One of my least favorite things to do is to make lesson ...



Students will read a novel or play of their choice.

Strongly suggested novels/plays:

• A Farewell to Arms… Ernest Hemingway

• The Heart is a Lonely Hunter…Carson McCullers

• A Separate Peace... John Knowles

• Native Son…Richard Wright

• The Color Purple…Alice Walker

• As I Lay Dying… William Faulkner

• Slaughterhouse Five…Kurt Vonnegut

• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest…Ken Kesey

• Their Eyes Were Watching God… Zora Neale Hurston

• The Catcher in the Rye… J. D. Salinger

• The Bell Jar… Sylvia Plath

• A Streetcar Named Desire… Tennessee Williams

• Beloved… Toni Morrison

• East of Eden… John Steinbeck

• The Joy Luck Club... Amy Tan

No more than two students per class per novel; novel choices will be finalized (by lottery if need be!) by Monday, March 8th.

On Friday, March 26th , students will take a 100 question selected response test on their novels. NOTE: This the week of the Georgia High School Graduation Test (which shall not be a concern for any of you). Just remember – I won’t be reminding you all that week because I may not be seeing too much of some of you. Should a student receive a 75 or lower on this exam, they will have to retake it. If the grade doesn’t improve, they’ll have to explain how they managed this feat after having read the novel.

Should students wish to choose a novel not on this list, the novel must be approved by me (and the LA consortium) and students must prepare a 25 question multiple choice test. This assignment will be due on Monday, March 29th. A key must be provided designating page #s from the text where the correct answer is to be found and created tests must meet the following guidelines:

14 RULES FOR WRITING MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS

Adapted from a text prepared by Timothy W. Bothell, Ph.D. at BYU

1. Use Plausible Distractors (wrong-response options)

← Only list plausible distractors, even if the number of options per question changes.

← Write the options so they are homogeneous in content.

2. Use a Question Format – Experts encourage multiple-choice items to be prepared as questions (rather than incomplete statements).

Incomplete Statement Format:

The capital of California is in

Direct Question Format:

In which of the following cities is the capital of California?

3. Emphasize Higher-Level Thinking

4. Keep Option Lengths Similar

← Avoid making your correct answer the long or short answer.

5. Balance the Placement of the Correct Answer

6. Be Grammatically Correct

← Use simple, precise and unambiguous wording.

← Students will be more likely to select the correct answer by finding the grammatically correct option.

7. Avoid Clues to the Correct Answer (Mr. Kling often ignores this rule!)

← Avoid extremes – never, always, only

← Avoid nonsense words and unreasonable statements

8. Avoid Negative Questions

• 88% of testing experts recommend avoiding negative questions

• Students may be able to find an incorrect answer without knowing the correct answer.

9. Use Only One Correct Option (Or be sure the best option is clearly the best

option)

← The item should include one and only one correct or clearly best answer.

← With one correct answer, alternatives should be mutually exclusive and not overlapping.

10. Give Clear Instructions

11. Use Only a Single, Clearly-Defined Problem and Include the Main Idea in the Question

← Students must know what the problem is without having to read the response options.

12. Avoid the “All the Above” Option

← Students merely need to recognize two correct options to get the answer correct.

13. Avoid the “None of the Above” Option

1. You will never know if students know the correct answer.

2. Concurrently, students will choose an American poet and read at least twenty to thirty poems by that poet – if not more! There will be a listing of American poets to consider on my webpage. Students must choose their poet by Friday, March 12th. Poets must be okayed by Mr. Kling – to pass the Jewel and Tupac test. Be aware, too, that you will have to research these poets – so, the more famous, the more “canonized” – the easier it will be to find materials. Students will choose three poems by that author that they would “anthologize” in a textbook. Each of these three poems will be mapped – visually indicating at least 7 (seven) poetic/literary devices concerning each poem. Below the mapped poem, students will write a detailed paragraph or two concerning the poem’s theme/meaning and why they choose that poem. This “anthology” will look like a published work and include bogus publishing information as students will be using their critiques in a later paper. This anthology is due on Friday, April 2nd.

Rubric Considerations for Anthology:

Mapping considerations: Choice of literary elements should include basic – alliteration, rhyme scheme – and more sophisticated choices – allusions explained, enjambment choices analyzed – to receive all 10 points.

Rationale considerations: Students are asked to write a detailed paragraph or two concerning the poem’s theme/meaning and why they chose that poem as representative of their poet.

