English 11B, day 1

Course Description

            In English 11, the major focus is American Literature, but aspects of both literature and composition will be covered.  Students will develop their writing skills by using a writing process to complete multi-paragraph essays that attend to purpose, audience, development, structure, and style.  Students will also continue to refine their research, documentation, and persuasion skills. Students will use their knowledge and understanding of literary techniques and rhetorical devices to comprehend, respond to, interpret, and evaluate fiction and non-fiction selections.  

In addition to the history of American Literature and the traditional canon that expresses the shifts in our culture, the Grade 11 curriculum provides a clear presentation of the importance of marginalized cultures.  As a way to help students identify with all dimensions of the American literary culture, the curriculum will begin with an initial assignment to explore the dreams Americans possess by examining some important values in contemporary America.  After initial work with contemporary culture, each of the collections will include work which asks students to explore the “dreams” of members of the primary literary movement and those of members of marginalized cultures of the period as demonstrated in their writings.

Units of Study:

Tri B

• REVIEW: Rise of Realism:  Civil War to 1914 (Realism and Naturalism)
• The Moderns:  1914-1939
• Contemporary Literature:  1939-Present
• Research Writing; Research; MLA style/citation; Synthesis; On-Demand Writing

English 11B

Introductory Writing Assignment

Choose one of the following topics:

1. Write about an object owned and valued by you or by some member of your family. Your mother may own a wicker basket brought from Hungary by her grandmother in 1822. Your brother might think his arrowhead collection is the most magical thing in his life. Your father may have saved a battered trumpet he played in a high school marching band. Your job is to look at the object, perceive it physically (sight, smell, touch, taste, sound), and to write about its special history or meaning. Lead the reader toward an insight or understanding of its emotional or personal significance.
2. Recall a particularly good or bad experience in your life caused by a single event (perhaps the night you went camping in Oregon or the summer afternoon you spent shopping with your Italian aunt). Look in detail at all the sensory elements that return to your memory. Re-create the experience in such a way that the reader can see, hear, and feel the whole of it. At the end, reflect on the significance of the experience today (which might be different than how you felt about it at the time).

Note:

Ms. Johnson will use this writing assignment to evaluate whole class and individual writing strengths and weaknesses and establish goals for writing improvement.  For all other writing assignments, we will write multiple drafts and engage in peer revision and editing.

This assignment will be graded as follows:

                Exemplary:           30 points

                Proficient:             26 points

                Basic:                     23 points