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English IV is designed to prepare students for
undergraduate English and literature courses. Accordingly, the course is
organized according to several objectives. Primarily, we work to refine
students’ skills as critical readers and writers. To this end, we study several
challenging short stories, the lyric poetry of William Shakespeare and John
Donne, and Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
In addition, we devote considerable time to the college application process,
including as a major assignment the drafting and revising of at least one
college-application essay.
Major Objectives / Skills
Emphasis
- Critical
Writing: Intensive review of multi-paragraph analytical essay
format. Students must be able to execute, with a high degree of
independence, a fully-realized, coherent,
analytical essay. In particular, instructors pay close attention to their
students’ ability to formulate good critical questions throughout the
writing process; to craft an incisive argument—even absent a
highly-specific topic or question; and to demonstrate mastery of a variety
of rhetorical strategies.
- Critical
Thinking / Discussion: Explicit movement towards student-led
discussion (greater student ownership of the direction in-class discussion
and analysis). The “seminar” approach.
- Critical
Reading: Emphasis on close-reading with all texts (short stories,
poetry, Hamlet).
- Additional:
College Application Essay.
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Course Units |
Weeks |
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Short Story Unit (Number of stories
varies, per instructor; non-fiction essays may be
included.) Common required stories: Joyce, “Araby”; Conrad, “The Secret Sharer” |
1 - 3 |
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Poetry Unit: Donne / Shakespeare’s Sonnets |
4 - 5 |
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Shakespeare’s Hamlet |
6 - 9 |
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Common Assignment |
Week(s) |
Notes |
|
Summer Reading Evaluation |
1 |
Diagnostic assessment,
effort grade (In-Class) |
|
Short Story Paper |
2 |
Short essay or outline (emphasis on structure
and process) |
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College Essay Draft
|
3 |
Draft |
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Poets— Major Essay |
5 |
Close-reading of poetic
devices related |
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Final College Essay |
6 |
Final Version |
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Hamlet Essay |
8 |
Major essay (thematic) |
|
Term Exam |
9 |
Cummlative of trimester's work |
Suffield Academy English Department
Statement on Academic Integrity and Acceptable
Practices for Student Work
The English Department places a very high value on academic honesty.
Plagiarism, the act of using another person's words or ideas without giving
credit to the source, is seen as contrary to the central purposes of student
work in English classes and is treated as a major school rule violation.
Individual teachers discuss with their classes the philosophy and policies of
the English Department in relation to academic integrity at the outset of each
school year. In addition, students are expected to understand the following
guidelines:
At all times,
students should follow their teacher’s specific directives regarding
appropriate use of primary and secondary resources; in many instances, teachers
will expect students to confine their reading to the primary source only. In
addition, students must understand the importance of the acceptable use of
technology—and that unacceptable use may carry academic as well as disciplinary
consequences. Given Suffield's open access to information technology, students
should remember that even cursory browsing of Internet sites related to an
assigned text will influence their consideration and
interpretation of the work.
Teachers may
encourage group work and peer-editing on certain
assignments; however, students should understand that unauthorized cooperation
is also prohibited. Individual teachers will clearly establish appropriate
boundaries for collaboration on specific assignments. When in doubt, students
should assume that an assignment—whether a routine vocabulary exercise or a
major, analytical essay—is intended as an independent task.
I have read thoroughly and understand the policies
of the English Department regarding academic honesty and acceptable practices
for student work.
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Signature
Date
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Printed Name
English
Class / Teacher