English III

Course Syllabus, 2007-2008

Instructor: Mrs. Shannon Collins, Room 303, Home phone: (316) 945-4403

        e-mail: collinsshannon@bcchs.org

Course Text : Literature : The American Experience, Prentice Hall, 1996

Office Hours: 7:30-7:55 AM and 3:15-3:45 AM; Fall planning period 6^th hr. Spring planning period 5^th hr.

Course Description: English III is a two-semester course which combines a survey of American Literature with an analysis of the writing process. Students will read a variety of authors and genres, studying vocabulary, usage, and meaning, and demonstrating an understanding of readings through original writing, quizzes, group work, and examinations. In addition to selected materials from the text, students will read the following novels and plays:

The Crucible

When the Legends Die

Black Boy

The Great Gatsby

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

A Raisin in the Sun

Death of a Salesman

The Old Man and the Sea

Students will also be responsible for one book report per semester.

Course Objectives:

1. Students will learn the influence of the writer’s and reader’s culture and society on writings from the Pre-Colonial period through contemporary literature.

2. Students will experience and discuss a variety of writing styles which will help them develop their own writing skills.

3. Students will demonstrate the conventions of good writing, researching, and organizing, culminating in a research paper at the end of the second semester.

Materials: Text, blue or black ink pens, pencils, and a spiral notebook are required for every class. Please bring a portfolio folder to class as soon as possible.

Assignments:

Compositions: Several analysis and reaction papers and informal essays will be required throughout the year. Students in English III will write a research paper. Failure to turn in an original, thesis-controlled and well-documented research paper meeting assignment requirements on or before the due date will result in semester failure of English III. 

Quizzes: Several vocabulary and grammar quizzes will be given throughout the year. Quizzes over readings may be given at my discretion.

Tests: Objective and/or essay tests will be given following the completion of each unit. If a student is absent the day of a test, an alternate test will be given the day the student returns to school, following the end of the school day.

Notebook/Journal: All notes, vocabulary words, and journal entries will be kept in a spiral notebook. The notebook will be graded six times per semester.

Semester Tests: Semester exams will be comprehensive for that semester. In other words, everything covered during the fall semester may turn up on the fall final; items covered during the spring semester will be on the spring final.

Late Papers: Late assignments will not be accepted, period. Major papers which are turned in late will be penalized 10 points per day, including weekends. I will consider granting extensions, if extenuating circumstances exist.

Special Assignments: Several outside reading assignments will be given during the course of the year. One book report will be required each semester. Specific information about these assignments will be given at a later date.

Grading: The standard Bishop Carroll Catholic High School Grading scale will be used. Grades are based on total points earned from a combination of journal entries, assignments, quizzes, tests, and papers.

Absences: Work missed because of absence will be made up on the following basis:

1. Work assigned prior to a student’s absence is due the day the student returns, if the due date has already passed.
2. All tests or quizzes missed will be taken after school on the day the student returns.
3. Quizzes missed because of tardiness will not be made up.
4. Assignments, quizzes, and tests missed because of in-school or out-of-school suspension will not be made up.
5. Assignments missed because of school activities must be completed prior to the absence unless other arrangements have been made with me.