Course Syllabus

Welcome to Mrs. Anderson's English 10 Advanced College Prep!

Purple Block

Room 231

email: andersona@wellesleyps.org

website: Canvas

office hours: Tuesdays 2:35-3:30 & A Block TBD (drop in) and other times by appointment

 

Course Description and Outline

Welcome to sophomore English, a course in which we focus on novels, plays, short stories, essays and poems by American writers with the goal of becoming better readers, writers, thinkers and speakers.

Expectations

Homework and General Workload

You will have some kind of homework due most days that our class meets. As indicated by the course description in your Program of Studies, students in English 10ACP should expect an average of 30-35 pages of reading. Other daily assignments will include informal writing assignments, preparation for discussions, presentations, or projects that you will be working in class. Throughout the year, you will carry out steps of the Sophomore Synthesis Project, a project that asks you to explore a question of importance to you through the lens of art.

 Participation

We learn better when we are engaged. We learn more and help others to learn when we share ideas, ask questions, challenge assumptions, and debate opinions. I offer these three basic steps to being a good class participant: 

  • Come to class. For anticipated absences, be proactive about communicating with me, rescheduling assessments. For all absences, check Canvas, look at the day’s class sides, or get in touch with classmates to find out what you missed. Be prepared to turn in and/or make up work on a timeline that is consistent with the make up policy in the WHS Student Handbook (page 41 and 42). 
  • Come to class on time. If you are late for any reason, enter quietly without disrupting the class in progress. Please familiarize yourself with the policy regarding unexcused tardiness to class in the WHS Student Handbook (page 15).
  • Come ready to think, speak, ask, write, wonder, read, act, engage. Complete homework to the best of your ability, be ready to share ideas, ask questions, and join discussions. Class is so much more interesting when everyone participates. 

If something (or someone—even if it is me!) is getting in the way of your ability to participate in class, let me know so we can work it out together.

Late Work

I understand that it can be hard to keep up with deadlines. Do your best to complete assignments consistently, and communicate with me if you start to fall behind. I usually accept late work with a penalty (10% per day); I will clearly announce any exceptions in advance.  I impose a deadline after which late work will not be accepted—usually two weeks after the due date for major writing assignments, one week or less for minor assignments.  

Writing

We will practice writing analytical, creative, and personal pieces. We will concentrate on writing effective evidence paragraphs and build up to writing strong synthesis essays. We will focus on writing as a process that involves multiple steps, from prewriting through revision.

You will complete informal writing assignments (reader responses, journals, freewrites, etc.) frequently, sometimes in class, sometimes as a preparation for a class. Some of this writing will generate ideas for class discussion. Some of it will lead to formal papers. Some of it will simply serve to chronicle your engagement and progress through the literature. All of it is important to your progress as writers and as critical readers.

MLA Format

Please follow Modern Language Association (MLA) guidelines for formatting all typewritten work when I have asked for a polished, printed copy. The Online Writing Lab of Purdue University provides a complete description of MLA formatting, and in class, we will prepare an MLA formatted Google Doc for your convenience. 

Feedback

You will receive formative feedback on your work in the form of rubric scores, written comments, and points. Formative assessments such as homework assignments and reading quizzes are designed to allow you to practice skills repeatedly over time. Summative assessments, such as essays, projects, and tests employ the skills you have practiced on formative assignments. Periodically, I will ask you to reflect on your work and on the feedback you received so that you can then reflect on next steps for growth. It’s important for you to review my feedback; if you do not know how to find it in Canvas, please ask for help.

Grades  

Each quarter grade will be calculated as follows:

  • Major Assessments (papers, presentations, and projects) = 60%
  • Homework (e.g. reading quizzes, weekly Membean assignments) = 20%
  • Participation (e.g. completion of Do Nows, positive engagement in class, etc.) = 20%

The Year 1 Grade (Y1) is calculated as follows:

Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 = are each 22%  of the Y1 Grade; the Final Experience (E1) is 12%.

Accommodations

Please be proactive about communicating with me about any accommodations to which you are entitled. 

District accommodations (DCAP) are available to all students, and in the 26-27 school year, WHS is committed to moving this forward with fidelity.  

