Advanced Contemporary Literature

Mrs. Kane Room 1316 kanec@wdmcs.org 633-4117

Advanced Contemporary Literature Information and Expectations

o Course Description
o

Advanced Contemporary Literature is one of two advanced literature options that

must be completed (prior to AP-level English) for a designation of Honors or
Scholar of Language Arts. As such, expectations in this course are high and
students are advised to prepare by completing Advanced Language and
Literature or by completing Fundamentals of Writing and a literature class.
Advanced Contemporary Literature is designed to explore literature based on
contemporary issues, themes, and artists. Inherent in the course is the fact that all
or nearly all of the literature is contemporary, defined loosely as literature by living
authors or literature of the past 20-30 years. This is an aggressive literature class,
meaning it moves quickly and deals with difficult, mature material. Students will
study textsfiction, nonfiction, drama, film, and poetryin depth to provide a
springboard for discussing contemporary issues and artists of varying
backgrounds. The class will help prepare students for AP-level study of literature.

o This class will include:

4 full length books: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan
Safran Foer, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, The Laramie Project by
Moiss Kaufman, and The Wild Things by Dave Eggers
Reading several short stories as well as a variety of poetry
A variety of writing including nonfiction essays and creative writing projects
Lots and lots of discussion about the literature you read
o Materials you will need each day:
Notebook or notebook paper
Pens/pencils
Folder/binder for keeping all of your assignments
Current book
Sticky notes (if you are annotating using this method)
General Classroom Information and Expectations
o The really basic items:
Respect
Come prepared and on time
Use your class time wisely
o Electronics: Cell phone use during class time is not permitted unless
otherwise stated. If you have electronics out and do not have privileges to do
so, the item will reside in my desk the remainder of the period. Repeat cell
phone violations will be reported to the office.

o You are responsible for picking up assignments after an absence. Check

with me for assignments the first day you return to school. You have two
days for every excused absence (which includes extended days that you
do not have class).
o If you are absent due to a Valley activity, the assignment must be turned
in before you leave.

o If you are unexpectedly absent (and the absence is excused) the period
an essay/assignment/major project is due, then you must have the work
completed when you return to school.
Homework and Grading Information
o Unless otherwise stated, all assignments are due at the beginning of the class
period, which means you need to come to class with the paper copy for me and
the electronic copy submitted to turnitin.com (if relevant).
o Late work is not accepted on daily assignments. Larger assignments or projects
handed in late will be accepted up to the next day at 25% reduced credit and up
to a week late at 50% reduced credit. Work will NOT be accepted for credit over
a week late.
o Cheating or plagiarism will result in a score of zero for that assignment; this
includes allowing someone to copy your work.
o All work is given equal weight and grades will accumulate through the semester.
o Grading Scale
100-93% A 86-83% B
76-73% C
66-63% D
92-90% A- 82-80% B- 72-70 % C- 62-60% D89-87% B+ 79-77% C+ 69-67% D+ 59% and lower F
Turnitin.com
Turnitin is a website we use to check for plagiarism and, sometimes, to grade papers.
You will be required to upload much of their written material to this site and in some
cases your electronic submissions will replace paper copies. To sign up:
o If you already have a turnitin.com account:
1. Sign in.
2. Click on Enroll in a class.
3. Type in the class ID: ______________ and enrollment password:
____________.
o If you dont have an account:
1. Go to www.turnitin.com.
2. Click on Create Account (top right of page).
3. (Dont type anything in the boxes yet.) Click on student.
4. Fill in the information, including the class ID: ______________ and class
enrollment password: ____________________.
5. Write your info here so you remember it:
Email address: __________________
Password: ______________________
You are responsible for managing your accounts to this site, just as you are
responsible for your Infinite Campus account. Be smart about setting and managing
your passwords; this is a skill that will serve you well in the future. Technical
difficulties will not excuse you from meeting deadlines for assignments, just as my
printer ran out of paper did not excuse you in the past.

Parent Awareness
The texts we will be reading in Advanced Contemporary Lit will contain adult themes
and content. The course is designed for mature students who can not only handle the
material, but handle the material in an adult manner. As a teacher, I am comfortable
with all of the texts being used in a classroom setting. None of the texts contain
gratuitous sex, violence, or language. They do, however, contain some degree of
sex, violence, and language. If this is a problem for your student, then perhaps
another offering from the Language Arts department would be more appropriate.
Providing alternative texts is not a good option because much of this course is based
on discussion and interaction with other students. It is a great course that allows, and
in fact requires, students to voice their opinions and observations. Even better, it
encourages them to challenge their own opinions and observations. If youre
uncomfortable with the nature of this course, please feel free to contact me
(kanec@wdmcs.org, 633-4117).
Callie Kane
I, _____________________ (guardian name), am aware that my student,
_____________________(student name), will be taking Advanced Contemporary Lit
and that the texts used in the class may have mature themes and content.

______________________________ (guardian signature)