Course Syllabus
Overview
English 11 AP students engage in coursework that cultivates the reading and writing skills necessary for success in a college classroom and for intellectually responsible civic engagement. The course guides students in becoming curious, critical, and responsive readers of diverse texts, and becoming flexible, reflective writers of texts addressed to diverse audiences for diverse purposes. The reading and writing done in this course are designed to deepen and expand students' understanding of how language functions rhetorically: to communicate writers' intentions and elicit readers' responses in particular situations.
Students will explore American literature within the context of the American Dream, beginning with society’s dream of religious freedom and demonstrating knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and twentieth-century foundational works of American literature.
The concept embraces the quest for both financial and personal success achieved through hard, earnest work. Students analyze an individual character’s struggle with the American Dream in the context of confronting social constructs and the ultimate attainment of the American ideal. Students build an awareness and understanding of American literature as a literature that evolved and continues to evolve as a response to the social and political climates of the time.
Students build an appreciation for and an understanding of texts reflective of Colonial/Puritan, Revolutionary, Romantic, Realist, Modern, Post-Modern, and Contemporary literature. Students explore fiction and nonfiction, as well as historical documents that chronicle the manifestation of “the dream."
Each unit addresses how Americans engage the dream, beginning with the first two units—American Dreams: The Society, and American Visions: The Individual, focusing on society’s and the individual’s struggle to reconcile personal dreams with those of the larger society. American Perspectives: The Challenge, and American Destinies: Reality and Hope, depict humankind’s continued hopeful and optimistic spirit to thrive amidst struggles.
Students explore concepts, language, structure, and themes in an anchor text, making inter-textual connections between and among diverse texts. However, no one informational text serves as the anchor for “American Visions: The Society,” as foundational texts are essential to the unit.
Students engage in the writing process and routinely reflect on their development as writers. Students will complete specific writing tasks, often inclusive of research, while addressing the demands of argument, explanatory, and narrative writing and the writing process that are based on readings representing a wide variety of rhetorical modes and for a variety of purposes.
Unit One: AMERICAN DREAMS; THE SOCIETY
Overview: Students will gain an understanding of foundational literature and its connection to a society rooted in the desire for religious, democratic, and financial freedom. Students focus on rhetoric as a means of evoking individual and collective responses to social and political issues. English 11 students build an understanding of how literary and informational texts reflect beliefs, values, and personal expression. Students build an understanding of characteristics of texts from the Colonial and Revolutionary periods.
Essential Questions
- How did the times in which the authors lived affect what and why they wrote?
- Which competing values shaped the American Dream?
- When is disobedience to authority a just and appropriate response?
- What is required to become an “ideal” nation?
- How does rhetoric evoke personal and collective response?
- How is the Revolutionary Period a response to the Colonial Period?
Unit Two: AMERICAN VISIONS; THE INDIVIDUAL
Overview: Students explore the shift in focus from societal visions to the individual’s personal transformation. Students are introduced to literature that reflects the ideas of America’s first professional career writers. Juniors will develop an understanding of and appreciation for literature that is characterized as Romantic, Realistic, and Regional. In addition, students respond to texts that develop the concept of the individualized American Dream, defined as both financial and personal success achieved through hard, earnest work, and its impact on the individual’s struggle to acclimate personal desires with that of society’s larger ideals.
Essential Questions
- How has the American Dream evolved?
- How is Romanticism a response to the Revolutionary Period?
- What defines realistic literature?
- What is the role of imagination in a growing nation?
- How do social and personal beliefs shape the individual and impact society?
- How can one person’s needs and desires be reconciled with the needs of society?
- How does the writer/speaker use rhetoric to develop and support ideas?
Unit Three: AMERICAN PERCEPTIONS: THE CHALLENGE
Overview: Students examine the social and personal obstacles individuals face in pursuit of happiness and success. Students continue to build knowledge of literary periods and their characteristics, focusing on Realism and Transcendentalism. Juniors will gain an understanding of how various groups within society grapple with flaws in the American Dream and its need to evolve to embrace new citizens and their pursuit of the dream. Additionally this unit will examine how the individual pursuit of the dream clashes with the foundational vision through literary works. These works involve an active response to achieving the American Dream and barriers to accessing it.
