Syllabus for Spring Term

English Literature and Composition Course Syllabus Spring 2014

Mr. Vilbig—Midwood High School

Class Schedule

Unit 1 – Completion of poetry unit. Poetry paper due Tuesday, February 11

Unit 2 – Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain. After initial discussions of the civil war setting and the story of Odysseus, we begin a process in which students are asked to initiate all lessons. Their homework sheet begins this way: For all reading assignments, you will note examples of language you believe are rich in imagery, metaphor, or symbolism and further conclude how these devices may be related to themes in the novel, either those we have already noted or new ones. At least once during the reading of the novel you will be expected to prepare a brief explication of a chapter, or section of a chapter. You will then lead a class discussion on the examples of language use you’ve selected, and how language develops theme, character, and other important elements of the narrative. (three weeks)

Unit 3 - Song of Solomon. This unit focuses on the metaphors and symbols Morrison uses to write a novel that addresses issues of race, gender, class, and family dynamics. We supplement our reading by watching Episode One of the Eyes on the Prize television series, reading Gwendolyn Brooks’ “Last Quatrain of the Ballad of Emmett Till,” viewing stunning photographs of the Birmingham demonstrations of 1963, and reading Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From A Birmingham Jail.” We often read aloud pages of the book that capture the entertaining diction of several of the characters. When we have completed the novel, we read the “Song of Solomon” from the Old Testament and discuss its relevance, as well as the biblical origins of most of the novel’s names. (three weeks)

At this point we spend a week on intensive AP Test review, using past AP essay questions and short answers from the course description book.

Unit 4 - The Great Gatsby. This one-week unit features close examination of the obvious symbols such as the green light, the eyes of Dr. Eckleburg, the houses of Gatsby and the Buchanans, and the more detailed metaphoric description of both people and places. (one week)

Unit 5 - The Poisonwood Bible. Students will examine the novels take on Africa. This also opens up discussion of imperialism as a political darkness in human nature. The way Kingsolver is able to tell her story through five distinct narrative voices is compared with the multiple narrations of The Sound and the Fury. Students prepare for the lessons by selecting language which illustrates the character of each narrator. Often the girls are talking symbolically without knowing it, though both Adah and Orleana are intentionally rnetaphoric. Political issues about the history of Africa, the Congo in particular, are addressed by readings from Adam Hochschild’s King Leopold’s Ghost and by lessons on Cold War politics. (four weeks)

Unit 6 – A Visit from the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan. For the course’s final unit, we will read Egan’s 2010 Pulitzer Prize winning novel. In our work, we’ll continue our discussion of multiple narrative viewpoints addressed already in Kingsolver and Faulkner, and we’ll examine closely the novel’s complex structure of time shifts, comparing Egan’s approach with that found in Faulkner, Frazier, and Morrison, among others. This discussion of time shifts will lead us to examine how the novel’s time structure plays a role in developing its thematic commentary on time itself, and the role that loss, nostalgia, and change play in the lives of the characters. Students will also read selected passages from the opening section of Proust’s Swann’s Way—an important influence on Egan and her novel.

In addition, we’ll examine how Egan uses language to reinforce the novel’s theme of authenticity and its relationship to pop culture, and how music, used as a symbol, plays a role in the development of that theme. We will further discuss how Egan’s efforts to make sense of the emerging socially fractured world, shaped by the Internet and social media, compares to the efforts of earlier writers we studied to address important moral and social issues in their times. We’ll further note how Egan’s use of new communication technologies as narrative devices in her novel raises questions about the author’s and the text’s ambivalence about such technologies. (four weeks)

Housekeeping Matters:

Grades will be based on the following:

Tests, essays, writing projects :  70 percent

Classwork, quizzes, homework, participation:  30 percent

Total: 100 percent

IMPORTANT: Grades are cumulative. That means the grades you make now count as much as the grades later in the semester. So it's important to work hard from the very beginning and not dig yourself into a hole in the first weeks of our class. We will use Skedula, an online grading system in this class. I’ll give you information shortly about how to register. You’ll have your own account, where I’ll post grades. Your parents or guardians should be given access to your account.

Responsibility: It is the student’s responsibility to make up work. If you’re absent, you must find out from a fellow student what work was done in class or for homework and get the work to me the following day. No late homework or classwork will be accepted! If you miss a test, it is your responsibility to let me know and arrange for a make-up.

Attendance: You’re expected to arrive on time for class every day. Absent notes are required if you are absent due to illness or family necessity. 

Electronic devices: 

Keep them in your pockets or bags. No use of electronic devices.

Honor Policy—Cheating and Plagiarism:  

If you do the work of this class on your own, you’ll develop skills that will serve you well for the rest of your life. If you cheat, you’ll get no such benefits, and you’ll receive a 0 on the work in question. Your parents/guardian will be informed of your actions. THIS IS MY CHEATING POLICY AND HOLDS FOR A FIRST TIME VIOLATION. In addition, Midwood has a series of consequences for cheating that you should be aware of, which will occur in addition to my own response noted above. Cheating will expose you to the Midwood consequences too. By cheating you'll also violate my trust in you, and you’ll lose my respect.

Plagiarism: This is a particular form of cheating that requires a special note due to its ubiquity. When you take other people’s work and hold it out to be your own (whether another student’s work or something taken from the Internet), you are engaging in theft. Plagiarism won’t be tolerated. Plagiarism will result in a 0 on the work in question. The consequences enumerated in the Midwood plagiarism code will also be enforced.

IMPORTANT: If you place work on blogs/fan sites, etc., you must not submit that work for class assignments, prior to turning it in for class credit.

Class Communications and Contacting Mr. Vilbig:

Class blog: The class will use a blog to communicate assignments and other important matters. It can be accessed at www.vilbigap.blogspot.com. I highly suggest that you register for the blog and ‘follow’ it, since this will result in your receiving an email notification when new posts are made.

Contact information: The best way to contact me is at pvilbig@schools.nyc.gov. I can also be reached through Skedula. Or by phone: 718 724-8560.