soph honors 1 syllabus 2012

							Ms. Cordero
Sophomore Honors English 1
ccordero@ausd.net
http://teachers.ausd.net/cordero
626-821-8370


                           COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND SYLLABUS
         Sophomore Honors English 1 is a semester course designed to improve language arts skills at an
accelerated level. This course will fulfill district and state graduation requirements. Students will read
several works from different genres, including short stories, novels, and drama. Students will also be
expected to complete various writing tasks related to these works, including essays, creative writing,
research papers, presentations, and multimedia projects.
****Students who desire to return to college prep English must drop by the end of the fourth week.

AGENDA
When the period begins, students are to write the agenda for the day. The agenda will contain all of the
day’s assignments. You are responsible for the agenda each day, whether or not you are present in class. If
you are absent, be certain to obtain the agenda from another student upon your return.

ABSENCES
The absence and tardy policy of Arcadia High School will be followed at all times. Do not return to class
from an absence without a readmit. When you are absent, it is your responsibility to obtain the agenda and
to complete make-up work. MAKE-UPS ARE THROUGH ALTERNATIVE ASSIGNMENT ONLY.
Make-up work must be submitted by the Wednesday before the end of the grading period (as defined by
progress report and report card due dates) in which the absence occurs.

Good attendance is crucial to academic performance and is a demonstration of personal and academic
integrity. Students who have excessive absences and/or tardies will receive a U in citizenship. Vacations
and field trips should be avoided during the class period.

GRADING
Assignments will be given point credit. ALL WORK IS DUE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE
PERIOD. No late or incomplete work will be accepted. There will be a maximum of 1000 points at the
end of the semester. Grades are determined by the amount of points according to Arcadia High English
department policy (920 points+=A, 919-895=A-, 894-880=B+, 879-820=B, 819-795=B-, 794-780=C+,
779-720=C, 719-695=C-, 694-680=D+, 679-620%=D, 619-595=D-, 594-=F). Grades will not be rounded
up (e.g., 894 points is a B+). All requests for corrections to grade entries must be submitted by the end of
the grading period in which the assignment was given.

AUTHENTICITY OF WORK
You are required to do your own work for this course in compliance with the instructions given for each
assignment. To that end, all work listed in the syllabus must be submitted to turnitin.com by the
announced deadline and must include a complete bibliography. I will provide you with logon
information for turnitin.com. Any possible violations of the cheating policy will be fully investigated.
Violations of the cheating policy may result in a drop from the English honors program. The cheating
policy of Arcadia High School (as listed in the student handbook) will be adhered to at all times.

FINAL, TAKE-HOME ESSAY, AND OUTSIDE READING ASSIGNMENTS
A final exam/project, a take-home essay, and an outside reading assignment will be given. Failure to
complete the final on time or in compliance with the directions will result in a final grade of a D or a Fail in
the course. Also, failure to complete or to follow the directions of the take-home essays and/or the outside
reading assignment will place you in danger of failing. ANY incident of cheating or misrepresentation
of your work on the take-home essays, the outside reading assignment, and/or the final project will
result in a fail in the course.
Outside Reading Assignment: Students are to read and be tested on the following works:
Quarter 1: Students will read Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya by Week 10.
Quarter 2: Students will read The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan by Week 16.

Sophomore Honors English 1 Syllabus (subject to change):

***Note: All work must be submitted in MLA format with a full bibliography. Take-home work
must be typed according to MLA format.

Unit 1: Critical Approaches
Unit 1 Project: Students will analyze a folk or fairy tale for archetypes, purpose, and cultural aspects in
groups. Groups will write a paragraph with this information and present them. Presentations are due Week
4.
Week 1—The Mists of Avalon summer reading tests, introduction to course, archetypes introduction
Week 2—Archetypal analysis of fairy tales, gender role analysis, class analysis
Week 3—Into the Woods, finish group analysis
Week 4—Group paragraph presentations, read-arounds

Unit 2: Ancient Tragic Heroes
Speech assignment: Students will give an individual speech discussing three cultural and three archetypal
aspects of the Arthurian legends, Oedipus Rex, Antigone, Medea, The Catcher in the Rye, or Lord of the
Flies. Speeches must be 3-5 minutes in length and must include an appropriate visual. Signups for
speeches will occur during Week 5.

