Mrs.
Carcelli:
Junior American Literature
COURSE DESCRIPTION
AND CONTENT COVERED:
This course is
designed to develop an appreciation and understanding of predominately American
Literature as it has progressed from colonial times. During the course of the year, we will look
at famous authors and works, as well as integrate film, extensive writing, and
oral communication skills into our classroom endeavors. In addition to our textbook, we will also
explore dramas, poetry, short stories, and novels by selected authors that
coincide with the topics we will study.
Junior
year is also the year of The Argument Research Project. Each student will produce one major project that has been thoroughly
researched, documented, and composed on some aspect of American culture and/or
literature. This assignment will
culminate with an oral presentation of your findings.
To
ensure success in this course, first - - - be ready to write. We will focus on single-paragraph short
essays and lengthier papers. From the
beginning, we will work extensively with structure, organization, sophisticated
language, varied sentences, and strong mechanics. Additionally, it will be imperative for you
to keep a notebook of everything we do in this class. This includes copies of papers you write,
notes on literature, any handouts, etc.
All of your hard work will build a fairly lengthy portfolio that,
believe it or not, will assist you in both my class as well as in future
coursework. More importantly, skills
acquisition is an ongoing process which should not be discarded after initial
learning. If you have questions about
previously covered skills or content, it is your responsibility to go back and try
to discover the answers for yourself.
So…hold your notebook sacred - and utilize it!!
Finally,
the use of technology will be an integral component to this course. You will submit drafts of papers through
Google Classroom for review, we will employ a class blog for discussion and
discovery purposes, and I will use Classroom for reminders, announcements, and
the occasional deep thought.
For a PDF of the FULL Syllabus, please access this link:
Education hopes to
eradicate ignorance,
foster understanding,
and strengthen
the human condition.
