English 4 (WILLIS) FALL 2011 (MONDAYS)

1. 8/22 Introduction; biographical material on Eugene O'Neill

(HW - buy your books, if you haven't already; send an email to Mr. Willis.)

2. 8/29 Begin Long Day's Journey Into Night.

(HW - Read "The Appointment In Samarra," "Godfather Death," "A & P," "A Rose For Emily.")

9/5 Labor Day; no class

3. 9/12 Finish Long Day's Journey Into Night.

(HW - Write essay 1 on a theme from Long Day's Journey Into Night.)

4. 9/19 Turn in essay 1; discuss short stories assigned class 2; read and discuss "Oedipus the King."

(HW - Read "Miss Brill,' "The Tell-Tale Heart," "A Good Man is Hard to Find," and "The Five-Forty-Eight." Also, you have two weeks to read The Lord of the Flies.)

5. 9/26 Hand back essays; read "Antigone"; discuss short stories assigned class 4; read and discuss "The Road Not Taken,' "Ozymandias," 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," 'To An Athlete Dying Young," and "To His Coy Mistress."

(HW - finish reading The Lord of the Flies; write essay 2, focusing on one of the five major characters: Ralph, Jack, Piggy, Simon, or Roger.)

6. 10/3 Turn in essay 2; discuss The Lord of the Flies.

(HW - Read "The Open Boat," "The Storm," "To Build A Fire," and "Greasy Lake." Also, you have five weeks to read Les Miserables.)

7. 10/10 Hand back essays; discuss short stories assigned class 6; begin reading A Streetcar Named Desire.

(HW - Continue reading Les Miserables.)

8. 10/17 Continue A Streetcar Named Desire; have "love" discussion.

(HW - continue reading Les Miserables.)

9. 10/24 Finish A Streetcar Named Desire; read two "Streetcar" essays of former students; read and discuss 'The Death Of The Ball Turret Gunner,' "The Flea," and "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."

(HW - finish reading Les Miserables; write essay 3 on any theme from either Les Miserables or A Streetcar Named Desire.)

10. 10/31 Turn in essay 3; begin "Death of a Salesman."

(HW - read "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," "Barn Burning," and 'Araby"; complete "Fallacies" assignment.)

11. 11/7 Turn in "Fallacies" assignment; take, correct, and discuss a quiz on Les Miserables.

(HW - Read "The Gospel According to Mark," "Young Goodman Brown," "The Rocking-Horse
Winner," and "The Chrysanthemums"; develop the thesis statement for your Research Paper.)

12. 11/14 Finish and discuss "Salesman"; discuss short stories assigned classes 10 and 11; discuss Les Miserables; turn in the thesis statement for your Research Paper.

(HW - write essay 4 on any theme from either "Death of a Salesman," "Oedipus," or "Antigone," or write five short poems.)

13. 11/21 Turn in essay 4; read Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

(HW - Read "The Lottery," "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," "An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge," "Harrison Bergeron," "The Story of an Hour," and "The Cathedral.")

14. 11/28 Read "Lest We Forget," (which includes "Colin's Choice"), "Mr. Rose" and "The Doorway," and "Barrington Bunny."

(HW - write essay 5, your Research Paper.)

15. 12/5 Turn in essay 5; discuss short stories assigned class 13; read "The Lover of Horses"; read past reflective essays of students.

16. 12/12 Read and discuss "Batter My Heart, Three-Personed God," "The Unknown Citizen," "In Westminster Abbey," "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud," and "The Tyger."read "Strange Snow"; review for final.

17. 12/19 Final exam (we will correct it in class, and you will know your semester grade before you leave.)

Final Exam

75 quotations from the works read - you must identify the speaker; 53 questions matching work and author; 39 general questions on the works = 167 total questions.

Number Wrong on Final x .6 = % wrong (then subtract from 100%)

A+ = 96-100%

A = 93-95

A- = 90-92

B+ = 86-89

B = 83-85

B- = 80-82

C+ = 76-79

C = 73-75

C- = 70-72

D+ = 66-69

D = 63-65

D- = 60-62

F+ = 56-59

F = 0-55


Semester Grade

Each of your five essays (as well as the Les Miserables quiz) = 1/10 of your grade; the final exam = 4/10 (1/2).

Rules and Information

1. Late essays will be downgraded 1/3 of a grade for every day late. In other words, if an essay is due on a Monday, and you turn it in on the next Monday, it will go down 2 1/3 grades (an "A+" would become a "C"; a "B" would become a "D-"; a "C+" would become an "F").

2. If you are absent on the day an essay is due, you may email it to me to avoid the downgrade penalty. You will be charged 25 cents/page for the printing.

3. If you are absent on the day of the Les Miserables quiz, you must make it up before the next class. You and I will make arrangements as to time and place.

4. On your fourth absence, you will be dropped from the class.

5. If you need to miss class, please call me at 925-443-9135.

6. My email address is jimwillisca@gmail.com.

7. My website's address is http://jimwillislaspositasstudents.blogspot.com/.

8. A helpful site in studying for the final - http://centrifugal.me/eng-4/.

9. Download the “cheat sheet” for the final at http://jimwillislaspositasstudents.blogspot.com/2009/06/cheat-sheet-for-final.html.

10. Download suggestions on writing a poem at http://jimwillislaspositasstudents.blogspot.com/2009/06/writing-poem.html.

11. Download the character list for the Les Miserables quiz at http://jimwillislaspositasstudents.blogspot.com/2009/06/les-miserables-characters.html.

12. Download the Les Miserables practice quiz at http://jimwillislaspositasstudents.blogspot.com/2009/06/les-miserables-practice-quiz.html.

13. Download the English 4 Syllabus at http://jimwillislaspositasstudents.blogspot.com/2009/06/english-3-4-syllabus.html.

14. Essay suggestions for Long Day’s Journey into Night, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Lord of the Flies can all be found under 2009, June at http://jimwillislaspositasstudents.blogspot.com/.