Sophomore Honors EnglishSophomore English studies American literature. We start the year with Native American stories, Puritanism, and Transcendentalism. We read The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath. Second semester, we continue chronologically through American literature with All the Pretty Horses, Raisin in the Sun, and The Things They Carried. Homework mainly consists of reading each and every night (usually about 20 pages per night). During each class, we'll dissect and analyze the social, literary, and psychological aspects of the unit's reading. Each unit culminates in a final project (usually a major written assessment). Grading: The gradebook is broken down into three different categories: Classwork (20% of grade) = the activities done in class (5 points each) Homework (30% of grade) = quizzes on night's reading (5 points each) Essays (50% of grade) = discussed, written & edited in class (~50 points) The Classwork and Homework sections are fewer points and completion credit because these are formative assessment (formative ~ form ~ forming students' knowledge of new subjects). If you put in an honest effort, you'll receive full credit and actually learn the material. The Essays are worth more points and bear more weight on the grade because they are summative assessments (summative ~ sum ~ that culmination of all the learning through the unit). Up to a week of in-class time is spent on these assignments, so they are to be taken very seriously. |