Freeman

English X

Docfreeng@aol.com

Overview:

The tenth grade course is essentially a survey of some of the greater works of world literature, focusing principally on the Western tradition. A primary theme explored is the search for identity, both personal and social. This survey complements the sophomore’s study of European History. Close reading and critical thinking and writing are heavily emphasized. In addition, occasional oral presentations and web-based research projects may be required. Intelligent and probing discussion of the literature will be the primary focus of our classes.

Syllabus:

Strunk and White: Elements of Style

Selected poems from The Norton Anthology of Poetry

Bronte: Wuthering Heights

Robert Louis Stevenson:  Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde

General Expectations:

Students taking English X at Brunswick are expected to be in class on time with all the necessary materials, and to be prepared to contribute to the class discussion.

Grading Policy:

Grades in English X are determined by the overall quality of a student’s written and oral work. In particular, weekend essays count for 30% of a student’s grade, tests for 25%, oral participation for 15%; creative writing/in-class writing for 20%, and reading quizzes for 10%.

Homework

During any given academic week, homework consists of reading and annotating the assigned text(s), preparing the assigned topics for class discussion, and organizing individually chosen topics for oral presentation to the class; in addition, students should always come prepared to take a "surprise" reading quiz. Occasionally, short writing assignments will also be assigned during the week (in addition, that is, to the longer weekend assignments). Weekly assignment sheets will be distributed at the beginning of each week and are available at my homepage at the English Department Website (see above). Students who are having difficulties or have any questions are free to e-mail me at the address at the top of the page.

Weekend essays:

Weekend essays are generally 3-5 page word-processed papers; they are intended to require a student to generate original thoughts and interpretations. Class notes and readings will provide the basis and direction for these essays, but the students should clearly understand that they are to incorporate their own thoughts into the writing.

Grades for these essays are determined by the student’s command of the topic, his/her depth of understanding, and the clarity and conciseness of the prose (including the effectiveness of sentence, paragraph, and essay structure as well and the proper use of language).

Essays must be word-processed and "hard" copies submitted; in addition, this year Brunswick will be contributing to a nation-wide archive of student essays, with the goal of preventing plagiarism. Therefore, in addition to the "hard" copy of the essay, each student will be asked to submit a copy electronically for this archive. Essays should be double-spaced and the student’s name and the date placed in the upper-left hand corner of each page. Essays should always be titled (and some thought and creativity are needed here; "Waldo’s Essay on Macbeth" is not worth much as far as titles go). The use of spelling and grammar checkers is encouraged, but it must be remembered that even the best machines are fallible; nothing truly substitutes for careful proofreading and editing skills. For questions about formatting quotations and documenting sources, see the English Department Stylesheet.

Lateness Policy:

Essays and other homework assignments are due in class (or, in dire emergencies, in my mailbox located in the main office) on the day indicated on the assignment sheet. If I have not received the assignment by the time I leave school at the end of the day, then it will be considered LATE and will be penalized 5 points for each day it is late. A student may seek to gain an extension by asking me at least one day in advance; no extensions will be granted the day on which an assignment is due. I reserve the right to refuse to grant an extension if I feel that the reason for the request is not legitimate or if the student in question has a history of abusing the extension policy.

Make-up Work:

If a student is out of school with an illness the day on which an essay is due, that essay will be due the day the student returns to school; it is considered, except under exceptional conditions, that an essay is a long-term assignment and that students ought to plan accordingly. A student who misses school on the day of a test or other in-class writing will be given two days to make-up the assignment. It is the responsibility of the student to schedule the make-up time with the teacher, not the other way around.

Failure to take a test or submit a paper within the given period of time will result in a 5 points per day penalty. Deadlines following lengthier or more serious illnesses will be negotiated on an individual basis.

Vocabulary:

Frequent (if not always weekly) vocabulary quizzes will be given; the vocabulary lists, including words taken from the texts we are reading, will be distributed in class and are available at my homepage on the English Department Website.

Essay Re-writes:

A student who receives a grade below a "B" (83) may re-write the essay after having a writing conference with me. This conference is required to ensure that the re-written essay will be of suitable quality and worth the time and effort required to earn a new grade; the final grade for the assignment will be the average of the original and the re-written essay grades. NOTE: the original, annotated essay must accompany all re-written essays.

Extra Help:

Individual attention is available in two ways: A student may "drop in" to the English department or my classroom during free time, or he/she may schedule a conference at a mutually agreeable time. Extra help may be obtained from any member of the English faculty. In addition, I shall be available on-line for help at selected times, and I shall check my e-mail each night.

Academic Honesty

Reading great literature and struggling with the weighty ideas contained in that literature has bought joy, fulfillment, and confidence to people for centuries.  Not surprisingly, the Brunswick School English Department is committed to the idea that students should learn to read and enjoy great works of literature and should then learn to articulate in clear, concise writing the thoughts inspired by that literature. The thoughts the students generate, however, should be their own, derived from the works read and the guidance provided by the English instructors. The thoughts presented in their written work should not be regurgitated thoughts culled from external sources such as Cliff’s Notes, Sparknotes, or any of the numerous sites devoted to providing students with ready-made essays.

Because students are unfairly tempted to plagiarize ( to illegitimately use someone else’s work in place of one’s own) by taking whole essays, parts of essays, or merely bits of sentences from the websites they find, Brunswick is now subscribing to an online service that will check the authenticity of students’ written work either whole or in part. All essays submitted to us will be checked by this service, developed by a group of professors at The University of California at Berkeley. Initially this may sound like an extreme solution, but further deliberation should bring students and parents to the realization that the pressure to plagiarize in the quest for higher grades has been lifted. The Brunswick English Department has always preferred that students learn to think for themselves and learn to articulate their thoughts in original form rather than merely regurgitating the thoughts of others.  The adoption of the new technology merely reinforces the preexisting policy.

            Students who wish to use outside sources to assist them in writing papers must cite those sources, and any member of the English Department will gladly provide assistance in doing so. Failure to cite a source will be considered plagiarism. Any assignment found to be plagiarized will receive a zero and the student will be required to rewrite the essay. The maximum grade for the rewritten essay will be a 50. The student will also face serious official sanctions from Brunswick or Greenwich Academy.

            The same sort of standards that apply to the construction of essays also applies to daily assignments. Homework of any sort that is handed in under a student’s own name must in fact be work produced by the student, not through collaboration with other students; some assignments may ask students to work in a group, but such projects will be clearly delineated as such.  Any homework submitted that is not clearly collaborative in nature must be original. We would like students to learn in to take pride in doing their best on any given assignment. Parents are always welcome to assist their sons and daughters in doing homework, but help should be rendered with the understanding that homework is an opportunity for students to strengthen their knowledge; homework is not something that is merely to be completed.

            The Brunswick English Department takes very seriously the issue of academic integrity, and we hope our strong stand on this issue will help students avoid succumbing to the powerful temptations with which they are presented.