American Literature

2011-2012

Mrs. Kindschi 

Class content:

We will be reading literature by a wide range of American authors to be selected from the following: 

• Colonial Period: Captain John Smith, Anne Bradstreet, Jonathan Edwards and Edward Taylor

• Revolutionary Period:  Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington

• Early National Period:  Washington Irving, William Cullen Bryant, Edgar Allen Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne

• America’s Golden Days:  Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson

• Period of Conflict:   Walt Whitman and Abraham Lincoln

• Realism:  Mark Twain, Stephen Crane and Emily Dickinson

• Twentieth Century:  O. Henry, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Ray Bradbury, Eudora Welty, William Faulkner, Robert Frost, Theodore Roethke, Gwendolyn Brooks, Dorothy Parker, Ayn Rand, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Daniel Keyes

Classroom rules:

• Name calling, bullying and other intimidating behavior will not be tolerated. Everyone in the classroom should feel safe physically and emotionally at all times.
• Respect each individual's right to be heard in discussion sessions.
• Follow all school rules.

Expectations and procedures:  

• Be in your assigned seat when the bell rings with materials ready for class. If you are tardy more than once, you will be serving time after school. 
• Begin the bell work when (or before) the bell rings.
• Maintain an organized binder with all work for class readily accessible. 
• Complete all assignments and be prepared to work with assignments in class on the due date. 
• Take care of personal needs during passing time. Exceptions will be made for emergencies only.  You may bring a water bottle to class; don’t ask to go get a drink. 
• The teacher dismisses the class, not the bell.  Do not begin packing up materials until directed to do so.
• Make an effort, not an excuse. 

Grading:

Your grade for the class will be based on the following knowledge:

• Literary terminology and application  25%
• Literary comprehension  25%
• Literary analysis – written and oral/discussion  30%
• Historical context  20%

Excused absences: 

• After giving your readmit to the teacher, take the work from your absence that should be clipped to the front of the cabinet.  
• Any notes, etc. that were given during the absence are your responsibility to get.  
• If something was due while you were absent, please write the date you were absent on the top of the paper and put the assignment in the late/absent basket.  Excused absences provide one day for each day absent to turn in work for full credit. 
• It is expected that any work due the day of the absence will be turned in on the day you return to class.  Remembering to do so is your responsibility. 
• Quizzes and tests are frequently announced several days in advance, so be prepared to take any tests or quizzes the day you return, regardless of absences. 
• Please remember that it is not possible to re-create some activities, such as discussions.  An effort will be made to find suitable replacements for those activities, but it may require an after school meeting. 
• “I wasn’t here” will not be accepted as an excuse.  Life continues, even when we don’t feel well.

Unexcused absences:

• If you made the choice to not attend class, you made the choice to miss the opportunity to show what you know. Per school rules, you will not be given the opportunity to make up work or other assessments from an unexcused absence.  

Late Work:

Work turned in after the due date may receive partial credit.  The highest possible grade late work will receive is a C- and will be accepted only up until the next grading period, including progress reports.  Any work not completed by the end of each grading period will not be graded. 

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if there are any questions or concerns at any time this year.  I am looking forward to a great year!  :)

Mrs. Jessica Kindschi

jkindschi@cambridge.k12.wi.us           

(608) 423-3261  Ex. 3121