English 2 Honors
Ms. Kopriva
(revised 2002)
Contact Information
Voice Mail ext: 5275
Preferred e-mail address: e2h@sunspark.com, sunspark2@aol.com
(for AOL formatted messages only)
General
Strictly speaking, this is not a syllabus but a general outline of what
we will be doing in this course. Class time will be divided among literature,
Writing Workshop, and Reading Workshop. Each of you will be working on assignments
in all three areas, and, although you obviously will be working on only
one of them at a time, there might be many different assignments you are
juggling. The one thing that is constant is this: there is always
an English assignment, even if it is one that you have created yourself.
In general (although not always) the weeks will divide as follows: Monday
will be Reading Workshop; Tuesday will be Writing Workshop; other days will
be for work on literature.
What You Need
In addition to required texts, you need a Writing Journal. The Writing Journal
is a permanently-bound journal for keeping scraps of your thoughts and pieces
of writing we will discuss this in class. You also should have a pocket
folder or (preferably) a loose leaf binder for use as a class notebook and
as a working portfolio for Writing Workshop, though most of your materials
will be kept in cubbies in the room.
Literature
On days not assigned to workshops, we will discuss the literature, which
includes Huckleberry Finn, Catcher in the Rye, and Death of a
Salesman, as well as a short story book and a poem book, handouts, and
several optional novels or plays which we may read, including Our Town,
The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, The Crucible, and others.
We will discuss issues and techniques in these books, and you will be writing
several major analytical pieces during the year as well as some quicker
overnight papers. (The latter papers may always be turned in one day late
if they are typed and spell-checked.)
Reading Workshop
Each Monday, we will have Reading Workshop.
First of all, the single most important thing you need to do on Monday is
to come to class prepared to read; that means be sure you have your
reading material ready when you get here!
Each Reading Workshop day will begin in a different way. Sometimes we
will start with a mini-lesson, most of which will probably be of the "let's
introduce a genre or author" variety. I have tons of authors (short
story writers, poets, novelists, essayists, etc.) to whom I can introduce
you; feel free to suggest others. Sometimes the class will begin with a
book discussion led by a student in the class. Other times the workshop
session might revolve around a project that someone is trying to do. In
any event, you can expect that the "pre-reading" part of the workshop
will occupy us for at least the first ten or fifteen minutes of the day.
I have established a fairly large class library. Anyone may borrow a
book for as long as it takes to read it, but please bring it back and don't
hold onto it if you are not reading it. If you have books to donate,
please bring them in.
Assessment
Each quarter we will change the means of assessment of RW. However, the
single most important assessment tool I am going to have in these workshops
will be your written responses to the literature you are reading, which
will constitute the bulk of your grade for this element of the course. Your
goal is to read one book per month, and to read a wide variety of book types.
Each month, also, you must submit a written reflection or analysis on that
month's book, which may take the form of a reflection journal. Occasionally,
we will forego the independent reading element of the workshop in order
to spend time discussing the things you are reading.
One option for reflection is a Dialogue Journal shared by two readers. In
your letters to each other, talk about what you have read. Tell what you
noticed. Tell what you thought and felt and why. Tell what you liked and
disliked and why. Tell how you read and why. Tell what these books, stories,
essays, poems said and didn't say to you. Ask questions, make predictions,
seek help. And write back about your ideas, feelings, experiences, and questions.
Do not simply repeat the plot. The intention of these dialogues is
not to tell others about this cool book you are reading; it is to give yourself
a chance to think about what you read and how you approach it.
You may write letters and respond to letters both during and outside of
reading workshop, and on reading days as well as reflection days.
Procedure, if writing a Final Reflection:
When you complete a book, take the time to write a final reflection
on it in some form. I will provide you with a sample reflection from the
past, but you should adapt both your structure and the effort you put in
to accurately reflect the kind of book you have read. (A Dean Koontz book
might not occasion as much thought as a Tolstoy novel, for example.)
Procedure, if using Dialogue Journal:
* Please date your letters in the upper right-hand corner.
* Please mention the title of the piece you are discussing, and underline
it (if it is a novel or play) or place it in quotes (if it is a poem or
story). Feel free to abridge a subsequent reference to a title; this isn't
a completely formal procedure.
* Please be sure that every letter or other reflection you write
makes use of quotations from a book. This is the only rule we will have,
but it must be followed. Try to punctuate those references correctly. (Don't
worry: this will be the subject of a mini-lesson).
Writing Workshop
Each week, on a designated day, we will have Writing Workshop. This
will focus on individual student writing, and each of you will be working
on pieces you have created. You will be drafting or redrafting pieces either
in class or in the computer lab, or perhaps you will be conferring with
me or a classmate for feedback on a piece in progress. Specific details
about revision, submission, and conferencing of pieces will be on a separate
handout.
Until the portfolio, most of the WW grade will be based on my observations
of your use of class time, your Workshop Summaries (see below), and your
conferences. About four times each semester, I will assess your progress
in WW by collecting a Work In Progress and grading your achievement. At
this time, you will turn in all drafts of your selected work in a single
folder. You may, of course, continue improving the piece later. You will
decide ultimately when the piece is finished, but you should pay attention
to feedback from all sources if you decide to include a piece in your portfolio.
The goal of the Workshop is to improve your writing and to make you more
responsible for that improvement. You will work on pieces that are not "assigned";
that is, you choose the topic and form of the piece, whether it might be
a personal response, a poem, a story, an essay, or even an analytical paper.
You determine whether and to what degree to proceed with revision, but you
should not simply abandon everything after a single draft.
In general, your work will proceed as follows:
You will begin writing something, possibly brainstorming it in conversation
or clustering, possibly beginning as a journal piece or some other less
structured piece of writing. If you decide you like apiece, you should type
it into a computer and begin the workshop process, which involves bringing
it to classmates and to me for formal conferences in which we will discuss
ideas you or we have for revision. The word "revision" means to
re-see; it doesn't mean to fix an error or two or even to add a paragraph.
Early revisions might involve completely starting over with a new format
or point of view, just to see where the piece would go. Eventually, you
will decide how you want the piece to look and what form it will take.
Conferences with me will most likely be held outside of class time. I am
available at specifically designated times and places; check the sign-up
sheet and make an appointment. All pieces that are taken to multiple drafts
on computer must involve conferences with me, and the pieces which find
their way into a portfolio must have undergone at least two conferences
with me.
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