Major+American+Syllabus

= Office hours: p.3 & p.7 =
 * Major American Literature Ms. Bodtker, Rm. 408 **
 * 2010 - 2011 English Dept., Rm. 22 **
 * (541) 790-8056 **
 * bodtker_i@4j.lane.edu **

Welcome to Major American Literature! During this year-long course we’ll be reading, writing, and thinking critically about American literature and art. We’ll discuss the point of view of the writer and the reader, and how they can affect the experience of reading any text. We will look at how our literature and attitudes reflect one another, how our past has shaped our present, and how we can use literature and art to shape our own futures.

Course Content
Readings may include //The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn//, poetry of Anne Bradstreet, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allan Poe, Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, and Robert Frost, as well as //In Our Time//, //The Great Gatsby//, //A Streetcar Named Desire//, //The Bell Jar//, and //One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest//. We’ll read short stories and essays related to the various works and literary movements. Expect to have reading homework almost every night. We will study vocabulary from the literature we’re reading as well as from a vocabulary text. We will also address a variety of topics in grammar and ways to take notes from both a lecture and a text. We will discuss how to shape writing to have the greatest effect on an audience and most perfectly express our intentions, though basic essay writing is not covered in this class. We will focus more intensely on the advantages of different aspects of rhetoric and different forms of essays. Essays will be used as a tool to assess the student’s understanding of the curriculum. Students who successfully complete this course will be prepared for any other junior/senior level English class as well as for college coursework.

Attendance
Attendance is critical to your success in this class. If you are ill, or your absence is excused for another reason, be sure to have your parent or guardian call the attendance office. **Students who accrue five or more unexcused absences will receive partial credit for the class.** You will not be able to make up quizzes or work from any days you miss unless the absence has been excused.

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Scores on quizzes, tests, homework assignments, group work and essays will be compiled to reach a final grade. Reading quizzes and quizzes based on the previous day’s class discussion may be unannounced. **Therefore, it is very important to pay attention to the class discussion and to keep up with the reading.** Grades will be figured in the traditional manner: A= 90 - 100%; B=80 - 89%; C= 70 - 79%; D= 60 - 69%. Please note that a grade of 60% is required to pass the course. All assignments have deadlines. **Late work will be accepted only after an excused absence.** Plagiarism, the use of another person’s work or wording without attribution, will result in zero points for that assignment. Do your own work in your own words on all assignments. Any person assisting another to plagiarize will also lose credit. The Pass/ No Pass option is not available in English classes. Appropriate modifications and accommodations will be made for identified special needs.
 * Grading and Assignments **

Classroom Expectations
1. Be on time, in your seat, and ready to work when the bell rings. 2. Come to class prepared! Bring a pencil, black or blue pen, paper and the text. 3. Failure to be prepared may result in a tardy. (See #2!) 4. Participate in the day’s discussion. Listen to others and let them hear your perspective. 5. Electronic devices that are seen or heard or used will be confiscated. Students may pick them up from a school administrator at the end of the day.

Office Hours
I am available for individual help periods 1 and 4 in room 22, the English Department office. Make an appointment if you want to be sure to find me. Let me know if something in the class is not going well for you. We can usually find a solution.

** It’s going to be a great year! **

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I have read the course information and understand the classroom expectations.

Date _

Student Name Student Signature

Parent Name Parent Signature