Ms. Makay

Room 217

 Tutorial Hours: 4:20 – 5:30

Course Description

English II students continue to increase and refine their reading, writing, listening, speaking, viewing, and representing communication skills. Students will plan, draft, edit, and publish written compositions on a regular basis. Students constructively critique their own writing for clarity, engaging language, and correct usage of conventions and mechanics of written English to produce writing free of errors.

 An emphasis is placed on persuasive forms of writing such as logical arguments, expressions of opinions, and personal forms of writing. Students will a variety of literary genres to include novels, literary non-fiction, poetry, drama, non-fiction (essays, articles, etc.), short stories, and mythology throughout the course of this school year.

 Weekly vocabulary lessons will expand your knowledge of content-rich and general vocabulary terms, and will further develop students’ ability to use them on a daily basis, to include study of Latin, Greek, and Germanic word roots. Students will engage in writing throughout the writing process – resulting in at least one publishable piece of writing per grade period.

 Students will develop skills in time management, responsibility, setting priorities, problem solving, respect, and self-discipline as you complete the expectations and goals of this class.

 1^st Cycle (28 Days)

Voice, Tone, and Style in Poetry

1.       Students focus on a genre-specific study of poetic devices, structure, and form, and how voice, tone, and style are expressed in poetry through reading classic and contemporary poetry.

2.       Students will read and analyze (in varying degrees) poetry by Dr. Seuss, Emily Dickinson, Gwendolyn Brooks, Langston Hughes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Shakespeare, and other poets and musical artists

3.       Students will be able to define and identify in poetic works Voice, Tone, and Style, as well as other poetic devices and literary elements (i.e., figurative language, meter, imagery, etc.)

4.       Students will write at least one poem and analyze their own poetic voice, tone, and style

Voice, Tone, and Style in Literary Non-Fiction

1.       Students also read and analyze selections of literary nonfiction with an emphasis on voice, tone, style, and theme.  

2.       Students will read segments of literary non-fiction texts, (Tentative Selections Include: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, and/or Night by Elie Weisel)

3.       Students will be able to analyze selections of Literary Non-Fiction and to critique in written response.

2^nd Cycle (25 Days)

Purpose and Rhetoric in Expository and Persuasive Texts

1.       This unit looks at how expository and persuasive texts convey author’s purpose through a use of diction, syntax, imagery, symbol, and figurative language. Students analyze organizational patterns, rhetorical strategies, persuasive appeals, text features, and graphical components of expository texts and persuasive texts.

2.       Students will read, analyze, and critique various selections of persuasive and expository text (student-written and professionally published)

3.       Students will engage in discussions and debates to explore varying common persuasive arguments.

4.       Students will produce an argumentative essay focusing on form and strength of argument.

3^rd Cycle (27 Days)

Introducing & Analyzing Drama

1.       The focus of the unit is on the genre of drama. Students examine structure, purpose, theme, and style by looking at literary devices, tone, and language.

2.       Students will read, discuss, and analyze The Crucible by Arthur Miller and/or Antigone by Sophocles.

3.       Students will engage in activities to explore dramatic elements in life and literature.

4.       Students will compare and contrast classical drama with contemporary adaptations /representations in alternate genres.

5.       This unit culminates in the creation of analytical essays.

4th Cycle (28 Days)

Reading and Analyzing Fiction

1.       Students analyze plot structure, conflict, characterization, theme, tone, mood, setting, and other elements of fiction. Students continue to make inferences regarding the texts they read and provide textual evidence to support their opinions.

2.       This unit will focus on the a specified theme in a number of short stories and a full-length novel. (Tentative texts:, The Five People You Meet in Heaven).

3.       In Part 1, students turn these inferences into a full-length analytical essay. Students examine the historical environment of the novel and explain how this influenced the meaning. Students focus on Sentence Fluency and Presentation with a review of pronoun forms.

4.       In Part 2, students review the elements of an effective 26-line persuasive essay and craft an example in preparation for the STAAR exam.

5^th Cycle (30 Days)

Introducing & Analyzing Rhetorical Devices in Social Issues

1.       This unit focuses on reading expository and persuasive texts which discuss social issues.

2.       Students will read and analyze a number of non-fiction articles, editorials, newscasts, documentaries, etc. regarding social issues.

3.       Students focus on how information is conveyed through organizational patterns, how audience is addressed through appropriate tone, and how visual     media can impact texts.

4.       Students review the elements of an effective 26-line persuasive essay and craft examples in preparation for the STAAR exam.

5.       Students continue to focus on proper punctuation in order to meet the 6+1 Traits of Writing focus on Conventions.

6^th Cycle (37 Days)

Social Issues in Media – Rhetoric in Media & Multi-Media Project

1.       Students focus on the rhetorical strategies of visual media, ad campaigns, and modernized fiction such as comic books.

2.       Students will read the novelette Animal Farm and explore the allegories for media and propaganda in the story.

3.       Students analyze how author’s purpose, tone, and theme are conveyed using a variety of literary and rhetorical techniques.

4.       Students use this information to create a research-based multi-media project which will be presented to the class formally.