American Literature: LA-3/LA-3S

11^th Grade Language Arts/LA-3

Description: This course will continue the development of reading and writing skills established in Language Arts I and II. The written and oral assignments will continue the development of skills introduced in the previous two years.

Objectives: The focus of this class is to broaden each student’s knowledge and understanding of literature and culture and to strengthen his/her verbal, written and oral communication skills. These objectives are supported within the VHS ESLER’s which are as follows:

A. Information Processing Skills (reading, listening, quantifying, collecting data, analyzing data, solving problems, making decisions, and thinking critically.)

B. Communication Skills (speaking, writing, performing, creating, and using technology.)

C. Personal and Interpersonal Skills (cooperation, responsible citizenship, respect for cultural diversity, physical well-being, and career preparedness.)

Assignments: Student assessment will include, but may not be limited to the following: processed and timed unit essays, research papers, exams and quizzes, class participation, oral presentations, unit projects, in-class and homework assignments, and quarterly book reports.

Texts: Students will read 2-3 major works per semester, in addition to short stories, poems, literary criticisms, and non-fiction works. Alternative texts may be provided for core novels about which parents/guardians express concerns.

Grading: Students’ grades are calculated on a point-based system; these points are cumulative and will determine the students’ overall grade.

Test Taking in Class:

1. No verbal or nonverbal communication!
2. No turning around.
3. Keep your eyes on your own paper.
4. Do not have anything on your desk. Books and water bottles included.
5. Do not talk to anyone unless it is Miss. Schiff until she releases you to talk. No one may do so until the last test is in.
6. You may not have ANYTHING around your desk. It does not matter what it is.
7. Backpacks and personal items must be at the front of the class throughout the duration of the test.

Anyone who breaks these rules will have their grade result in a zero as we will have discussed in class.

Absences and Tardies: In the event of excused absences and tardies, students will be allowed one day to make up work and/or tests for every one day missed. Make up work and/or tests not completed within this time frame will be considered late, and, as is the case with all other late work, will not be accepted. It is the responsibility of the student to make contact with his/her teacher to learn what work was missed, to schedule make up work and to submit that work within the agreed time frame. Students with excused absences or tardies will be allowed to make up pop quizzes for up to 75% of the total possible points by completing writing assignments.

In the event that a student is absent on a day that a long-term assignment (such as an essay, project, speech or outside reading book) is due, he/she must arrange for the assignment to be time stamped by an office attendant by 3:00 P.M. on the date due and turned into the teacher’s mail box in order to be eligible for credit.

Tardies will be handed as follows:

1^st is a warning. Second and third are detentions. A referral will follow for every tardy after. Please note, after 7 tardies you CAN be dismissed from my class.

Materials: Each student must bring with him/her the assigned covered text(s), an outside reading book, writing journal, writing implements and a student planner every day. Failure to do will result in disciplinary action and the loss of participation points.

Classroom Rules and Procedures:

1. Come to class on time. Tardiness is tracked and can lead to disciplinary action after the first tardy.
2. Stay in class.
3. Bring required materials every day.
4. Complete assignments on time. No later work is accepted.
5. Do not bring “toys” to class that will interfere with the learning environment.
6. Stay awake.
7. Comply with rules posted in the student handbook.
8. Check posted grades.
9. No iPods/mp3 devices or cell phones are allowed during school hours.
10. No food or gum, only bottled water.

Consequences:

1. Verbal Warning
2. Private Conference
3. Detention
4. Parent Contact
5. Referral
6. Removal from Class

I reserve the right to use these consequences in order that is appropriate, no in the order they are listed.

Required Core Works: The Crucible

Extended List (choose one or more): The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, A Streetcar Named Desire, Joy Luck Club

