Download Honors English 9 Course Description

Honors English 9 Course Description
The Language Arts Honors path offers a choice for the ambitious language student. Our goal is to have
each and every student working where they work best, in company with students who can support and
encourage each other in appropriate ways. Honors English Nine is for the student who enjoys, appreciates
and practices the habits of reading often, talking and thinking about ideas, and writing with regard to craft
and content. Students who select Honors courses are students who value their own development as
learners and readily seek challenges of their own volition. They are also students who value being with
others who also savor language, ideas and what comes from sharing what they read, write, say, and think.
Enrollment for Honors classes is offered to all students in the spring; teachers and counselors then review
the initial roster, and then talk with students about their choice. The summer assignment is explained; this
is an expectation not to be taken lightly—a student who chooses Honors must hold him or herself
accountable for completing the work. If the summer reading and writing assignment for Honors Nine is not
completed and submitted on time, then the student will earn a zero or be re-enrolled in a non-honors
English 9 class. Additionally, if there are significant gaps between what is expected and what a student
submits for the assignment, then a conference will be scheduled with the parent/guardian, principal, the
counselor and the instructor.
The Honors path is not designed for resistant Language Arts students who might consider the class for
social or political reasons. Enrolling in an Honors class solely because friends are taking it, or because
someone else deems it important on a transcript will not be motivation enough to sustain the commitment
necessary to meet the challenges of this course. Another misconception might be that Honors is “more
work.” Honors is not simply a matter of more titles or more difficult assignments. It may be more accurate
to say that the approach and course work are different from that in a non-honors class though the course
content is often similar. Another primary difference can be seen in student performance and attitude—an
Honors class is vitalized by student talk, work and ideas; in fact, sometimes the pace in an Honors class is
slower but at the same time more substantial. Because this student frame of mind is so crucial to success,
the student’s choice to enroll is the single most important prerequisite.
A main goal of this course is to continue to take the passion that students have for reading, writing, and
discussing literature and ideas and use it to fire further intellectual pursuits. They will be reading texts in
common with their classmates—both fiction and non-fiction. They will use the strategies and tools with
which they are already familiar and continue to use them, as well as new skills, to further advance
themselves as interested readers and discerning thinkers. Also of significance is the writing: it will
encourage personal choice and reflection as well as adherence to assignment goals and objectives.
Assignments and assessments will go beyond recall of facts and short responses to concentrate more on
in-depth analysis and synthesis of findings, observations, and supported opinions and arguments. A large
part of our focus will be on literary analysis, which means studying authors’ purposes for writing and the
tools they use to make their points. Also important is learning how to effectively formulate, express, and
support opinions while listening to others’ views and ideas. Substantive conversation will be key in
classroom time together. Literature’s connection to the wider world, specifically to the human condition, will
guide and deepen our discussion and exploration of works. Another key focus will be learning how to
weave new vocabulary words into writing and discussions. We will also read writing aloud, work
collaboratively on revisions, and share our thoughts, ideas, and observations with one another. Our work
with rhetoric and the rhetorical strategies: diction, detail, imagery, point of view, tone, and syntax is
elemental to all writing and analysis assignments. The final exam for this class is an analysis of seven or
more pieces that exhibit mindful, purposeful use of the class studied rhetorical strategies.
The class readings include but are not limited to memoir; novel; short stories; essays in various genres;
documentary film; classical, modern and epic poetry; and Shakespeare.
The class writings include but are not limited to formal, college-style thesis, analysis, narrative, and
argument essays; creative dialogue; poetry; projects; and presentations.