In general, this course will address the following literary periods of American Literature:
We read a variety of texts (short and long, fiction and creative nonfiction, poetry, and drama) that focus on many different universal themes, social commentaries, etc. These texts include time periods from the 1500s forward and represent many American voices.
Course Description:
This honors course is designed to challenge students and prepare them for a postsecondary experience. This third English course concentrates on developing reading, writing, and critical thinking skills through an intensive study of selected American literature via appropriate oral and written responses. The course provides a quick review of grammar, mechanics, vocabulary, and usage as needed. Students should expect homework assignments and/or compositions that reinforce classroom instruction.
Course Objectives:
- Indigenous and early Spanish works
- Puritan Writing
- Early Democratic Writing
- Romanticism
- Realism
- Modernism (e.g. roughly from 1900 to 1953)
- Post-modernism (from around 1953 until today)
We read a variety of texts (short and long, fiction and creative nonfiction, poetry, and drama) that focus on many different universal themes, social commentaries, etc. These texts include time periods from the 1500s forward and represent many American voices.
- Though the textbooks contain a multitude of poetry, I also draw from a personal collection of poems by favorite authors, such as Wheatley, Poe, Whitman, Dickenson, Crane, Eliot, Eliot, Pound, Stevens, Brooks, Baraka, cummings, Hughes, Ginsberg, Giovanni, Plath and others.
- All students read the following novels (or plays) in addition to the shorter works in the Norton: The Crucible, Narrative of A. Gordon Pym, The Awakening, The Great Gatsby, Killer's Head, Shakespeare play, and Herland.
- Students also draw from an extensive class library for independent or open-choice reading…highlighted texts include: Brave New World, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Emma, Lord of the Flies, and The Wide Sargossa Sea.
Course Description:
This honors course is designed to challenge students and prepare them for a postsecondary experience. This third English course concentrates on developing reading, writing, and critical thinking skills through an intensive study of selected American literature via appropriate oral and written responses. The course provides a quick review of grammar, mechanics, vocabulary, and usage as needed. Students should expect homework assignments and/or compositions that reinforce classroom instruction.
Course Objectives:
- Use evidence from texts to support claim(s)
- Read and analyze texts
- Demonstrate knowledge of early and poltical texts, nineteenth- and twentieth century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period or different period treat similar themes or topics.
Grade Determination:
Your grade will be earned based on the following calculations:
Here are some of the materials you will use in this course:
Classroom Rules:
Student/Parent-Guardian Contract of Syllabus
I hereby acknowledge that I have seen and read over the Language Arts syllabus. I will do my best this year to help my teacher, myself, and my family for a successful academic year. I am aware of the TMSA policies and will agree to abide by each of the policies, procedures, and expectations.
Student Signature______________________________________Date__________________________
Parent/Guardian Signature _______________________________Date__________________________
Please cut and retain the following information for your records:
*Tutoring Hours*
Monday 3:10-4:05
Thursday 3:10-4:05
Your grade will be earned based on the following calculations:
- Participation in class and homework--35% (this includes showing active learning, in-class activities, in-class works sheets or practice tests)
- Quizzes--30% (this includes take home as well as certain other papers I may assign in class)
- Projects--35% (this includes longer term--perhaps to a week--tasks I ask you to do)
- Final exam 20%
Here are some of the materials you will use in this course:
- A folder in which you can keep reading material I give you
- Notebook paper for the writing your will do in class (I will have UNLINED paper, so this recommendation is based on your preference)
- Blue or black ink pens (please be sure to bring a writing implement for EVERY CLASS)
- a planner/calendar of some sort (to record assignments and important school dates on)
- a USB drive (some method of storing information from the computer since students cannot store information on the school’s hard drives)
- a case for storing pens/pencils/disks or USB drives ( a good notebook pencil case will do)
Classroom Rules:
- First, and foremost, show the highest level of respect for each other, as well as the teachers and staff of TMSA; if someone else is speaking, we are all expected to give our full and undivided attention. Also, you should expect and receive the same attentiveness when you are speaking. Respect is mutual and when it is shared, lots can be accomplished!
- Be prepared and working when the tardy bell sounds!
- Dr. Branson (or his designee) directs the class; please plan to attend to his requests.