Essential Questions
- What are characteristics of Transcendentalism?
- How is literature from the Realism Period a response to literature from the Romanticism Period?
- How has the American Dream evolved?
- How does the writer/speaker use rhetoric to develop and support ideas?
- What is the individual’s response to what he perceives as unfair or unjust?
- How can one person make society a better place for all?
Unit Four: AMERICAN DESTINIES: REALITIES AND HOPE
Overview: Students explore the realities of those in pursuit of the American dream, the fate of those individuals trying to navigate the dream, and the lessons learned. Students develop an understanding of how the literature reflected an age of disillusionment and confusion as writers raised questions about life and factors over which they had little control. Literary texts demonstrate how the human spirit allows individuals to navigate obstacles and struggles and embrace the realities and hope that define America Dream.
Essential Questions
- How does the Modern writer’s protagonist differ from the protagonist developed by writers from previous literary periods?
- What defines the antihero?
- How did the style of the Modern writer differ from previous writers?
- How do Post-Modernism writers deviate from traditional structure and plot development?
- How has the American Dream evolved?
Text Selections
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Unit 1 |
Unit 2 |
Unit 3 |
Unit 4 |
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The Crucible “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” The Declaration of Independence The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Speech to the Virginia Convention |
The Awakening Their Eyes Were Watching God Self Reliance & other Transcendentalist texts The Autobiography of Frederick Douglass "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" The Gettysburg Address "The Lowest Animal" |
The Great Gatsby Civil Disobedience "Letter from Birmingham Jail" Works from The Harlem Renaissance |
Slaughterhouse Five Enrique’s Journey Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close The Poet X |
Writing Assignments
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Unit 1 |
Unit 2 |
Unit 3 |
Unit 4 |
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*The instructor may alter the reading selections and writing assignments as needed.
Students will explore additional supplemental materials including essays, articles, short stories, poems, and excerpts from other literary works to support instruction in this course.
Grading
Students’ grades will be determined through a variety of assignments such as quizzes, drills, compositions, tests, journals, and projects. Grades will be computed according to the following scale:
Percent of Grade
Homework 10%
Classwork 20%
Tests and Quizzes 30%
Papers and Projects 40%
Grade
89.5-100% A
79.5-89.4% B
69.5-79.4% C
59.5-69.4% D
Students will be required to keep track of their grades in Canvas.
Parents and guardians may also request access to their student’s grades if desired.
CLASS EXPECTATIONS:
All students are expected to abide by all HCPSS policies, procedures, guidelines, and the Student Code of Conduct.
Review the HCPSS Google Meet Expectations for Students and Parents/Guardians. Classroom-specific norms will be developed by students and teachers together for each specific class.
Netiquette and Online Communication
- Netiquette is acceptable behavior and communication within an online environment. As we continue our learning on an online platform, it is important to be mindful of how we communicate with each other online.
- Remember that the words that you type into a discussion forum, comments you make on someone’s Google doc or other digital work, or phrases you say in a video message will be received by your classmates and your teacher(s), who are actual people in real life. Ask yourself, “would I say this in person in the classroom?” before posting or saying it.
What I expect of my students
- Attend and engage in all lessons and assignments.
- Be on time for class.
- Create a comfortable respectful classroom space.
- Submit assignments on time. Show effort, accuracy, and persistence in your work.
- Understand the expectations for grading and attendance and ask for clarification when needed.
- Take responsibility for your learning. Set personal goals and be aware of your academic progress. Ask questions and actively seek assistance from teachers and other school staff when you need support.
- Behave in a manner consistent with the expectations when in school.
- Build positive relationships with classmates by respecting differences.
- Practice self-care strategies and seek well-being supports when needed.
What you can expect of me
- Think of our students as people first and make deliberate efforts to get to know them and show them we care about them as individuals and their success.
- Plan and implement high quality instruction using Maryland College and Career Readiness standards and HCPSS curriculum.
- Consistently deliver instructional content and messaging.
- Create instructional materials to address the diverse learning needs of all learners.
- Monitor, manage, and protect the classroom space so all students are learning in a safe environment.
- Encourage students to establish a healthy learning environment where they can focus on and engage in learning.
- Collaborate with families to support learning.
- Engage in professional learning around instructional strategies, technology, and social-emotional learning.
