ENGLISH II & ENGLISH II HONORS

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Course Name: English II
Course Code: 1001340
Honors Course Code: 1001350
AP Course Code:

Description:

Dreams (both achieved and unfulfilled) have powered the writings of authors from ancient Greece to the present day. Dreams about conquering nature, being respected, or even winning the lottery have given authors memorable characters and limitless storylines. In this course, you will sample some of these storylines. You will also get to create some dreams and stories of your own.

In addition to evaluating the plot and characters of well-known writers, you will learn to identify themes, create dialogue, and appeal to emotions. You will study various forms of communication including: oral, visual, electronic and textual. You will also develop your own ability to communicate dreams and aspirations with conviction.

Great authors have something to say and the ability to say it well. This course will show you how they do it, and will invite you to do the same.

Prerequisites: Recommended: English I

Estimated Completion Time: 2 segments / 32-36 weeks or 1 block/18 weeks

Major Topics and Concepts:

Segment 1

* Study/Research Skills:
--Organization, planning, time management
--Research and note taking

* Oral Speaking and Listening Skills:
--Listening and speaking about organization, time management, and literature

* Vocabulary:
--Self choice (personal vocabulary list)
--Identify words and define
--Use in context
--Greek roots

* Composition:
--Grammar: grammar diagnostic, self-evaluation and goal-setting
--Writing Process: Brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing, publishing
--Parts of an Essay
--FCAT Writing: expository and persuasive essays, thesis statement, supporting details, timed writing, proofreading/editing
--Reading Logs: writing about literature, thesis statements, supporting details, compare/contrast
--Student to Student Interaction and Dialogue
--Drama: interpretation of dialogue/dialect
--Humorous literary devices, characterization, analysis
--Creative (museum exhibit), summarization, comparison/contrast, letter form, analysis, persuasion, annotations
--Self-reflection/Metacognition (monitoring of one’s own writing process)

* Literature:
--Reading skills: compare/contrast, predictions, connections, analysis, visualization, summarization
--Elements of a novel: plot, setting, characterization, theme, conflict/resolution
--Drama: aspects of performance, humorous literary devices, dialogue/dialect; plot events
--Literary Concepts: Allusion, denotation, connotation
--Mythological Tales From: Near East, Egypt, Rome, Africa, and Greece
--Synthesis of information
--Media Literacy – create a presentation

Segment 2

* Study/Research Skills:
--Organization, planning, time management
--Research and note taking
--Test taking strategies
--Career/ personality diagnostic
--Boolean logic
--Website credibility

* Oral Speaking, Viewing and Listening Skills:
--Listening and speaking about poetry, literature, and writing
--Levels of Communication: Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, Small Group, Public Speaking, Mass Media
--Effective Oral Presentations: Voice Quality and Non-Verbal Characteristics
--Propaganda: Uses and Types, analysis of, interpretation

* Vocabulary:
--Self choice (personal vocabulary list)
--Identify words and define
--Use in context

* Composition:
--Poetry modeling, analysis, evaluation, sentence variety, effective word choice
--Persuasive Appeals: Ethos, Logos, Pathos Parts of an Essay
--Persuasive Techniques in Rhetoric and Composition
--Reading Logs: writing about literature, thesis statements, supporting details, compare/contrast
--Student to Student Interaction and Dialogue
--Persuasion, analysis, synopsis, speech writing
--Research topic selection, mapping, I-Search journal, primary/secondary sources, quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing, interview questions, bibliography, evaluation
--I-Search paper, synthesis, revision, chronological organization, narration, point of view, voice and style, verb variety/active verbs, tense, descriptive language, avoiding plagiarism, internal documentation (citations), integrating quotations and paraphrases, external documentation (works cited)

* Literature:
--Critical Reading Skills: Cause and Effect; Comparison/Contrast; Author’s Purpose; Main Idea; Evaluation; Summarization
--Nonfiction: various Holocaust survivor stories, various articles on propaganda, advertising, teen spending, including a/v clips, body language, oration
--Short story: analysis of plot, character
--Fiction: novel: analysis of theme, character, setting
--Literary Concepts: Imagery, simile, tone, parody, point of view, conflict, free association, protagonist, antagonist, short story characteristics, theme, objective writing, subjective writing, bias, loaded language, connotation, denotation

Course Assessment and
Participation Requirements:

Besides engaging students in challenging curriculum, VLACS guides students to reflect on their learning and to evaluate their progress through a variety of assessments. Assessments can be in the form of self-checks, practice lessons, surveys, multiple choice questions, writing assignments, projects, research papers, essays, oral assessments, and discussions. Instructors evaluate progress and provide interventions through the variety of assessments built into a course, as well as through contact with the student in other venues.