While some accommodations can be offered at the moment, others require advanced notice. 

For example: Extended time on an in-class assessment is a collaborative decision made by the teacher, student, and family to meet individual student needs.  The WHS guideline is up to 25% extra time.  This accommodation relies on proactive student communication prior to the date of the assessment.  The student and teacher must establish how the accommodation will be provided. 

Integrity

Respect yourself, respect others, and take responsibility for your actions. Cheating shows a lack of respect for self and for others. Shortcuts—such as using AI in any capacity, consulting online book summaries, or asking a friend to copy their homework—is cheating. If you are unprepared for a quiz, or if you are about to miss the deadline for a paper, accept your responsibility by speaking to me honestly and accepting the consequences. Familiarize yourself with the Wellesley High School Academic Integrity Policy on page 47 of the 2026-2027 WHS Student Handbook. Do not be tempted by the great pressures on you to look for another way out of doing your own work and doing it honestly. 

Unless an assignment says so explicitly, you are not to use AI or outside sources of any kind for your work in this class. Your name at the top of the paper, test or quiz is a declaration that the work you are handing in is yours and only yours. When an assignment does call for an outside source, you must cite your sources accurately. If you use the ideas or the words of another and you do not cite your source, you are falsely claiming those ideas as your own, and that is plagiarism. Remember that unintentional plagiarism is still plagiarism and the consequences of plagiarism are serious. 

Class Norms

Uphold our WPS Core Values. Do your part to contribute to a healthy, respectful, supportive, and joyful learning environment. Being present in class does not merely mean that you are in your seat. It means focusing on the business of class, trying to learn, and allowing others to learn. Listen to the best of your ability. Wait your turn. Feel free to disagree with ideas, but do not ridicule or belittle the person whose ideas you are challenging. I look forward to getting to know each of you and learning from and with you.  

We live in complicated times, and we are facing challenges that demand that we be thinkers who can manage complexity. As we practice reading texts closely and critically, working to develop the skills required for literary analysis, I hope you will see yourself reflected in some of the American stories we will study. Where you do not see your experience mirrored, I hope you will find a window into the lives of Americans whose stories differ from yours. I hope you will bring your own story into conversation with the stories of authors and the stories of your peers. I hope you will join in dialogue and debate about what America is, what it isn’t, and what you want it to be.

Literature

We will read a variety of authors and genres, and I hope to offer choices whenever possible. Some examples of what we might choose from are below:

  • Poetry and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bob Dylan, Claudia Rankine, Maya Angelou, Emily Dickinson, Richard Blanco, Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, e. e. cummings, Walt Whitman, Mary Oliver, Martín Espada, Ntozake Shange, Naomi Shihab Nye, and others
  • Essays by Martin Luther King, Jr., Henry David Thoreau, Jennifer Finney Boylan, Gloria Naylor, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Malcolm X, Alice Walker, Sherman Alexie, Lauren Groff, James Baldwin, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Maxine Hong Kingston, Amy Tan, David Brooks
  • Novels/plays and their film adaptations such as The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald & director Baz Luhrmann), Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck & director Gary Sinise), The Crucible (Arthur Miller & director Nicholas Hytner)
  • Plays such as Fences (August Wilson), A Streetcar Named Desire (Tennessee Williams), and Death of a Salesman (Arthur Miller)
  • Films such as The Post (2017) and One Night in Miami (2020)
  • Short Stories by  Jhumpa Lahiri, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Sherman Alexie, Eudora Welty, Sandra Cisneros, Alice Walker, Susan Minot, Amy Hempel, and Ernest Hemingway.
  • Novels such as Their Eyes Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston), Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger), Homegoing (Yaa Gayasi), Speak (Laurie Halse Anderson), Silver Linings Playbook (Matthew Silver) 

Help Me Be the Teacher You Need

If you ever feel you are not being heard, seen, respected, or valued by me or your peers, you have a right to tell me so. If you feel uncomfortable in class because of anything I have done or not done or because of the behavior of your peers toward you or toward others, you have a right to tell me so. If you feel worried about the work or feel I haven’t adequately explained what is expected of you, you have a right to tell me so. Please help me be the teacher you need me to be by communicating with me as openly as you can.