ENGLISH 12--AMERICAN LITERATURE

Mr. Welch

THE ENGLISH COMPOSITION/CONFERENCE PROGRAM

The primary objective of the composition program is the development of communication skills, especially in expository writing. The course will include the study of outstanding pieces of literature that will be related to theme-writing whenever possible.

In addition to regular class meetings, every student will be scheduled for a regular (15-20 minutes) conference every three weeks. The time for the conference will be determined at the beginning of the school year and will be scheduled during a time when the student is free. Because of schedule conflicts, a student may have to come to a conference before school or during the regular lunch period. However, your first choice of conference time must be during the regularly scheduled day. Even if you have privileges to leave campus, your conference time takes top priority. The conference is an essential and integral part of the English program. In some respects, the conference is even more important than class time because the teacher has reserved this time to work individually with the student on her particular writing problem. Because re-scheduling is extremely difficult, missing a conference is a serious matter.

The student is responsible for reading and remembering the following guidelines concerning composition writing, grading, and conferencing:

· All conferenced compositions must be typed or completed on the word processor.

· All compositions will follow the MLA style.

· All compositions must be submitted to the teacher’s collection box in office 242 by 7:45 a.m. on the due date. All papers are to be conferenced and revised as directed by the teacher.

Students in school who fail to report to a conference are not entitled to a make-up conference. The first time a conference is missed, the student is allowed to make up the conference, but she must approach the teacher and request a make-up conference. Any time after the first conference that a student misses a conference, she receives a detention. She is allowed to revise her paper without the benefit of a conference.

· The grade on a late paper is automatically reduced one letter grade for each day that the paper is late. A weekend (Saturday and Sunday) counts as two days late.

· Revisions are due within a week after the conference. They are to be submitted to the revision box in the teacher’s office. Revisions may also be submitted during class time.

· The grade on the original paper and the grade on the revision are equal in value--100 points each.

· A student’s composition work will determine a major portion of her quarter/semester grade--40%/80%.

· The last composition will not be conferenced. It will be worth 200 or 150 points.

· Each composition assignment will have specific and detailed instructions and guidelines.

· Any student requesting pre-writing assistance, may do so alone or with a group. Convenient times for the teacher and students must be considered.