Syllabus: Week 6, February 10

STEP TWO: READ WHAT OTHERS HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT your book. Having completed (or nearly finished) your book, the next step is to read others’ opinions about the book. That might be a published book review. It might be an article about the author. Or an interview. It might be a database, subject overview which discusses your book. It might be advertisement for the book. This step, called “the review of literature,” is when you read what others have written about the book. You do this WAY before putting pen to paper, expressing your own thoughts. As with our first step, you will keep track of your findings on a google sheet. Also this week, we will wrap up our reading of the Wilderness packet. I will collect and grade annotations next week! Our next book is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Pick up your copy from the bookstore this week.

TUESDAY

• 20 minutes of independent reading.

• Returning to the wilderness packet, and specifically looking at the poetry in our packet.

• After examining these poems, we will begin reporting out on your research on your independent reading via a new google-sheet.

• HW: You should have finished reading your book by next week. Get that done (if not finished already).

Annotation Tips:

• “Still Puritan After All These Years”: How are current Americans similar to Puritans of old?

• “American in Legend”: What did pre-colonial Americans think about witches, the devil, and the wilderness?

• Arthur Miller, introduction to The Crucible: What did the Puritans think about nature and wilderness?

• Washington Irving’s “The Devil and Tom Walker”: How is nature portrayed in the story?

• Krakauer’s “The Alaskan Interior”: How is nature portrayed in this chapter?

• “This Land is Your Land”: How is land portrayed in this song?

• “Trees” and “Lost”: How are trees and the forest portrayed in these poems?

THURSDAY

• xxx

• HW: Annotations in the Wilderness packet are due next Wednesday. This long weekend, review those, circling vocabulary, writing out questions, and adding your responses as needed.

Syllabus: Week 4, January 26

STEP ONE: CHOOSING YOUR BOOK, STARTING THE GOOGLE SHEET should be completed. At this point, the expectation is that you are reading your book, daily. That’s important to do—a little bit each day. Make that reading a habit, and you will be done with the book before you can say, “American transcendentalism.” This Friday we will be in the Library building word and phrase lists that are topically connected to your book. As with other aspects of junior theme, we will share these lists publicly. I will talk more, in the Library on Friday, about why research is best conducted in public, with others doing like-minded research. It’s enough here to say that research should be public, transparent, and shared. PARENTS: you can view your scholar’s book selection and an overview of their reading log by clicking here. You can view their initial word/phrase research terms by clicking here.

TUESDAY

• 20 minutes of independent reading.

• Returning to the wilderness packet, and specifically looking at two paintings:

  • First, looking at “American Progress”

  • Second, examining the cover to Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath.

• After examining these art works, we will start a documentary on how nature is portrayed in American painting.

• HW: Spend at least 1/2 hour, PER DAY, reading your junior theme book. That will be you nightly homework between now and January 30.

WEDNESDAY

• Finishing the documentary on nature portrayed within American paintings.

• HW: Continue reading your junior theme book until it is done.

FRIDAY

• We are meeting in the Library with Mr. Garneau who will help us build a database of research words, terms, and phrases, as you look for articles about a) your author, b) your book, c) more about your book’s topic, and d) literary examples that are connected to your book by subject, theme, or possibly even your writer.

• We will practice writing claim paragraphs for three literary works from our wilderness packet. The first is a selection from Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, Tom Joad hiding from the police in a cave. The second are the lyrics to Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land.” The third includes the first two chapters of Jack London’s novel White Fang.

  • Tom Joad on the importance of companionship when in “the wilderness.”

  • The backstory to the song, “This Land Is Your Land” at the Kennedy Center.

  • The audio for the first chapter of London’s White Fang. Two men struggle to cross a frozen wasteland to deliver the corpse of a formerly wealthy gentleman. One of their six sled dogs goes missing in the night.

  • In chapter two, “The She-Wolf,” the circle of wolves—and the daring wolf who sneaks into their pack—draws closer.

• HW: Continue reading your junior theme book until it is done.