Cell Phones:
Our goal is to put students in a learning environment that promotes high standards and active engagement. We want to be committed to encouraging our high school students’ responsible and respectful behaviors around cell phone usage.
At the sound of the bell, teachers will close their door and flip their cell phone sign to red for the first 5 minutes of each class period. Each teacher will establish their individual class preference around cell phone usage in their room. The red or green cell phone sign will indicate when cell phones are permitted and when they are not.
- Red - Cell phone are NOT in use
- Cell phones are placed in bags or pockets, and not seen or heard.
- Green- Cell phones IN use
- Students may use cell phones according to the teacher’s direction (tech break or for an assignment/activity)
ATTENDANCE:
Per HCPSS Policy 9010, daily attendance is essential to student achievement and required in order to demonstrate mastery of material and receive credit for a course. A student may make-up and earn credit for work missed due to a lawful absence or field trip. Students returning from lawful absences or field trips will have an equal number of school days to complete make-up work. Students may complete make-up work but may not receive a recorded grade for work missed due to an unexcused absence.
LATENESS/TARDIES:
Students are expected to be in class on time and ready to learn. Students who are tardy to class are not entitled to make up any work that was missed due to their tardy, unless they are excused. Students who are unexcused tardy more than 20 minutes, will be counted as absent.
There will be consistent, school-wide hall sweeps conducted throughout the year. Students are encouraged to get to class on time to avoid the consequences of being tardy to class.
- Any student who is tardy to class, will only be admitted to class with a school issued tardy pass. Students must enter class within 5 minutes of the time written on the pass. Any student who arrives to class outside of that 5 minutes will be referred to administration.
Please see Course Syllabus for more details.
Hall Passes
- There will be no hall passes issued during the first five minutes of class, nor during the last five minutes of class.
- There will be no hall passes issued after 2:00pm
- All hall passes will be on a school issued hall pass
ASSIGNMENTS:
Assignments and Due Dates
Assignments and due dates will be posted in Canvas when they are assigned. Students will be required to submit some assignments via Canvas or through other technology platforms on the specified due dates/times. Review specific assignment directions for submission requirements. Any questions about how to submit should be brought to the teacher’s attention before the due date/time.
Review the directions on how to upload a Google Doc to a Canvas assignment for submission.
This policy is subject to change based on updates and guidance from HCPSS Central Office.
Make-up and Late Work Policy
Students are permitted to submit make-up work when they are absent from class for an excused reason. Assignments may only be submitted late without penalty when accompanied by an excused absence note that documents a legal absence. If the absence is unexcused, make-up work may be completed, but credit will not be granted.
Assignments will not be accepted late when students are in class on the due date, but do not have assignments with them. Long-term assignments (papers and projects) may be accepted late for reduced credit. Each day that the long-term assignment is late the maximum possible grade will be reduced by one letter grade or ten percent. After five school days, the assignment will not be accepted and a zero will be given.
Honor Code
All students are expected to abide by the Hammond Honor Code at all times and will be held accountable for any violations of the Honor Code.
Cheating and Plagiarism
Students are expected to submit their own work. Any work that is not the work of the student will be given a zero.
If a student is caught cheating during any type of assessment, he or she will receive a zero for that assessment.
Plagiarism, the act of claiming someone else’s published work as his or her own, is a crime. If a student submits work that has been published by someone else as his or her own, severe action will be taken. The assignment will be given a zero and a discipline referral form will be submitted to the student’s administrator. To avoid this, students should always submit their own work and cite sources completely using the MLA standards for citation. Students who are unsure about plagiarism should ask.
Teacher Access
Students can access grades and course materials on Synergy and Canvas. Parents will be able to check their students' grades and attendance through HCPSS Connect at www.hcpss.org/connect .
Students may request to meet with Mr. Chiarella for make-up work or assistance with any assignment before and after school. Students may also email any questions at any time.
Additional contact information:
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Howard County Public Schools’ Website |
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Hammond High School Website |
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Instructor Email |
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Grade book |
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College Board Resources
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Our syllabus is a dynamic document and may be updated throughout the year as decisions are communicated from the Howard County School System, the Board of Education, and the Maryland State Department of Education. If updates or changes are made to the syllabus parents and students will be notified electronically.