We should be, as the Staples mission statement says, "a community of learners." Even minor work in English should be part of a class-wide conversation about reading and thinking and writing and meaning. We should read a book and immediately try to employ critical skills to understanding it and trying to get at the heart of what it might say to us, and we should be excited to share discoveries with the people around us. Then, when I try to teach a new critical skill, the student should be ready for it, even starving for it so he can get deeper or express his discovery more effectively.
So here's the syllabus in its entirety, including the Natalie Dee comic I'm putting at the end of all my syllabi this year:
Reading Goals
This year, our goal is for you to learn to read more accurately, actively, and deeply. Nobody should go through life feeling intimidated by a challenging book, so we'll be working on the skills you need to:
• take effective notes
• manage your time in order to keep up with the assigned reading
• use your time efficiently by developing strong ideas about a book right from the start
• rely on more than plot to shape your impression of a book and its meaning
• use your imagination to help you enjoy a book more and learn more about it
• find something to love about a book
This course tries to strike a balance between letting you pick great books you're already interested in and giving you a great education by getting you interested in challenging, influential English literature. While text selection will be influenced to some extent by your thoughts, we'll probably hit most of the following: William Golding's Lord of the Flies, J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, and William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
Writing Goals
Our goal is to use writing as a way of thinking more deeply about complex issues and then to express those discoveries clearly and persuasively to others. To that end, you'll work on:
• the skills of grammar and mechanics you need to construct a sentence that expresses your ideas clearly
• the techniques necessary to base ideas on evidence
• the structures of a cohesive piece of writing
• the sense of voice and tone that give writing personality and force
• the time-management skills necessary to turn in a piece of writing on time
We'll write all kinds of pieces in this class. Analytical, evidence-based essays are the core writing of this course, but we'll also write meditative pieces, brainstorming exercises, self-reflective work on process and writing, criticism of others' work and our own, personal narratives, etc. We'll write at two major, revised, polished pieces each quarter, and you will be strongly encouraged (and at times required) to meet with me for conferences on your written assignments.
Collaborative Skills Goals
Very few of life's great exploits take place in a vacuum. Part of being well educated in English is being able to influence and lead others and to work with them towards a common goal. Collaboration can take place in a classroom discussion, on a project outside of class, or online, and since you'll be doing it your whole lives, you should get good at:
• respectfully agreeing and disagreeing
• giving and taking constructive criticism
• listening carefully to others' ideas and building on them
• taking responsibility for your part of a larger task
• loving to be wrong so you can learn something instead of just "winning" an argument
• conferencing with peers and with your teacher
• taking effective notes on ideas you hear or read
• expressing yourself effectively in writing, speaking, and all kinds of alternate media
Whether or not you're "good at" English, like it, or would rather be hung by your toenails over a pit of burning boogers than have to read Shakespeare, you have to come to class and do some work, or you'll get in huge trouble. So, while you're here, why not learn to enjoy the material and succeed in the subject?
comic from www.nataliedee.com
Anybody have some thoughts for me?
