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Course Description

Prerequisite: English II

Students encounter and consider American writing and literature through the study of short selec tions as well as noted literary works such as The Glass Menagerie, The Scarlet Letter, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Great Gatsby. Regular student writing for a variety of purposes augments and enhances their experience of assigned readings. Development of communication competencies involving listening, speaking, group work, vocabulary and writing-on-demand are additional elements of the course. Students confer about their writing regularly in the Writing Center as well as in class. SAT prep is included.

Course Overview

Academic English III features two major strands. Writing is emphasized in this course to a greater degree than in any other course in the department, as students regularly encounter finished and on-demand core assignments. Students learn that writing is a craft as they recognize and develop their writing voice along with writing skills by completing frequent and diverse compositions, both on-demand and over time. Writing tasks give students the practice necessary to make them aware, flexible writers who can compose in different modes and for a variety of purposes. Frequent writing conferences on major papers are designed to support their efforts to improve their writing. Throughout the the course, a wide variety of prose texts and writing tasks are the subject of student work, as nonfiction readings often accompany core writing assign ments.

While Academic English III is not a survey course, literature of the United States is featured reading and the subject of study. In part, this is because students are concurrently taking a United States history course, presumably at the academic level. More importantly, however, we want students to demonstrate familiarity with and appreciation of the nature and character of American thought, experience and artistic expression through study of its literature. As a result, all teachers devote time to study of particularly Ameri can themes, such as "The American Dream" or "The American Journey" during this course, and select literary texts with these considerations in mind. Students write essays following reading and study including analytical papers, response papers, comparisons, and other forms.

Often, writing and reading assignments are long term. Therefore, students need to manage their time effectively. Students in this course have previously demonstrated that they can research, read, speak, listen, view, and write. Our assumption is that they will hone these skills in a course of study designed to prepare them not just for study beyond high school but for a literate, reflective life of learning, during which they appreciate and contribute to human expression.

Course Components

Writing

Students write for a variety of purposes during the year. They produce eight or so finished major compositions (or "pieces") during the year. They also write in class in response to different topics (stimulus /response or "on demand" writing), during full period essays. Students explore their identity and voice through their writing, and are encouraged to publish their work.

In shaping each of their finished pieces, students consider their own audience, purpose, and strategy. Student attention is focused on numerous writing concerns throughout the year: leads, closings, correctness (sometimes referred to as "mechanics" or "grammar"), voice, details, and more. Major concerns on particular assignments are specified on rubrics and grading guides given to students when assignments are made. The rubrics are particularly important as students develop their own approaches to completing the assignment, assisted by the Writing Center and the classroom teacher. When students pass a paper in, they complete a cover sheet, called Response to Writing, on which they represent their experience and process on each assignment.

Students begin the year with an extensive personal narrative task, based on Donald Murray's "The Stranger in the Photo" essay. While working on this piece, students consider several narratives which demon strate distinct purposes and language use strategies. Through drafting and revising, students shape their own pieces, conferencing several times with the teacher of the course as well as with the Writing Center teacher. This pattern of linking reading to writing tasks is repeated with several of the core assignments.

As the year proceeds, students are required to grapple not only with more challenging tasks. They also must demonstrate increasing sophistication in their writing. Following "Stranger in the Photo," students write an "on being..." paper, which focuses on another person's experience, not their own. This assignment asks students to use interviewing skills developed through the I-Search process (English II). Later, students write their own "reflection to definition" piece, selecting a concept, idea, or object and then setting bound aries for and describing their subject. Other assignments ask students to evaluate an object or concept, persuade, offer commentary, and write about community. A college essay assignment often closes the year.

In addition to the eight finished pieces during the year; they also write and a number of polished response papers in connection with prose readings. Students learn to use detail and marshal evidence and examples. In effect, they learn to write strategically. In connection with many assignments, students learn how to use narration effectively when writing for different purposes, including process analysis, definition, persuasion, argument, division and classification, or various forms of commentary.