Cover Page _____ / 10

Poem #1 Mapping _____ / 10

Poem #1 Rationale (Both questions addressed thoughtfully) _____ / 15

Poem #2 Mapping _____ / 10

Poem #2 Rationale (Both questions addressed thoughtfully) _____ / 15

Poem #3 Mapping _____ / 10

Poem #3 Rationale (Both questions addressed) _____ / 15

Professionalism of Presentation / Thoughtfulness of choices _____ / 15

TOTAL

3. Students then will be asked to write a poem in the voice of their researched poet concerning a character, theme, or other aspect of their chosen novel. The poem should reflect some aspect of the novel constructed cohesively with style of your chosen poet in mind. It can be a commentary, but it must specifically address some aspect of the story. It could mimic the style of a specific poem by their chosen poet. It cannot be a parody – at least not on purpose! This poem is due on Friday, April 16th.

4. We will be in the library doing research on April 14th, 15th, and 16th (There will be “output” requirements on these days!). In lieu of the traditional note cards, students will be required to keep a record – preferably in WORD – of the notes taken from their sources – these compiled/printed notes will comprise the appendix of the final paper.

5. Students will write a faux English Journal essay (4-6 pages) discussing their created poem’s relevance to both their chosen poet and their novel. They will be required to cite their own work from their “anthology” critiques in their papers – they will essentially be quoting their own academic texts. Students must include 18 (eighteen) citations (6 direct and 12 paraphrased) from their research on their poet, novel, and novelist obtained from 4 (four) databases, 2 (two) websites, and 4 (four) physical texts. Phew! MLA format will be expected! A great website:

6. This paper is due on Friday, April 30th (with two bonus points added) or Monday, May 3rd (no bonus points added). Then you will patient with Mr. Kling as he realizes that, at this LATE date, he has 85 of these to read/evaluate.

DUE DATE REVIEW

Novel Chosen Monday, March 8th

Poet Chosen Friday, March 12th

Multiple Choice Test Administered Friday, March 26th

(or) MC Test Created Monday, March 29th

Anthology Thursday, April 1st

Library Research Wednesday - Friday, April 14th, 15th, and 16th

Computer Lab / Research Monday – Tuesday, April 19th, 20th

Original Poem Friday, April 16th

Final Paper Friday, May 1st (2 points bonus!)

Monday, May 4th (Absolute DEADline)

Important note: Because this is a long-range project, the five-day policy does not apply. The stages in the research process, including the final paper, will be completed on the assigned dates and handed in, whether the student is at school or not. These stages will not be accepted more than two days late. Ten points will be deducted each day for late work. Work is due by the end of the class and considered late after the final bell rings to end the class. Plan. Please.

If a student knows s/he is going to miss school on a due date, s/he should submit her/his work early. If a student is absent the day any stage of the research process is due, s/he must have that material delivered to Mr. Kling by the end of school that day.

STUDENT NAME:

Citations: 12 paraphrased citations (___ / 18 points) _____ / 28

4 short quote citations (___/ 6 points)

2 long quote citations (___ / 4 points)

Works Cited: (correctly formatted) _____ / 4

Appendix: _____ / 6

TOTAL for standard MLA requirements: (nearly 40%) _____ / 38

|CATEGORY |8 |6 |4 |2 or LESS |

| |7 |5 |3 | |

|Organization |Details are placed in a |Details are placed in a |Some details are not in a |Many details are not in a |

| |logical order and the way |logical order, but the way |logical or expected order, |logical or expected order. |

| |they are presented |in which they are presented/|distracting the reader. |There is little sense that |

| |effectively, keeping the |introduced seems formulaic | |the writing is organized. |

|____ / 8 |reader engaged. |and uninspired. | | |

|Style/Voice Considerations |All sentences sound natural |Almost all sentences sound |Most sentences sound |The sentences are difficult |

|(X1.25) |and are easy-on-the-ear when|natural when read aloud, but|natural, but several are |to read aloud because they |

| |read aloud. Each sentence is|1 or 2 are stiff and awkward|stiff and awkward or are |sound awkward, are |

| |clear and has an obvious |or difficult to understand. |difficult to understand even|distractingly repetitive, or|

|____ / 10 |emphasis. |Some rereading required. |after rereading. |difficult to understand. |

|CATEGORY |10 |8 |6 |4 or LESS |

| |9 |7 |5 | |

|CATEGORY |13 |11 |9 |7 OR LESS |

| |12 |10 |8 | |

TOTAL:

Notes:

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