Reparations article

The article we're reading, The Case for Reparations," can be read here.

Reading on music and censorship

Please click here and choose one anecdote from each decade from 1950 to the present. Read the anecdotes, take notes and come to class Tuesday prepared to discuss. How do these anecdotes about people's concern over popular music relate to the play and the historical events in Salem?

Course Description, Grading Policy, Homework Policy!

Course Description

English 5 is a course that will help you develop your skills as a reader and writer. As a junior English class, it may be among the most important you take at Midwood, for three reasons: 1) junior year is when students more and more are taking on adult responsibilities, and in their English classes to read adult-level works of literature; 2) colleges look especially hard at junior year student work (strong grades in junior year can make up for weaker grades, at least to some extent, on earlier school work; and 3) finally, junior year, fall term, ends with your taking the English Regents.

Doing well on the Regents is of course especially important. It's a key to graduation and your ongoing after-college career. We will NOT spend the entire semester in test preparation, but the work we will do will all go toward developing the skills you need to do well on the Regents. Additionally, we will do some direct preparation for the test by familiarizing ourselves with its style of questions.

Grading Policy:

20%​: Classwork/Quizzes/Participation

30%​: Major Research Individual or Group Projects

20%​: Homework at least 10 per marking periods​

30%​: Tests/Examinations

(Their breakdown of grades is a school requirement and is English-Department wide.)

IMPORTANT:

1.     Grades are cumulative. That means the grades you make now count as much as the grades later in the semester. So it's important to work hard from the very beginning and not dig yourself into a hole in the first weeks of our class. We will use Skedula, an online grading system in this class. You’ll have your own account, where I’ll post grades. Your parents or guardians should be given access to your account.

2.     Late homework: Late homework must be turned in during the week in which it is assigned. After that, the assignment will be recorded as a 0.

4.     Extra credit. There will be none.

5.     Absent? What must you do? It is the student’s responsibility to make up work. If you’re absent, you must find out from a fellow student what work was done in class or for homework and get the work to me the following day.

6.     Absent from a test? Do not be absent on test days. If you can provide a signed and credible note from a medical professional or family member, it will be your responsibility to speak with me about a make-up. More than one missed test day will result in a note to guidance and possibly a parental conference. Your absences on test days will be noted on your report card.

Attendance: You’re expected to be in class every day. Absent notes are required in every case if you are absent due to illness or family necessity. 

Electronic devices: 

Keep them in your pockets or bags. No use of electronic devices.

Honor Policy—Cheating and Plagiarism:  

If you do the work of this class on your own, you’ll develop skills that will serve you well for the rest of your life. If you cheat, you’ll get no such benefits, and you’ll receive a 0 on the work in question. Your parents/guardian will be informed of your actions. THIS IS MY CHEATING POLICY AND HOLDS FOR A FIRST TIME VIOLATION. In addition, Midwood has a series of consequences for cheating that you should be aware of, which will occur in addition to my own response noted above. Cheating will expose you to the Midwood consequences too. By cheating you'll also violate my trust in you, and you’ll lose my respect.

Plagiarism: This is a particular form of cheating that requires a special note due to its ubiquity. When you take other people’s work and hold it out to be your own (whether another student’s work or something taken from the Internet), you are engaging in theft. Plagiarism won’t be tolerated. Plagiarism will result in a 0 on the work in question. The consequences enumerated in the Midwood plagiarism code will also be enforced.

Class Communications and Contacting Mr. Vilbig:

The best way to contact me is through Skedula, the online grading system we'll be using this semester. I can be reached by phone at: 718 724-8560.

With One Wheel Gone Wrong story

Please print this story out and bring it to class Tuesday (September 9)

With One Wheel Gone Wrong

By A.M. Homes

With one wheel gone wrong, she careens into the checkout line. A perfect shopper, she prides herself on sailing the circulars, clipping coupons, buying in bulk. Her basket is overflowing with catnip and kitty litter, Pull-Ups and pomegranates—plenty of all. She takes a magazine out of the rack; there's a spot to scratch, an offer she can't resist—"Got an itch you can't identify, don't know what you want, let this be your moment." The background photo is of a beautiful house with everything just as you would want it to be—untouched by reality. She scratches; her finger is quickly coated with gold powder and under that is something a little sticky—tugging at her. It is as though she is being pulled into the magazine. A sudden burst of light, an explosion of inspiration, a fleeting illumination, and she is inside the picture and it is clear—this is her house, this is who she is, the life she is supposed to live.

It is incredible—she's seeing not only the future but the pathway there—and it's a new kind of floor tile—you just put one foot in front of the other, don't stop, and watch where you're going. And then, as though in a faraway dream, she hears the scanner beeping, she hears the checker say, "Are you taking that magazine?" Drawing a deep breath, she pulls herself back into the checkout line. She takes every copy of the magazine out of the rack. "I'll take all you've got," she says.

"Paper or plastic?"