Syllabus: Week 3, January 19

IF YOU HAVE NOT COMPLETED THE “PRELIMINARY THEME RESEARCH” form / google sheet, please get that done ASAP. That’s important to start writing now, even if you are only beginning a new book for your research project. Writing while you read is important, because writing is a form of thinking. While writing, you will not only answer questions, but think of new questions, make connections you otherwise missed, come up with new ideas that will lead to new realizations and even more questions. Toward this end, I have added my thoughts on by book, The Rumbaugh Love Curse, a novel that on the surface seems like a poor choice for a research project. After all, it is about twin pharmacists who use their deceased mother for a taxidermy project, because they love her so deeply they cannot stand to keep living without her. These notes will help you shape an essential question that will—at least at the start—guide your research into other examples of American literature.

WEDNESDAY

• Reviewing the shared google sheet and my notes of my junior theme book. PARENTS: you can view this sheet by clicking here.

• Completing—as much as you can—this form for your own research.

• HW: Spend at least 1/2 hour reading your junior theme book. That will be you nightly homework between now and January 30.

FRIDAY

• Remote learning day.

• Complete the Canvas assignment, which requires you to take a photo of yourself reading your junior theme book, and submit it via Canvas.

• HW: Continue reading your junior theme book. It’s a great weekend to either finish or get a good chunk of the book read!

Syllabus: Week 2, January 12

BRING AND READ YOUR JUNIOR THEME BOOK each class for independent reading. If you have already read your book, you should re-read portions, keeping notes on the themes in the book, and what argument the writer is making about life, via the book. In other words, if the book is the writer’s answer to a question, what question is the writer responding to? Using this framework will help you think about the lesson(s) your writer explores, the different themes in the book. In class and for homework, we will read through the Wilderness packet over the next four weeks. We will read consistently and regularly in it. DO NOT LOSE YOUR PACKET. I WILL COLLECT AND GRADE YOUR ANNOTATIONS.

TUESDAY

• Reviewing the syllabus.

• JT google sheet, and independent reading for 20 minutes.

• 7th period: Reading introduction to Miller’s "The Crucible”
  8th period: Lecture on wilderness in the aforementioned.

• On the topic of witches and American superstitions: Lore (podcast)

• The Puritans and witchcraft. Returning to our reading of Dorson’s American in Legend, starting at top of page 13. Scholars will report out on circled vocabulary at end of reading.

• Closing the day by introduction to Washington Irving’s “The Devil and Tom Walker.”

• HW: Catch up day. Finish selecting your junior theme book, and have title entered by class tomorrow. 7th period will need to finish reading the start of Miller’s “The Crucible.” 8th period should skim “The Devil and Tom Walker.”

WEDNESDAY

• 10 minutes of independent reading.

• Close reading of Washington Irving’s “The Devil and Tom Walker.” What argument about American’s religious beliefs is Irving making, via the story?

• HW: Finish reading “Tom Walker”for homework. Be prepared to share circled vocabulary in class on Friday.

FRIDAY

• 20 minutes of independent reading.

• Adding information to the JT google sheet.

• Finishing our close reading of Washington Irving’s “The Devil and Tom Walker.” What argument about American’s religious beliefs is Irving making, via the story?

• Using three blog posts to better understand the story:

  • Great Awakening and the Washington Irving Society (WIS)

  • The Man Behind “The Devil & Tom Walker” by the WIS

  • The Writing of DTW in Paris

• HW: Finish the study guide on DTW for class on Wednesday (no school on Monday for MLK Jr. Day)

Welcome to Semester Two

WHAT MAKES FOR A GOOD JUNIOR THEME? This answer is simpler than you might imagine. In my view, it’s a mistake to think, “I will read this book, read these articles and that short story, and write a paper on what they say.” In short, that’s a little bit like trying to bake the world’s best lasanga, and starting by going to the grocery store and buying ingredients. You are much better off by starting with a question, “What sort of lasagna would I like to make?” Then find different recipies and comparing them, keeping written notes about what you like or don’t like. The searching for different recepies based on your notes. Then taking more notes, searching for different advice, and writing up what they say. And only when you feel like you have enough information, THEN go shopping for ingredients. What will your lasagna be like? Who knows? It depends of a) what you find, b) what you think about what you find, c) what you look for next, based upon what you find, and d) what you THEN find, based on what you found, what you thought about what you found, what you looked for based on that, and what you wrote about based on that. In other words, true research is a journey, and a series of decisions to search for different materials. The paper is actually the LAST thing you do, and by that point, the paper should almost write itself.

