The Newman School
Boston, MA
English IB Grade 11 Course Syllabus
Mrs. Donovan Fall 2011
IBO Mission Statement
The International Baccalaureate Organization aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.
To this end, the IBO works with schools, governments, and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.
These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.
Course Overview
The IB Language A1 is primarily a pre-university course in literature. Literature is concerned with our conceptions, interpretations and experiences of the world. It enables an exploration of one of the more enduring fields of human creativity and artistic ingenuity, and provides opportunities for encouraging independent, original, critical and clear thinking. The discussion of literature is itself an art which requires the clear expression of ideas both orally and in writing.
In view of the international nature of the IBO, Language A1 does not limit the study of literature to the achievements of one culture or the cultures covered by any one language.
Higher Level Objectives
Higher Level candidates will be expected to demonstrate:
• an ability to engage in independent literary criticism in a manner which reveals a personal response to literature
• an ability to express ideas with clarity, coherence, conciseness, precision and fluency in both written and oral communication
• a command of the language appropriate for the study of literature and a discriminating appreciation of the need for an effective choice of register and style in both written and oral communication
• a sound approach to literature through consideration of the works studied
• a thorough knowledge both of the individual works studied and of the relationships between groups of works studied
• an appreciation of the similarities and differences between literary works from different ages and/or cultures
• an ability to engage in independent textual commentary on both familiar and unfamiliar pieces of writing
• a wide-ranging appreciation of structure, technique and style as employed by authors, and of their effects on the reader
• an ability to structure ideas and arguments, both orally and in writing, in a logical, sustained and persuasive way, and to support them with precise and relevant examples.
Fall 2011 required texts
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguru
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje
MLA Handbook
Oxford Guide
Please be sure to have YOUR OWN copies of each book. You will need to underline and highlight and use your books for oral presentations and paper writing. You cannot use library books. The correct editions of each book are available on the school website.
Completion of all reading assignments is expected for each class.
Active, enthusiastic and frequent participation in class discussions.
Instances of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated and are grounds for failure of the given assignment.
Students must be present for exams. There will be no make ups.
No late papers will be accepted. At all. Ever.