- Academic work comes first; however, this work emerges from our working together and asking questions of one another. Thus, students are expected to put forth their best effort! This helps the entire classroom environment be a place of great, positive academic energy! And to punctuate the point about asking questions: If you ever have any questions--particularly questions about "why" we are doing something--do not hesitate to ask any questions. To illustrate this point, consider this little video above where I, too, am encouraging you to find your voice and find your place "Somewhere in America."
- Possible Consequences for Insubordination:
- Verbal Warning
- Student-Teacher Conference
- Silent Lunch/Recess
- Parent-Teacher Phone Call/Conference
- Refocus form
- Office Referral
Classroom Expectations and Procedures:- Beginning and End of Class Period – Students must be in their assigned seat when the tardy bell rings; three tardies equal a detention. Students must have all materials ready (e.g paper and something to write with every day) and should start on their warm-up assignment quietly and immediately. Students will pack up and clean up when the teacher gives them permission. Students will leave when the teacher directs them to do so.
- Leaving Room – Students will ask permission to go to the restroom by raising their hand and waiting to be called upon. Students will be permitted to leave the room only when they have an emergency. However, now the TMSA is on a block schedule, I anticipate certain breaks during our time together each--which means simply standing, stretching and re-focusing.
- Work Ethic – The mission of public education in NC is to assure students are "ready for post secondary education and work, prepared to be a globally engaged and productive citizen" (http://www.ncpublicschools.org/organization/mission/). Students are expected to demonstrate a strong work ethic for their particular grade level at all times to indicate their level of commitment to this vision. They will work diligently on assignments either individually, in pairs, or with a group depending on the assignment. Students will not move around the room without permission for any reason. Students who need assistance should raise their hands and wait quietly to be acknowledged. Students are expected to work from bell to bell each and every day. This ethic is critical to what ever students plan upon their matriculation from TMSA.
- Communicating & Collecting Assignments – Students will find their upcoming assignments and test/quiz dates on the board and will write them down. We will discuss each assignment as a class to avoid confusion and misunderstanding. If a student has a question about an assignment, the student should ask for an explanation before the due date. Each student is expected to maintain an organized planner in order be prepared when the class begins. Homework that is not turned in when I ask for it is considered late and will NOT be accepted. TMSA policy is there is "zero-tolerance" for late work,
- Make-Up Work – Students along with their parents/guardians must check with the teacher beforehand about missing a day unless it’s an emergency and for the assignments before they leave. If students have an unplanned absence, students must check TMSA Connect for daily assignments and homework. Students must turn in all assignments and homework the day that they return. Unplanned absences will receive an extension on assignments depending on the number of days missed. Students must complete tests and/or quizzes ASAP. Parents may call the school the morning of an absence and request books and assignments to be sent to the office.
- Completion of Work – Students will submit all workto the instructor. The assignment must have the student's first and last name, date, class, and assignment title written legibly. When students finish early they may work on homework or read.
- Using Classroom Materials – Students will raise their hand to use classroom materials unless directed otherwise by the teacher.
- Student Active Learning—Students will have multiple opportunities in each class to demonstrate they are engaged in the class. However, “active learning” also means that students are adhering to classroom rules and are focused and attentive during the lesson and when working on assignments. Nonactive learning looks like this: having head on desk, talking, laughing, not focusing on assignment, refusing to work on assignment, and other non-compliant activity.
- Compliance – Students must follow and obey all rules and procedures in the TMSA Student Handbook with all faculty, staff, teachers, and substitutes.
Student/Parent-Guardian Contract of Syllabus
I hereby acknowledge that I have seen and read over the Language Arts syllabus. I will do my best this year to help my teacher, myself, and my family for a successful academic year. I am aware of the TMSA policies and will agree to abide by each of the policies, procedures, and expectations.
Student Signature______________________________________Date__________________________
Parent/Guardian Signature _______________________________Date__________________________
- Are you able to access the internet from your home? YES NO
- Can you check TMSA Connect daily? YES NO
- Parent/Guardian E-mail Address: ______________________________________________________
- Parent/Guardian Phone Number: ______________________________________________________
- Parent/Guardian Work Number: ______________________________________________________
Please cut and retain the following information for your records:
- Dr. Mark Branson
- High School English, Rm. S102
- mbranson@tmsacharter.org
- 336-621-0061
- Website: http://bransontmsa.weebly.com
*Tutoring Hours*
Monday 3:10-4:05
Thursday 3:10-4:05