WEDNESDAY

• Grades on finals, and semester grades.

• Lecture: How NOT to work on your junior theme.

• Independent reading for 20 minutes.

• The Puritans and witchcraft.

• HW:

FRIDAY

• We are meeting in the Library today.

• Mr. Garneau used “Yertle the Turtle” as a scaffold for thinking about how to derive a topic of theme from your book, whatever you might be reading.

• Students should have either a good idea or a decision about which book they are using as the anchor for their research. Please post that title and author into the “Preliminary Junior Theme Research Book 2026” google sheet. You will need to fill out that form as you read or re-read your book.

• HW: 8th period should read item #3 in the Wilderness packet, the introduction and the first few pages of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. (7th period will read the first part in class, the remainder as homework on Tuesday).

Syllabus: Week 16, December 18

OUR FINAL WILL TAKE PLACE ON THURSDAY, DEC. 18. 7th period will take their final in our classroom at 8:15 AM. 8th period will take it before lunch, that same day, at 11:00 AM. As a reminder, the final has four section, and each section has ten multiple-choice questions. It has two selections from (two different) novels, another selection from a non-fiction text, and a poem. Again, 40 questions total covering the four different readings, none of which we have studied. The final is worth 20% of the final grade.

TUESDAY

• Overview of the day, and 20-minutes of independent reading.

• Small group work on the study guide for Act 2,i-iv.

• Watching the second act portion of the film. We will get up to the fight between Troy and Cory.

• HW: The worksheet we worked on today is due on Friday. If you haven’t finished reading the play, get it done by Friday.

WEDNESDAY

• Reading a new short story, in order to practice for the final. “King of the Bingo Game” by Ralph Ellison is set in the late 40s / early 50s, and is the story of a poor man who tries to win the bingo-lottery in order to pay for his wife’s doctor.

• HW: Complete the study guide questions at the end of the story. We will finish discussing it in class on Monday.

FRIDAY

• 20 minutes of independent reading.

• Watching the play we did NOT read, “The Crucible.”

• HW: If you didn’t turn in your copy of Fences today, Monday will be your last chance to do that. I will collect (and grade) your answers to the questions on “King of the Bingo Game” on Monday. Those should be hand-written (unless you have a typing accomodation).

Fences

Click here to watch the film version of the play.

Syllabus: Week 15, December 1

FOR YOUR ANNOTATIONS IN FENCES, I AM LOOKING for the usual circled vocabulary words (there will obviously be fewer than with Frederick Douglass) and the questions you have as a reader (questions about plot are fine, but those on theme are better). In respect to your notes on Troy, pay attention not only to what he does and says, but also to what he says he believes. The play is called “Fences.” Troy is building a fence around his house throughout the play. Obviously, you should reflect on what the fence means, and what fences mean to Troy in particular. What will this fence accomplish? What is he protecting in his world (for example, he is the provider protecting a home and his family)? What is he hiding from (for example, he is keeping his affair/relationship a secret)? Why is it important (for example, in baseball, “Swing for the fences,” means trying to hit a home-run)? I want to see your thoughts, in words, in the margins by the most important passages of the play.

TUESDAY

• Overview of the day, and 20-minutes of independent reading.

• Small group work on the study guide for Act 2,i-iv.

• Watching the second act portion of the film. We will get up to the fight between Troy and Cory.

• HW: The worksheet we worked on today is due on Friday. If you haven’t finished reading the play, get it done by Friday.