Project A: In groups, students will find two pieces of criticism and apply them to one of the Arthurian
legends. Presentations will be given during Weeks 5 and 6.

Essay: Students will write a comparison/contrast essay between The Mists of Avalon and one of the
Arthurian legends covered in this unit. Essays must analyze the works in relation to one of the schools of
criticism presented in Unit 1 (other than the journey of the hero) and relate the information to author
purpose. Essays are due at the end of Week 8.
Week 5— Arthurian legends intro, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Tristan and Iseult,
           comparison/contrast instruction
Week 6—“Lady of Shalot,” Launcelot and Gwenivere, Arthurian legends conclusion, Monty Python’s Holy
           Grail

Project B: Students will present a section of Aristotle’s Poetics in groups. Section assignment and
presentations will occur during Week 7.
Week 7—Poetics groups and presentations
Week 8—Oedipus Rex, Comparison/contrast essay due
Week 9—Antigone
Week 10—Medea, Greek tragedies test, Quarter 1 book due

Unit 3: Modern Tragic Heroes
Final Project: In groups, students will read one of the following Shakespearean plays and prepare it for a
rehearsed presentation: As You Like It, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado
About Nothing, Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night. Presentations have a 30-minute time limit, and must
have multimedia components. Videos have a 7-minute time limit. Presentations will be due during Weeks
18 and 19. Groups must also design a pre-approved lesson plan for the presentation, and cover vocabulary,
themes, relevant historical background, as well as archetypal, New Historic, feminist, Marxist, and
Aristotelian critical traditions.
Week 11— Cause and effect analysis introduction, Rebel Without a Cause video
Week 12—The Catcher in the Rye introduction, cause/effect work
Week 13—The Catcher in the Rye (continued), begin passage analysis work
Week 14—The Catcher in the Rye conclusion and test
Week 15—Lord of the Flies, Chapters 1-6, introduce final project
Week 16—Lord of the Flies, Chapters 7-9, Quarter 2 book due
Week 17—Lord of the Flies, Chapters 10-12, video
Week 18—Manual due, Lord of the Flies test, begin final presentations
Week 19—Final presentations

Students are expected to be familiar with or have mastery of:
1. Paragraph development: strong topic sentence, concrete details, quotation use, textual analysis, and
    concluding sentence.
2. English grammar and mechanics
3. Thesis statement that covers topic of the essay
4. Essay structure, including introductions and conclusions
5. Reading: summary, characterization analysis, thematic analysis
Students will be introduced to and/or master:
1. Argumentative thesis statement and topic sentences
2. Quotation use and integration
3. Transitions between ideas and paragraphs
4. Symbolism analysis
5. Use of credible sources for research, including websites, books, and journals
6. Use and application of literary criticism, including archetypal, feminist, and Aristotelian analysis
7. Poetry analysis
8. MLA format, especially bibliography/works cited
9. Author purpose identification and analysis
10. Passage analysis (diction, syntax, organization, details)

Optional video list:
Fractured Fairy Tales clips                          Superman
Moonlighting: “Atomic Shakespeare”                   10 Things I Hate About You
The Simpsons video clips                             Star Wars (Episodes 3 and 4)




I understand and agree to comply with the requirements of Ms. Cordero’s Sophomore Honors
English 1 course as set forth in this syllabus. I have also read and agree to comply with the cheating
policy of the English Department as set forth in the cheating policy document on Ms. Cordero’s
website. I also give permission for the student below to read all literature associated with the course
and to view the videos listed.

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Student signature                                             Parent/Guardian signature

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Student name (print)                                          Parent/Guardian name (print)

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Date                                                          Date