1. Roswell High School Mrs. DeMeester 9 th Honors Literature

2. 9 th Grade Curriculum  Course Overview: Ninth Grade Honors Literature is a genre- based study of various forms of literature. Throughout the year, we will examine various categories of literature and the literary elements they employ. Ninth Grade Honors Literature and Composition will continue to build on the reading and language curriculum established in middle school, and it establishes a level of rigor and rhetorical analysis beyond that of the Ninth Grade regular literature course. Throughout this year-long class, students will have opportunities to develop and expand their knowledge of literature and language and demonstrate their mastery level of new learning through performance tasks and assessments. According to the Georgia Performance Standards, the content standards for this course are clustered by strands on which the curriculum is based: Conventions, Listening / Speaking / Viewing, Reading and Literature, and Writing.

3. Expectations and Rigor  As an honors class, this course is designed to challenge students to reach a deeper level of analysis that was perhaps not previously attained in middle school courses. I rarely assign grades based on “completion.” Rather assignments are assessed based on quality of analysis. Such analysis may take some time to develop fully; however, the purpose of this class is to facilitate a student’s ability to utilize deeper level cognitive level skills as the year progresses.  In addition to literary analysis, students will have weekly vocabulary and grammar assignments.

4. Novels for 2011-2012  The following novels will be read throughout the course of the school year. I encourage all students to procure their own copy so that they may annotate directly in the text. Kindles and Ipad versions of all books are allowed but must be used with academic discretion.  George Orwell’s Animal Farm  George Orwell’s 1984  Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451  Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations  William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet **Please, no No Fear Shakespeare or Sparknotes versions!  One self-selected and parent/guardian approved book.

5. Class Website  You can find all unit outlines, important assignments, and other pertinent information pertaining to the class at my website: www.msdemeestersclass.wordpress.com www.msdemeestersclass.wordpress.com

6. Contact  Email is my preferred method of contact since it is almost impossible for me to answer the telephone throughout the school day.  Due to the large quantity of email I receive throughout the day, I will do my best to respond to you within 24 hours.