Fontbonne Hall Academy Course Outline English 12: 2017-18

Fontbonne Hall Academy Course Outline English 12: 2017-18 College Composition: First-Year Writing Mr. Ugenti - [email protected]

COURSE DESCRIPTION This is a writing course that uses interpretation and analysis of texts to promote clear thinking and effective prose. Students will learn the conventions of collegiate academic writing. We will cover academic and scholarly documents, as well as primary and secondary source analysis. This course gives students practice in understanding writing as a process, one that encompasses continuous drafting, revising, and editing. The texts students create this semester will come out of their passions, experiences, and beliefs. This course also helps students analyze texts and incorporate research and documentation into their writings. This course will explore concepts like family, memory, place, culture, and gender through the use of forms such as memoir, essay, documentary, manifesto, poetry, graphic text, literary analysis, and letter. As a class, we will analyze different aspects of society. Topics covered and discussed will range from film and television, society hot topics, social justice issues to body image, masculinity and femininity in America, among others.

This is a writing intensive course based on three beliefs about writing:

1. Writing is a form of personal and cultural power. Writing is a way of understanding yourself, understanding the world, and of making people listen to you. It reflects society.

2. People learn to write by writing. The more you write, the better you get at it.

3. All writing is a form of research, and research is a social act. You learn more as writers and as members of a community by learning collaboratively. Research will be a creative, interactive endeavor that takes place both in person and online.

Based on these beliefs, you will spend the semester writing, reading, and researching. These guiding principles will allow you to reach the following goals:

COURSE WRITING OBJECTIVES By the end of this course, all students will be able to successfully: ● Practice writing as an act of discovery realized through recursive patterns of generating, drafting, and revising their work. They will revise their essays to discover and refine intentions and interpretations and to confront complexity. ● Understand the interactions among a writer’s purpose, audience, subject, and genre, along with how each of these contributes to an understanding of culture. ● Consciously practice inferential thinking, proving their abilities in this area by explaining the connections between their claims and the evidence offered. ● Develop a greater awareness and understanding of the conventions that govern various writing situations.

My goal is not just to improve your writing abilities. While following these objectives and beliefs, I also hope to expand your skill set as a person, a humanitarian, a scholar, and a citizen of the world, mainly through: ● Foundations and Skills for Lifelong Learning— the ability to explore subjects with curiosity, initiative, and independence. They will review prior learning to reveal significantly changed perspectives about education and life experience.

● Information Literacy—know when there is a need for information, able to identify, locate, evaluate, and effectively use that information.

● Critical Thinking—engage in the exploration of issues, ideas, and events before accepting or formulating an opinion.

● Ethical Reasoning—assess one’s own ethical values and the social context of problems, recognize ethical issues in a variety of settings, think about different ethical dilemmas and consider the ramifications of alternative actions.

REQUIRED MATERIALS "They Say / I Say": The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing with Readings Third High School Edition, Hardcover W.W. Norton # ISBN: 978-0-393-93843-2 Frankenstein unabridged by Mary Shelley # ISBN: 0-486-28211-2 Room by Emma Donoghue Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud Paddle Your Own Canoe by Nick Offerman The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

Every student is still expected to bring a source for taking notes (electronic or physical). All students are expected to have a piece of paper and pen/pencil for potential assignments. (Your computer not working/ being dead/ internet out will not stop class)

SUBMITTED WORK All work must be submitted in proper MLA format: typed, double-spaced, 12 point font (basic font: Times New Roman, Arial, Tahoma), 1’’ margins. Homework, writings, and other assignments should always follow the proper MLA format when possible. Proper MLA heading, such as follows: Name Jane Fiction Teacher’s Name Mr. Ugenti Class English 12 Date Month Year 11 September 2017

Please note that students are required to turn in drafts of all major essays. Drafts are part of the learning/writing process. All revisions of papers are required to be handed in with the previous drafts. Please make sure that you hold on to returned drafts and adhere by the revision suggestions. NO ESSAYS WILL BE AWARDED A GRADE UNTIL A PREVIOUS DRAFTS HAVE