From mid-winter into March, students also write "on demand" during class in response to different topics, during full period "MEA-style on-demand" essay topics. These assignments allow students to plan and complete a draft then revise and edit their work into a finished piece. While they are not allowed to conference and are working under some time pressure, they must apply techniques of process writing (their knowledge of their own process) to their work. Students are made familiar with strategies for on-demand writing.

Students learn more about writing with a purpose as they encounter challenges in expressive written communication. They learn to consider the effectiveness of their own work, without relying solely on the teacher's judgment as authoritative. As they become more aware of how language works and exercise and develop their capacity to read and communicate, students will become more comfortable with self-assessment. Writing conferences held with teachers are essential to developing the ability of a young writer to self-assess. Conferences are usually held in connection with the regularly assigned finished pieces while those pieces are in process, although they are sometimes held in connection with the completed versions. Students are required to conference over most core assignments in the Writing Center. This means students gain an additional perspective on their writing, and the resulting conversation and reflection helps them revise with more insight and awareness of what is "working" in their piece. Students benefit from the coaching of this "other" teacher, knowing that the assistance is not resulting in assessment. Conferences are sometimes scheduled outside of regular class meeting times or before/after school. Of course, students are always able to conference with their "own" teacher if they wish, and they are required to have one if they receive an "R" on a core assignment.

Correctness concerns are addressed through teacher commentary on papers and in writing conferences. Basic grammatical terms are occasionally reviewed with the entire class, as there is a need to speak a common language about features of text correctness.

In Academic English III, students are required to turn in sufficient prewriting and drafts with their finished pieces so that teachers may observe the development of student writing. Teachers believe it is impor tant to trace and reflect on the individual student's writing process. Teachers require that papers are handed in on time. Papers turned in after general collection are considered late and thus are subject to late penalties. Specifically, a finished piece designated as a core assignment that is late can earn no more than a 50.

Literature Study

While English III is not a survey course, literature of the United States is featured reading and the subject of study. In part, this is because students are concurrently taking a United States history course. More importantly, however, we want students to demonstrate familiarity with and appreciation of the nature and character of American thought, experience and artistic expression through study of its literature. As a result, some teachers devote time to study of particularly American themes, such as "The American Dream" or "The American Journey" during this course, and select literary texts with these considerations in mind. Some teachers have students read Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye and Kinsella's Shoeless Joe in order to explore American language and idiom. Another common path of exploration is to examine characters in turmoil and crisis: Holden Caulfield, Tom Wingfield, Equality, Conrad Jarrett, Nick Adams, and Huck Finn all face difficult transitions and conflicts with authority.

Lengthy nonfiction works, such as Capote's In Cold Blood, Least Heat-Moon's Blue Highways, and McPhee's Oranges, are considered in a linguistic, literary, and a historical context.

In addition to reading trade paperbacks and selected essays, students work with an American litera ture anthology during literature study. Reading and study activities are meant to heighten student appreciation of American writing. Students are encouraged to develop a broad awareness of subject (what is written), author (who is writing), and purpose (why a work was created).

While each student is encouraged to explore what literature means on a personal level, the class wrestles with possible meanings through discussion and writing. Students often write following assigned readings, producing analytical or response papers. They write to give shape, direction, and character to personal response, and organize and specify their thinking about text, often by grappling with major ques tions posed by the teacher. During the course, students work to develop a deeper awareness of the different stylistic effects created by different syntactical choices and by different levels of diction. Together, a class examines non-traditional as well as traditional American texts. Students may also be asked to research indi vidual American authors or particular eras in American history to help them gain a more complete under standing of our culture.

