Honors English II/III & AP Language:
American Literature 2024-2025

John: Scarlet Letter: printed Power Point slides DUE by Thursday 12/19
John: Scarlet Letter Project/presentation DUE Monday 1/6/25

Also — Vocabulary test on Monday 1/6

vocabulary words assigned so far: ratiocination, scientism, eminence, compel, compulsion, infer, imply, plaintive, ascendancy, transgress, lugubrious, anomaly/anomalous, antecedent, congenial/genial, ignominy/ignominious, infamy, sagacity/sagacious, adulterate/ unadulterated, repudiate, flagrant, contumely, remonstrate, peremptory, ascetic, mortify, penitent, plebeian, empirical/empiricism, repose, prevail, purport, discern, exhort, egregious, cognizant, austere, abstruse, mendicant, infamy, heresy, abash, evanescent, obscure, affinity, celibacy, vilify, peripatetic, poignant, gesticulate, contumely, licentious, propitiatory, propitiatory, caprice, capricious, surfeit, stricture, sycophant, laconic, supercilious, taciturn, lassitude, perfunctory, reticent, dissolute +

The Elements of Style, Part IV: Words and expressions Commonly Misused

aggravate/irritate; all right; allude; allusion; alternate/alternative; among/between; and/or; anticipate; anybody; anyone; as good or better than; as to whether; as yet, being, but, can, case, certainly, character, claim, clever, compare, comprise, contact, cope, consider, currently

Serenity
by Anna Morgan

Wildflowers have arrived home at last,
dotting the meadow 
as if they were paints on an artist's palette.
Lush green stems of native grasses
provide backdrop:
something to cover imperfections.
The largest splotch of yellow hangs high,
encompassing familiar colors, 
sharing rays of comfortable warmth.
Strokes of white line blue sky:
wind breathes a sense of life.
All art; yet no observers
see this masterpiece 
created 
new each day.

Grammar, key terminology, and vocabulary items that we have discussed in class are on the AP Language & Composition Vocabulary Archive. While most of you will not take the AP Language exam until next year, it always helps to become familiar with these terms now (rather than cramming next year). The sooner you get started, the sooner (comparative degree) you will know all your terms.

American Literature vocabulary SEE FULL PAGE HERE

Student Resources: English III

Check every piece for THESE SKILLS before turning anything in for an edit.
Check ALL CITATIONS (quotes) with these formatting rules before turning anything in for an edit.

Click HERE for directions for email editing

Summer reading list for High School students

Access our HS student writing archives to see what our readings and assignments are for this year, and to read sample pieces written by previous English II students.

*** *** *** *** ***
English II GRADING:

Participation = 30% (purely subjective, based on my perceptions of your initiative, interest, self-motivation, & tenacity)

Assignments = Revisions (20%)
Edits (20%)

Vocab/Multiple Choice tests= 15%
Timed essay grades= 15%

*** *** *** *** ***

AP Language GRADING:

Participation = 30% (purely subjective, based on my perceptions of your initiative, interest, self-motivation, & tenacity)

Assignments (two parts of grade)

1st Semester EFFORT = 20%; CONTENT = 10%
2nd Semester EFFORT = 10%; CONTENT = 20%

Vocab/Multiple Choice tests= 15%
AP Portfolio essay grades= 15%
Exams = 10%

"The difference between predictions and outcomes is the key to understanding a strange property of learning: if you’re predicting perfectly, your brain doesn’t need to change further…Changes in the brain happen only when there’s a difference between what was expected and what actually happens." — David Eagleman in Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain

Unfinished Pieces: Semester I
(updated 12/12/24

Anna
Revisions = 65/72
Edits = 5/12
timed essays = 53%
Vocab/Mult. Choice practice = 75%

Philosophical essay: Music
Junior Autobiography
Audio file: Anna Morgan

John
Revisions = 55/72
Edits = 5/12
timed essays = 45%
Vocab/Mult. Choice practice = 64%

Scarlet Letter Project: Spheres
Philosophical essay: Making Money
Poe essay OUTLINE: poet as maker
Junior Autobiography
Audio file: John Spilotros

Pink poetry: Poem of Feeling; General to Specific

    Gleeful
by John Spilotros

In the meadow 
gentle winds flow through tall grass,
spreading the warmth from fluorescent sun 
that hangs in a bright blue sky.
Grass blades frolic
like gleeful children.
Birds recite sweet symphonies, while
sunflowers flourish in vibrant sunlight
dancing in the meadow.

Anna Morgan
by herself

Her hair: embers
that spark and spit, feisty;
glowing red hot. 
Her eyes are opposite:
deep ocean to extinguish the flames.
Her freckles are a map of constellations - -
an endless sky waiting to be explored.
Her name: 
short like grass covering a spring meadow.
It doesn’t quite match the personality
harbored within,
the laughter that spills out,
like water bubbling from an icy brook.