Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy

English 9-1

Ms. Hallie Anderson

610.922.2410

handerson@jbha.org

Welcome to 9th grade English. Please tune in to the information below in order to find out about our course content, guidelines and policies/requirements.

Course Content

Our major texts for the year will include The Catcher in the Rye, The Odyssey, Never Let Me Go, Romeo & Juliet and units including short stories and poetry. Outside reading will supplement our main works. Thematically, we will focus on the way our texts illustrate growing up. Coming-of-age stories can sometimes feel unoriginal; how do these narrative voices keep us reading and caring about the characters? How do the authors use style to avoid staleness or cliché?

A typical unit will include:

◙ close reading (we will talk at length about what this is and how to do it well)

◙ enthusiastic class participation

◙ short writing assignments

◙ at least one longer, revised paper (critical and/or creative)

◙ vocabulary study and assessment

◙ grammar/punctuation exercises

◙ an individual or group project

◙ public speaking

◙ quizzes and/or a test

Procedures and Requirements

1) Every time we meet, you should bring a separate binder dedicated to this class (including paper), the text, any relevant handouts and any homework that is due.

2) Take notes daily; those notes should include all major points and questions raised in class and anything that is written on the board.

3) Write in your books. Your marginal notes testify to your dialogue with the text. Underline (rather than highlight) things that interest you, confuse you, annoy you. Annotation will help you both to understand and to thoughtfully critique our works. Passages we discuss in class should definitely be marked and will very likely help you review for essays and tests. Helpful hint: read with a dictionary nearby and write the definitions of mysterious words in the text.

4) We will study vocabulary from our readings and outside lists. Be prepared.

5) All papers written outside of class must be typed in a traditional 12 point font and double-spaced (stapled, if more than one page; seriously – it’s a pet peeve). On the top left, please single space your name, your section and the date you are turning in the paper. Also: include a title which you have carefully chosen in light of what the paper is trying to accomplish (preferably funny but definitely relevant); your title should never be the title of the text about which you’re writing.

6) Keep a copy of all major work you hand in to me.

7) Understand and respect that plagiarism is unacceptable, and that if you use anyone else’s words or intellectual property in your paper, you must reference them properly in parenthetical documentation (we’ll talk more about this).

8) Homework and essays are due and must be turned in at the beginning of the class period. Reading is homework. Any late work, but specifically papers, will be marked down one full letter grade for every late day (including the day of, if you can’t manage to get it in at the beginning of class). Printer problems are no excuse for late work. If you can email me early and then give me a hard copy the next day, your work will not be downgraded. Moreover, once a semester, with permission in advance, you will be able to hand in one late paper with no penalty.

9) Your grades will be numerical and the point value will be determined by the size and significance of the assignment (you’ll always be told which are the bigger assignments and which are the smaller ones). Class participation will be highly valued. You may, indeed, lose points for disruptive or otherwise annoying and un-helpful behavior.

10) Respect everyone and everything that is said in this classroom (unless, of course, a comment is totally ridiculous, in which case politely and logically respond to it). We’re here for the comradeship of learning; please remember that.

If you ever need extra help with an assignment or a concept, please feel free to find me during the school day or to direct a question to me via email: handerson@jbha.org

Assignments:

>Read "Death of the Right Fielder" by Stuart Dybek in the blue packet

>Find 15-20 vocabulary-worthy words from the stories so far

>Define words from vocabulary list from class

>Read "Gryphon" for Thursday, 10/22

>Context Sentences due Friday, 10/23

>Vocabulary Quiz on Monday, November 2nd, E-day

>Finish reading "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid and "The Conversion of the Jews" by Philip Roth by Tuesday, November 3rd

>Read "The Enormous Radio" by John Cheever by Wednesday, November 4th

>For the next time we meet: Read "The Door," by E.B. White and "Everything That Rises Must Converge," by Flannery O'Connor

