for students to own their copies of the novels we study. One of the skills we will work extensively on will be the annotation of passages, and you need to be able to write in your book. We will have novels available for students to purchase at reasonable prices. You may choose to get your books on your own; however, wehighly recommend that you purchase the books directly from us. The material in this eleventh-grade course has been designed to fulfill the first year of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme’s English A1 requirement. The curriculum is stimulating and challenging. Texts have been chosen from the International Baccalaureate’s Prescribed Book List and Prescribed World Literature List. Assessments will be conducted in accordance with IBO’s requirements. Alternative texts will be provided pending a formal request and a parent conference with the teacher. Please contact the teacher if deemed necessary. Copies of texts will be provided for parental perusal per request. The course content is tentative and is subject to revision by the teacher; this includes addition and subtraction of texts pending individual class progress and/or academic prowess. In the event of extenuating circumstances texts may be abridged and or cut as needed. Supplementalmaterials including poetry, short stories, articles, films, songs and reviews will be distributed throughout the year. Most of these selections come from the following textbooks: Charter’s Literature and Its Writers, Perine’s Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense, The Norton Anthology of American Literature, and Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience. Honor Code and Pledge By putting your name on your work you are pledging your integrity and pride. All work, even group assignments require individual effort and work. Your name indicates your honor. Thus, you are identifying that you did not use unauthorizedhelp or assistance on your assignments. Please be self-reliant. Students acknowledge receipt of the IB Academic Honesty Statement (i.e. The Explanation of Malpractice) and the CCHS policy entitled Cheating and sign a certification that they received, understood and agreed to abide by these documents as requested by the IBO. Cheating and plagiarism will result in loss of credit for that assignment. Repeated incidents of honor code violations will result in failure for the quarter and disciplinary action. Please note: during assessments all cell phones and electronic devices will be collected in a centralized location.

Texts covered this year include, but are not limited to: August / September/October And Once You're Gone, You Can Never Come Back: Modern Wastelands & Hollow Men The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald “The Swimmer” – John Cheever “Babylon Revisited” – F. Scott Fitzgerald Selections for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Crack-up”, The Beautiful and the Damned / This Side of Paradise “From Another Country” – Ernest Hemingway “The Far and the Near” –Thomas Wolfe “The Destructors” – Graham Greene Selections from John Dos Passos T.S. Eliot poems James Merrill Poems Possible Film: Citizen Kane or Sunset Blvd.

October / November This is the story of…: Impressionism, Tone, Mood, Character and Conflict My Antonia – Willa Cather “Paul’s Case” – Willa Cather “The Story of an Hour” – Kate Chopin “The Storm” – Kate Chopin “Araby” – James Joyce “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” – Garcia Marquez Poetry Selections from Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson

December There's More to the Picture Than Meets the Eye: Temptation and Manipulation The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde “Death and the Librarian” –Esther Friesner Essays by George Orwell Possible Film: Citizen Kane or Sunset Blvd. January / February …Better… Than It Is to Rust, The King is Gone (But He's Not Forgotten): Maturity, Foolishness and Family Turmoil

King Lear – William Shakespeare “Portrait of a Girl in Glass” –Tennessee Williams Selections for Eugene O’Neil’s A Long Day’s Journey Into Night w/ selections from French Romantic Poets [A Sub-Section on the Power of Nature Featuring “The Open Boat” – Stephen Crane] Possible Film: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof March/April/May They Give You This, But You Pay for That: Consumerism, Greed, Self-Exile & Other Existential Quandaries of the Modern Era The Metamorphosis – Franz Kafka Formal IB Orals The Visit – Friedrich Dürrenmatt “The Myth of Sisyphus” – Albert Camus Selections from “Six Characters in Search of and Author” --Luigi Pirandello Possible Film Clips from Avant Garde Silent Era Expressionistic Films

June Rock and Roll is Here to Stay: Wrapping Things Up SOL Review/Exam Review/Final Projects/Prep for Senior English

Student’s Name: _________________________________________ (Print)

IB Language A1: English Part 1 [11th Grade Honors HL] Clarke County High School

Mrs. Kimberley H. Wilt, TR. 9 [email protected] [or better yet: [email protected]] 955.6130ext. 242 Student and Parent/Guardian Acknowledgement Please read over the entirety of the syllabus. If you have any questions about the course outline or policies for this course, please contact Mrs. Wilt [[email protected]] or call the school at (540) 955-6130 ext. 242. Generally speaking, it is easier to make contact with me via email. Please initialeach statement below, then sign and date this form at the bottom. This form must be returned back to me for my files. Student

Parent/Guardian

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I have read the syllabus in its entirety and fully understand it.

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I have read the IB/CCHS Academic Honest Statements that and fully understand it.

Parent/Guardian Information: Please use the space below to provide your contact information (names, addresses, phone numbers, etc). Please Print.

Student’s Signature: ________________________________________ Parent/Guardian Signature: ____________________________________ Date: _______________________________