Some commonly used selections from available anthologies (not including poems, which are also used) are listed below:

• N. Scott Momaday The Way to Rainy Mountain
• (excerpt)
• Ralph Ellison Did You Ever Dream Lucky
• Alfred Kazin A Walker in the City
• John Steinbeck Travels with Charley (excerpt)
• Jonathan Edwards Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
• Thomas Paine The American Crisis
• Thomas Jefferson The Declaration of Independence
• Henry David Thoreau Civil Disobedience
• Abraham Lincoln The Gettysburg Address
• Mark Twain Life on the Mississippi (excerpt)
• Ambrose Bierce An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
• Stephen Crane The Open Boat
• Edith Wharton A Journey
• Carson McCullers The Haunted Boy
• Donald Barthelme The Joker's Greatest Triumph
• John Updike The Family Meadow
• F. Scott Fitzgerald Winter Dreams
• Ralph Waldo Emerson Self Reliance (excerpt)
• Sojourner Truth Ain't I A Woman?
• Herman Melville Bartleby the Scrivener
• Frederick Douglass Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (excerpt)
• Katherine Anne Porter The Jilting of Granny Weatherall
• Tillie Olsen I Stand Here Ironing
• Annie Dillard Seeing

Macbeth is the Shakespeare play studied. The film produced by Kenneth Tynan and directed by Roman Polanski is usually shown, although other versions are available and at times used.

Non-fiction Reading

Students read a substantial amount of non-fiction prose, drawn from different sources, such as magazines, specialty journals, newspapers. The focus of study is upon several key questions: what is the purpose of the piece? who is the audience for the piece? what are the author's strategies? The goal is to have students think about what they're reading in a more reflective, disciplined, logical, and alert way.

Speaking and Listening

Students are involved in a variety of speaking and listening activities. In this connection, they are expected to recognize and reflect on important ideas and take good notes. Collaborative exercises requires listening and speaking as students work together to consider a text, negotiate consensus or recognize differ ences, and present results to the class. As members of a class, students are expected to participate in collabo rative learning activities in a variety of roles (reader, leader, facilitator, recorder, reporter, contributor), all supportive of their own and others' learning. Whole-class discussions provide all students with the opportu nity to present their views in connection with class assignments.

Outside Assessment

Testing or assessment episodes are part of the reality of schooling, particularly, it seems, during the junior year. Therefore, some class time is devoted to familiarizing students with tests requiring writing on demand and/or demonstration of understanding of literary content. Students must take the Maine Educa tional Assessment along with all other 11th graders in the state during the year, and students are familiarized with that test's format. PSAT and SAT preparation is also included, as most students will take these tests as part of the college application process. In addition to becoming familiar with the format of the SAT, students prepare for regular vocabulary quizzes.

Course Materials

Required texts:

Additional texts:

Grading Standards and Student Evaluation

Teachers continually observe and assess student knowledge and ability. They collect and assess student products, such as finished written pieces, on-demand writing, homework, tests/quizzes, response journals, and class notes. They also observe and assess student participation in and contribution to the daily work of the class, as well as in-class task commitment and daily preparation. In Academic English III, stu dent thinking, writing, reading, listening, and speaking are all at the center of class activity. Grading is, therefore, viewed in the complete learning context; "everything" counts as it pertains to the business of the class. A major goal of evaluation is to help students become more aware of how they are doing so that they can learn to assess their own performance. To this end, rubrics and grading guides are used in connection with many assignments.

The usual A B C D F system is used to grade student work. Teachers discuss grades with students in conference during the marking periods. In addition to the usual grades, an unsatisfactory finished piece of writing may, at the teacher's discretion, receive a grade of R, indicating that it may be revised or reworked, then resubmitted for a grade, without penalty. If not reworked and resubmitted within the time frame specified by the teacher, the grade will be F . The R grade is not available on tests. When assigned work is not handed in at the appointed time on the due date the student receives a zero in connection with that assignment. If eventually handed in during the marking period, late work may receive up to (but no more than) a 50, at the teacher's discretion. A zero awarded as a result of cutting is not eligible for such restitution.

Core Assignments

Teachers select, revise, and invent particular core assignments in conjunction with the above curricu lum units. The following pages include examples of these core assignments and, when applicable, their rubrics.

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