English Literature Grade 12 A Guide for Parents

English Literature Grade 12 A Guide for Parents Rondi Aastrup, teacher

Grades and attendance n n English Literature is a required course for graduation. Students must maintain a “D-” or better in all four quarters to pass the class. Students must attend 85% of the quarter’s classes in order to receive credit. Students entering class after the first 10 minutes are marked absent.

Homework Requirements n n n No late homework (with few exceptions) will be accepted. Major assignments must be typed; all others neat and legible. Daily journal entries, 5 per week, should be written in a journal to be turned in every Wednesday. Weekly vocabulary quizzes (ACT/SAT prep) on Fridays. Monthly (assigned) book reports are due the last Friday of each month.

Course Content English Literature is primarily a (selective) chronological survey of a couple thousand years’ worth of literature written by British authors n We will occasionally study an author or work in depth. A sample unit appears at the end of this presentation. n

Textbooks and Trade Books n n n Prentice Hall’s The British Tradition Barron’s Hot Words for the SAT I Cliffs Complete Shakespeare’s Hamlet John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice Choice of 7 other selected trade books

Parent Responsibilities and Appointments n n Actively support all school activities, whether your child is involved or not (encourage them to do so as well) Require that your child read at home every day (try to do so yourself as well) Visually check their homework daily (they will have homework from me every day…) to see that it’s done Attend all parent/teacher conferences, no matter your child’s grade or behavior. I want to see parents of A students, too.

Sample Unit Plan—Hamlet to Hamlet: on leadership and life Unit Summary: “Hamlet to Hamlet: on Leadership and Life” is a comprehensive unit about relationships as evidenced in William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. n It addresses issues of familial relationships, friendship, and leadership. n

Curriculum-Framing Questions— Essential Question n Can a positive come from a negative?

Unit Questions n n n n Can literature help us to be better people? What perspective on life does Shakespeare —through his life choices, through his writings? What leadership lessons can be learned from Hamlet? What can we learn about relating to others from Hamlet? What life lessons can we learn from the tragedy of Hamlet? Can revenge ever be good? Is it a good idea to take the law into your own hands?

Hamlet Content Questions— 1 n n Who has the better temperament to be a leader? Claudius or Hamlet? What are the obligations and responsibilities of a leader [king] to his people?

Hamlet Content Questions--2 Who in Hamlet is the most qualified to be king? n What went wrong between Hamlet and Ophelia and why? n How does Hamlet’s relationship with his father affect his relationship with his mother, uncle, and others? n

Hamlet Content Questions--3 Who was the better friend: Horatio, Laertes, or Rosencrantz & Guildenstern? Why? n Was Gertrude a better wife, mother, or queen? Why? n What are Hamlet’s views on women and their roles? What are Shakespeare’s? n

Hamlet Content Questions— 4 n n n What does it take to be a good leader [king, prince, counselor]? What role does conscience play in leadership, in relationships? At what age does leadership responsibility kick in?

Potential Unit Schedule— 1 & 2 n Week One--Introduction to Elizabethan Period l l n Student-researched publications Teacher-produced quizzes and discussion guides Week Two—Introduction to Elizabethan Drama l l Student-researched power-point presentations Teacher-produced quizzes and discussion guides

Potential Unit Schedule— 3 & 4 n Week Three and Four— Introduction to William Shakespeare A&E/Biography video on Shakespeare l Ian Mc. Kellen video Acting Shakespeare l PBS video on The Story of English: A Muse of Fire l Teacher-produced quizzes and discussion guides l

Potential Unit Schedule— 5 & 6 n Week Five—Introduction to Hamlet l l n Teacher-researched power-point presentations Teacher-produced quizzes and discussion guides Week Five and Six—Watch Derek Jacobi DVD of Hamlet l l English subtitles on and student texts open Act-by-Act discussions and worksheets

Potential Unit Schedule— 7 n Week Seven—Watch video clips l l l n Scenes from several versions of Hamlet to promote discussion of interpretation: Lawrence Olivier, Mel Gibson, Kevin Kline, Ethan Hawke, Kenneth Branaugh To Be or Not to Be, Get thee to a Nunnery, graveyard scene, library scene, duel/end Week Seven—Small group discussion l Focus on unit questions

Potential Unit Schedule— 8 n Week Eight—Summary and Conclusion Write formal essay on essential question l Student-researched website demonstrating lessons learned (they will be working on this all unit long, building it as we go) l

Questions? Comments? n n What are your concerns for your child working through this school year? How can I help you to help them to be successful? How can you help me to help them to be successful? How can we stay in touch? l l rondi 2655@yahoo. com www. Thinkwave. com

n. THANK YOU FOR COMING TONIGHT! n. LET’S STAY IN TOUCH