MAJOR ESSAYS Once per quarter you will have a major essay assignment (~ 5 pages) that will culminate the different lessons and discussions for the quarter. This essay is expected to have a draft submitted beforehand (may or may not be a reflection paper). These will be graded based upon a rubric. The categories graded will be: 1.) Argument/ Answering the prompt/ question, 2.) Structure/ Organization, and 3.) Grammar/ conventions. WRITING PROCESS All of our formal writing will follow this process: Understand Task (step 0) Ask yourself and your teacher questions Prewrite/ Research: Start to research your topic. Know how to distinguish between reliable sources. Start to brainstorm. We will work with various techniques such as freewriting, Venn diagrams, and other graphic organizer techniques. Drafting: Writing down sentences and paragraphs 1st draft Revising: (big level) Go back and re-draft Evaluate your sources. Enough Primary and/ or secondary sources? You will go back and forth between drafting and revising multiple times. Writing is cyclical and recursive. Proofread: (small level) grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc. Submit/ Publish: finish + done

Too often, students write a thesis before having read or understood anything. Students then try to fit their reading into that thesis—whether it works or not. Our structure will allow students to more naturally develop a thesis, modeling a practice of good research in general, including demonstrated understanding of source quality and the appropriate use of primary and secondary sources. It takes constant, continual honing of writing skills in order to craft higher quality writing.

REACTION/ REFLECTION PAPERS About once per cycle (~ 5 per quarter) , you will submit on google classroom a reflection paper. These papers will have a content and/or style requirement for you to fulfill. They may be practicing a writing skill our textbook mentioned and/ or just reacting to what we are reading/ discussing. It may be a rough draft of a longer paper. These will be graded in two ways: ● Homework: Successfully submitting the complete assignment on time. ● Reflection Paper: The content of the paper will be graded on a scale of 1-5 regarding completion of the assignment and requirements (including templates, length, etc.)

HOMEWORK I expect homework to be neat, legible, and thorough. - I reserve the right to conduct a pop-quiz based on homework or previous lessons - You are responsible for getting your assignments to me - If you are absent or miss a test/quiz/assignment, you must see me to make it up

ACADEMIC HONESTY Plagiarism: Plagiarism is defined as “stealing and using the ideas and/or writings of another as one’s own”. Copying from authors, websites, Cliff Notes, Sparknotes, etc. without giving credit to those sources is considered plagiarism. See handbook for full school policy.

Cheating: Cheating is defined as “[the act of]…play[ing] or do[ing] business in a way that is not honest”. At the end of every midterm, final, and regents exam the student will sign a declaration which states, “I do hereby affirm, at the close of this examination, I had no unlawful knowledge of the questions or answers prior to the examination and that I have neither given nor received assistance in answering any of the questions during the examination,” and it is expected that each student apply this idea of academic integrity to each and every assignment this year.

ATTENDANCE/ LATENESS - If you frequently comes late or frequently misses class will have her grade lowered - If you know you will be absent, please contact me prior to missing class - You are responsible for finding out what work you missed and making it up - If you are absent for a test or when something is due, it is your responsibility to see me on the day of your return to make arrangements for a make-up or submission o If you fail to see me promptly, you forfeit the right to a make-up and your work will be considered late (with penalty)

ASSESSMENT & ASSIGNMENTS Homework & Participation 10% Reflection Papers 15% Quizzes 15% Major Writing Assignments: 30% Tests 30% - The Final Exam will count as a separate quarter grade (as in a Q5) - The Summer Reading Test and Midterm Exam will count as two test grades - Late assignments will drop points if overdue, including weekends and vacations - All assignments are to be typed (size 12, Arial or Tahoma or Times New Roman, double-spaced, with a one inch margin on each side) - Assignments not submitted in proper MLA format will lose points

CLASSROOM ETIQUETTE - Respect: for your teacher and your peers- Know when to speak, when to listen. - Be Proactive! You are expected to be proactive in bringing forth any questions, concerns, or problems. Let me know if you are having trouble or confused. - No cell phones may be seen at any time. Laptops/ chromebooks are for schoolwork only. o If you are caught using devices like laptops/ chromebooks for something other than class work, you will have those privileges temporarily suspended. - You are expected to be present physically AND mentally. - I expect everyone to participate in discussions. - I reserve the right to remove or prohibit any obstructions to the learning process from the classroom. This may even include you, if you are becoming a disruption from the lesson.

College Credit: This course may be taken for college credit through our bridge programs with St. Joseph’s College, St. Francis College, or St. John’s University. Please see the Director of College Bridge Programs, Ms. DeLuca, for more information.