A major goal of English 12 is for enrolled students to attain the highest level of
college and career readiness. Students need to use English fluently and
accurately to meet the demands of community college, four-year college, the military, and the
workplace. This course will prepare students to approach a wide range of texts
(literary and non-literary) in various genres and media to build an
understanding of the many dimensions of human experience. Furthermore,
students need a command of language and an appreciation of the richness of
literature for self-fulfillment and to accomplish their own purposes.
The Senior Writing Project will be an important part of this process.
Additionally, this course serves a practical function by ensuring that all
students have met state standards for graduation and have the skills to meet
the requirements set for post-secondary endeavors.
English 12 Syllabus
Overview:
English 12 is a course designed to allow students the opportunity to read,
interpret, and analyze various works the instructors have selected to
demonstrate major concepts, themes, intellectual trends, and literary forms
found throughout the course of English literary history. Students will study
works from the very beginnings of English literature in the Anglo-Saxon era to
the modern and post-modern works of the twentieth and twenty-
first centuries. In addition to the study of English literary history,
students will also be required to create and present a major research project.
Students will also complete various short writing and public speaking projects
on a variety of subjects.
Class Activities:
Writing: Students will build their critical thinking and writing skills
through the completion of various writing assignments, including essays
analyzing literary works, satiric essays, personal/college application essays,
character analyses, and a research project. Students
will also be expected to explain personal responses to literary works, compare
or assess different works and ideas, and express and explain original ideas.
Speaking/Listening: Students will be expected to participate in class
discussions and present information, both individually and in groups.
Grammar: Grammar will be reviewed and sentence structure analyzed in
order to help students refine their writing skills.
Vocabulary: Students will develop vocabulary through the study of literature
and the Sadlier Vocabulary Texts, volume F. Students
will be expected to demonstrate their mastery of vocabulary words through
announced quizzes and various expository or creative writing assignments.
Texts and Units:
Main Texts: Adventures in English Literature
Short works from various sources
Other Works:
Othello by William Shakespeare
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee
The Stranger by Albert Camus
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Fences by August Wilson
A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
Main Units:
Anglo-Saxon Literature and Old English
The Middle Ages
The Renaissance
The Seventeenth Century
The Restoration and the Early Eighteenth Century
The Age of Johnson/The Age of Sensibility
Romanticism
The Victorian Age
The Twentieth Century
World Literature
Strand: Society and Literature
T. KNOX 2012-2013 GRADING POLICY
HOWARD HIGH SCHOOL
Grading Scale - Howard County Standard Scale:
89.5 - 100 % = A
79.5 - 89 % = B
69.5 - 79 % = C
59.5 - 69 % = D
Below 59.5 % = E
Your grade/average will be based on the total number of points you earn out of the total number
possible. This may vary each quarter, depending on the number of assignments and their point
values. To calculate your grade/percentage, divide the number of points you have earned by the total
number of points possible during each quarter.
Factors that will influence your grade:
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS* and QUIZZES may be assigned points, which will be added to the point
total. *Late homework will be accepted ONLY in the event of an excused absence.
ALL OTHER MAJOR, PREANNOUNCED ASSIGNMENTS will be reduced by ONE letter grade for every
unexcused day late. The writing process includes many steps, and students must also show evidence
of completing ALL steps of compositions and projects. NO assignments will be accepted for credit
after THREE unexcused days late.
VOCABULARY STORIES will count for 30 points each and will be governed by the statement just above.
SPEAKING AND LISTENING ACTIVITIES may also count as tests or quizzes and evaluated as announced
in advance.
Each student is expected to bring her/his current TEXTBOOK/NOVEL, LOOSELEAF BINDER WITH PAPER,
PEN, and SCHOOL AGENDA BOOK to every English class.
Students are encouraged to ask questions, question vague intellectual authority, actively participate
in class DISCUSSIONS frequently, and to FULLY PARTICIPATE in all class activities.
• RULES, POLICIES, and PROCEDURES— It is the student’s responsibility to know and follow all HoHS
rules, policies, and procedures as specified in the “Howard High School Pride” booklet, aka “Agenda
Book,” pp. 13-27. Consequences will be assigned according to the PBIS Discipline Ladder.
• ABSENCES— Assignments missed because of excused absences are to be made up within the
corresponding number of days absent as per school policy (1 day absent = 1 day to make up
assignment; 2 days absent = 2 days make-up time, etc.) or are recorded as zeroes.
It is the student's responsibility to provide documentation for all absences and to complete make-up
work in a timely manner.
• MISSED ASSIGNMENTS that have been scheduled prior to a student’s absence are expected to be
completed promptly upon a student’s return to school. Please contact me individually (in person or
via email) to arrange a convenient make-up time after school. You may expect that make-up tests
will be different in format and scope. If you are late to school and miss our class on the day that an
assignment is due, leave your assignment with the secretary in the front office and ask that it be put
in my mailbox. When possible, students should send long-term written assignments into school on
the due date.
• HONOR CODE--All students are expected to complete their own work during every academic
situation.
In a case of plagiarism/academic dishonesty, all parties involved risk losing credit for the assignment.
Parents will be notified, and a disciplinary referral may be submitted to the front office.
• STUDENT RECORDKEEPING--Keep track of your grades: these may be checked online periodically.
Your report card grade should not be a surprise to you.
For more up-to-date information and assignments, go to my pages at
http://teacherweb.com/MD/HowardHigh/School/TKNOX
I am available before and after school in the English Office, B107, except for Monday afternoons.
Don’t be a stranger.