Quarter 1	Time Frame	Standards
Unit 1: ORIGINS AND ENCOUNTERS (2000 B.C.-A.D. 1620) Part 1: In Harmony With Nature Iroquois- The World on a Turtle’s Back Okanogan- Coyote Stories Part 2: First Encounters Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca- from La Relacion Olaudah Equiano- from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano Unit 2: FROM COLONY TO COUNTRY (1620-1800) Part 1: Between Heaven and Hell Anne Bradstreet- Upon the Burning of my House To my Dear and Loving Husband Jonathan Edwards- from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God Part 2: The Right to Be Free (Choose two or more from the following selections): Patrick Henry- Speech in the Virginia Convention Thomas Jefferson- The Declaration of Independence Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur- What is an American Benjamin Franklin- from Poor Richard’s Almanack Required Major Work: The Crucible by Arthur Miller	Weeks 1-3 Weeks 4-8	Writing Strategies 1.7 Reading Standards 1.1, 1.2, 2.6 Writing Applications 2.4 Literary Response & Analysis 3.2, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7 Written Conventions 1.1, 1.2
Quarter 2
Unit 3: THE SPIRIT OF INDIVIDUALISM (1800-1855) Part 1: Celebration of Self Washington Irving- The Devil and Tom Walker Ralph Waldo Emerson- from Self Reliance Henry David Thoreau- from Civil Disobedience Walt Whitman- Selected Poems Part 2: The Dark Side of Individualism Edgar Allan Poe- The Masque of the Red Death The Raven The Black Cat Nathaniel Hawthorne- Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment Unit 4: CONFLICT AND EXPANSION (1850-1900) Part 1: A House Divided (Choose two or more from the following selections): Frederick Douglass- from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave Ambrose Bierce- An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Stephan Crane- A Mystery of Heroism Abraham Lincoln- The Gettysburg Address Part 2: Tricksters and Trailblazers Mark Twain- any selection Suggested Major Work: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Quarter 2 continued Unit 5: THE CHANGING FACE OF AMERICA (1855-1925) Part 1: Women’s Voices, Women’s Lives Emily Dickinson- Selected Poems Choose two or more of the following: Charlotte Perkins Gilman- The Yellow Wallpaper Kate Chopin- The Story of an Hour Hisaye Yamamoto- Seventeen Syllables Rita Dove- Adolescence-III Tillie Olsen- I Stand Here Ironing Julia Alvarez- Ironing Their Clothes	Weeks 9-11 Weeks 12-16 Weeks 17-18	Writing Strategies 1.4, 1.9 Writing Conventions 1.1, 1.2 Reading Vocabulary 1.2, 1.3 Reading Comprehension 2.2, 2.4, 2.5 Lit. Response 3.5, 3.8 Writing Applications 2.1, 2.3, 2.5
Quarter 3
Unit 5: THE CHANGING FACE OF AMERICA (1855-1925) Part 2: Illusion or Reality? The American Dream Selected Poets: Carl Sandburg E.A. Robinson Paul Lawrence Dunbar Suggested Major Work: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Unit 6: THE MODERN AGE (1900-1940) Part 1: The Harlem Renaissance: A New Cultural Identity Langston Hughes- Selected Poems Zora Neale Hurston- How It Feels to Be Colored Me Part 2: Alienation of the Individual Robert Frost- Selected Poems Ernest Hemingway- The End of Something T.S. Elliot- The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Suggested Major Work: A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams	Weeks 1-5 Weeks 6-12	Reading Vocabulary 1.2 Reading Comprehension 2.3 Literary Response and Analysis 3.1, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.9 Writing Strategies 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.5 Writing Applications 2.2, 2.3 Writing Conventions 1.1, 1.2
Quarter 4
Unit 7: WAR ABROAD AND CONFLICT AT HOME (1940-Prsent) Part 1: Remembering the Wars (Choose two or more from the following selections): Bernard Malmud- Armistice John Steinbeck- Why Soldiers Won’t Talk Joan Didion- Letter From Paradise Tim O’Brien- Ambush Denise Levertov- At the Justice Department Part 2: Integration and Disintegration Martin Luther King, Jr.- from Letter from Birmingham Jail John Updike- Separating Amy Tan- Mother Tongue Sandra Cisneros- Straw Into Gold Suggested Major Works (choose 1): The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger The Color Purple by Alice Walker Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan	Weeks 13-18	Reading Comprehension 2.4, 2.5 Literary Response & Analysis 3.2, 3.3, 3.5, 3.7 Writing Strategies 1.6 Writing Applications 2.6 Writing Conventions 1.1, 1.2 Listening and Speaking 1.1-2.5 (not a tested standard)

Dear Valencia Parent or Guardian,

As educators our mission is to provide an effective, comprehensive, education, for every student, which fosters high academic achievement, positive self-worth and responsible citizenship in an environment of mutual respect, trust, and cooperation among students, staff and parents.

To this end, it is my desire to help your student and assist you in knowing his/ her progress within my class. By providing me with the information I request on the last page of this packet, I will be able to contact you more easily with concerns you may have about your student.

Phone Number: 714-996-4970

Email: rschiff@pylusd.org

Thanks again for your help and support,

Rachel Schiff

Student

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Secondary Contact

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Valencia High School

500 N. Bradford Avenue,

Placentia, Ca. 92870

714-996-4970 Fax 714-996-3159

To the parent/guardian of (please print your student’s name)

District policy requires teachers to have parent permission when showing a video rated PG-13.

Please check and sign below:

May see a PG-13 video

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PRIDE TRADITION EXCELLENCE

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