WEDNESDAY

• Returning the FD papers and lecture on how to revise.

• HW: Begin revising your paper. A new draft is due in class, one week from today.

FRIDAY

• 20 minutes of independent reading.

• Working on the final study guide to the play in small groups.

• Finishing the film version of the play.

• HW: We will start sketching out your final paper on Fences in class on Tuesday. Your annotations and the final worksheet are due Tuesday. The revision of the FD paper is due Wednesday.

Syllabus: Week 14, November 17

UNLIKE FREDERICK DOUGLASS, TROY IS NOT A HEROIC MAN. Yes, both men face American racism, the former as an escaped slave before, during, and post-Civil War, the later during Jim Crow 1950s America. And both do encounter racism in their search for freedom. Like Douglass, Troy is able to advocate for himself and advance economically. He argues that he should be allowed to work as a driver, and he in-fact gets a job as driver. But also, we see in Fences how Troy cannot escape the damage of his father’s mistreatment, how that carries over into his relationship with his sons, Cory and Lyons. This week we will begin to study the play closer, looking at Troy’s characterization, how he is a flawed (but heroic) man, one who creates a family for himself where none existed, yet still cannot quite be the nurturing father and faithful husband he intends to become. How does this man build fences around himself, emotionally and practically? And how do these fences both protect and seclude him, from harm and from growth, respectively? And what does this play say about our theme of freedom?

TUESDAY

• Overview of the day, and 20-minutes of independent reading.

• Returning to our discussion of Gabriel and the mistreatment of WWII veterans.

• Watching the film version of I.ii-iv.

• HW: Read II.i, pages 59-72 (that’s thirteen pages…you can do it!)

WEDNESDAY

• 10 minutes of independent reading.

• With a partner, re-reading aloud II.i, and then working on a study guide for that same scene.

• HW: Read II.ii and iii for class on Friday.

FRIDAY

• 20 minutes of independent reading.

• Reading II.iv in class together.

• Returning to the film version of the play.

• HW: If you are behind in your annotations in the play—keeping notes on Troy, his struggle for freedom and the role fences play in his life—re-do these over break. Have a great Thanksgiving!

Syllabus: Week 13, November 10

BECAUSE WE HAD THE SHORTENED WEEK, I didn’t post the full syllabus for our course. I collected the first drafts of the essays on Frederick Douglass and your analysis of freedom within his autobiography. I also finished collecting and grading your annotations to the “Narrative of a Life.” We began watching a film version of the play we are studying, Fences. Denzel Washington plays the role of Troy Maxson, a 1950s black-American sanitation worker struggling to raise his family and defend that which his family has earned. (On that same topic, we brainstormed ideas about “fences,” and what they symbolize in society.) We read two non-fiction articles, one on the history of racist stereotypes in American film, another on racism in American baseball (and the role Jackie Robinson had in bringing black players into the MLB. We ended the week by reading I.i of the play, and practicing word emphasis, to create meaning in line delivery. This week I will meet with students (during class) to review your essays and return them, graded and with feedback for improvement. We will also study all of act one of the play.

TUESDAY

• Overview of the day, and 20-minutes of independent reading.

• Watching the remaining part of the film, I.i as well as I.ii.

• Reading with a partner, finishing your reading of lines in I.i.

• Working on study guides for I.i.

• HW: Finish the study guide for I.i and read I.ii.

WEDNESDAY

• 10 minutes of independent reading.

• Watching the first part of a documentary, “At the River’s Edge,” a documentary about the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers’ strike (which led to ML King Jr.’s presence, and assassination, in Memphis).

• HW: Read I.iii and I.iv for class on Friday (that is up to and through page 72).

Veterans Day report from CBS Sunday Morning, 11/10/2025

FRIDAY

• 20 minutes of independent reading.

• Finishing the documentary on the Memphis sanitation workers’ strike in 1968.

• We will look briefly at what happened when black American GIs returned from WW2.

• HW: Finishing the study guide on act one for class on Tuesday.