>Finish reading ALL stories in the packet by the end of Thanksgiving Break

>Begin working on thesis statement/essay organization for the Short Stories Unit Essay

>Read Book I of "The Odyssey" for Wednesday, December 9th; write 5 questions about the reading

>Complete "Fill-in-the-Blank Essay Sheet" for the Short Stories Essay by Tuesday, December 15th

>Complete Study Questions 1-5 on the handout to help with class discussion; finish Book II for the end of the week of December 14th

>Worksheets for Books I & II due; working on Book V "translation" of lines 81-163 and Book IX worksheet; outlines returned and reviewed; Short Stories essay due January 20th

>Be finished reading Books IX (9) and X (10) for Monday, January 11th; keep seeing me and emailing me for help with the essay

>Read Book 11 for Tuesday, January 19th; Short Stories Essay (final draft) due Wed., Jan. 20th

>Vocabulary this week (definitions for Thursday); reading Margaret Atwood's chapter, "Asphodel," from her novel "The Penelopiad"

>Read Book 12 for Monday, January 25th; vocabulary context sentences due Monday as well

>Read "Skip to My Loo"s for Books 13, 14, 15 and read Book 16 for Thursday, January 28th

>For Monday, February 1st, read Books 17 & 18 and complete Book 17 worksheet (below)

>Discussion of the recognition part of Book 19; read Book 21 for Monday, Feb. 7; vocabulary quiz on Thursday, Feb. 4

>Finish "The Odyssey" (Books 22-24) for our next meeting; Odyssey test scheduled for February 22nd -- we will begin a thorough review next week (see materials below)

>Read Chapters 1,2,3 in "Never Let Me Go" for our next meeting

>Read Chapters 4,5,6 in "Never Let Me Go" for Monday, March 8th

>Read Chapter 7 in "NLMG" for Tuesday

>Chapter 8 for Wednesday; through Chapter 11 for Monday, March 15th

>Read Chapters 12 and 13 for Wednesday, March 17th

>Chapter 14 for Friday

>Vocabulary definitions due Monday; read Chapter 16 for Tuesday

>FINISH READING "NEVER LET ME GO" OVER SPRING BREAK

>If you want to get ahead on our final project for NLMG, paste the following url in your address box (http://www.reviewsofbooks.com/never_let_me_go/ )and carefully read two or three of the nine newspaper reviews of the novel (print them out and read with a pen!). The specific assignment will be distributed and explained on Monday, with a due date to follow...

>Vocabulary Quiz Friday, April 16th; "NLMG" assignment due April 27th

>Read Act 1, sc. 1 in "Romeo and Juliet" for our next meeting

>Be through Act 1, scenes 1,2,3 for Monday, April 26th; "NLMG" assignment due TUESDAY, APRIL 27th

>On WED, April 28th, Mrs. Kaplan and I are switching classes, so I WILL SEE YOU GUYS. You need to read through ACT 1, SC. 4!

>For next Monday, be through Act 1

>For Wednesday, May 5th, read Act 2, scenes 1 and 2

>For next Tuesday, May 11th, finish translating the chorus' monologue at the beginning of Act 2 and finish reading all of Act 2

>Finish reading Act 3 for Monday, May 17th

>Try to get through as much of Act 4 as you can this weekend; Committee Meetings for Shakespeare Day pushed back to Tuesday, May 18th (B-day) at LUNCH -- Rooms to be announced

>Send Shakespeare Day projects to me (in detail!) by Sunday night

>If you haven't yet finished reading ALL of "Romeo and Juliet," make sure you're done by the Tuesday after Memorial Day (June 1st)

Links to Handouts:

"Gryphon" Worksheet

EsssayPrompt/Thesis Statement/Organization Packet

"The Odyssey" Book I Study Questions

"The Odyssey," Books I, II and IX Worksheets

"The Humbling of Odysseus" (article)

Chapter 17 Worksheet

Odyssey Test Review Materials

Even More Review Materials

More More More Review