The song “Old Blue” that Troy sings to Rose in I.iv.

Syllabus: Week 11, October 27

WE WILL WRITE OUR FIRST ESSAY THIS WEEK, starting by brainstorming in class, and creating the first draft in class as well. We’ll finish brainstorming in class on Wednesday, and will spend 40 minutes of class on Friday writing the first draft. Over the weekend you will complete, revise, and print your essay. It should be approx. 1.5 to 2 pages long, should have an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a short conclusion. We will review those expectations in class, this week. Finally, I will collect and grade your annotations. For this first, 100 point annotation assignment, you will receive specific feedback on how to improve your written notes in your book. My expectation is that this should be a given “A” for all students who complete the reading. This should NOT be a difficult skill to master. Your written, marginal notes should reflect the reader’s dialogue with the text about the author’s purpose/book’s meaning. I’ll review the feedback details in class.

TUESDAY

• Overview of the day, and 20-minutes of independent reading.

• Reviewing my annotations in “the appendix” to FD’s “Narrative.”

• Finishing the first part of The Abolitionists documentary, wherein we see Douglass become more radical in his approach to fighting for slaves’ freedom, and he breaks away from his white partner in emancipation,

• Reading aloud the appendix.

• HW: Read and annotate the selection from James for class on Friday.

WEDNESDAY

• 10 minutes of independent reading.

• Brainstorming for your in-class essay on FD’s “Narrative,” to be written in class on Friday.

• During class I will review and begin grading your annotations (you will get them back immediately, with the feedback slip).

• Playing the remaining part of the above documentary. It will review Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and the play version’s impact on Douglass’s mission to free the slaves.

• HW: Finish reading the selection from James, and add any additional quotes you will need for class on Friday.

FRIDAY

• 20 minutes of independent reading.

• I will finish grading the annotations during independent reading.

• In class writing of essay on “Narrative.”

• Discussion of selection from “James.”

• Time permitting, we will read the introduction to the play Fences.

• HW: Revised essay is due Tuesday.

Syllabus: Week 10, October 21

OUR NEXT TEXT IS AUGUST WILSON’S PLAY, FENCES, the story of a black American man who works as a refuse collector in Pittsburgh in 1950s America. Troy Maxon “has gone through life in a country where to be proud and black was to face pressures that could crus a man, body and soul…[His desire for opportunities for work] is making him a stranger, angry and afraid, in a world he never knew and to a wife and son he understands less and less.” The winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, this is one of a series of plays that explores the life of black Americans in one place through the 19th and 20th century. You need to purchase the book, by this Friday at New Trier’s bookstore. It costs $16.35.

TUESDAY

• 20-minutes of independent reading.

• Checking grades. If you need to re-submit your freedom paragraph OR photo, please do so. Also, anything marked a zero or an “F” is missing. Please make up any of these assignments.

• Completing three words from chapter ten of Frederick Douglass’s narrative.

• After reviewing the plot summary worksheet, working on the study guide questions for chapter 10.

• HW: Finish the study guide questions for chapter 10.

WEDNESDAY

• Collecting your chapter 10 plot line, and study guide questions.

• 10 minutes of independent reading.

• Listening to the first 20 minutes of the above podcast.

• Starting a brainstorming worksheet for a paper on FD’s “Narrative.”

• HW: Spend half-an-hour brainstorming ideas for your paper on NOAL.

FRIDAY

• 20 minutes of independent reading.

• Great Books discussion: Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask”

  • Reading the poem three times;

  • Annotating for what you notice;

  • Answering the pre-discussion question, discussing, and then writing the post-discussion response.

• Starting a mind-map / brainstorm for a paper on Narrative.

• Watching the first part of a dramatization of Frederick Douglass’s “The Narrative of a Life of Frederick Douglass,” a sniped from The Abolitionists. We pick up directly after Douglass escapes from Slavery, to Boston.

• HW: Make sure your text is annotated. It will be collected and graded next week, and it will be worth 100 points.