Course Sequence and Texts
Semester 1: Part 2 - Language and Mass Communication (Teacher selected materials)
Semester 2: Part 3 - Literature - Texts and Contexts (Persepolis and 1984)
Semester 3: Part 4 - Literature - Critical Study (The Awakening and selected poems by Seamus Heaney)
Semester 4: Part 1 - Language in Cultural Context (Teacher selected materials)
Course Outline for 2012-2013
Semester 1 (August to December 2012)
Part 2: Language and mass communication
In this part, students will consider the way language is used in the media. Mass media include newspapers, magazines, the Internet (for example, social networking), telephony, radio and film. This section also addresses the issue of how the production and reception of texts is influenced by the medium through which they are delivered.
Chronology of Topics and Assessments
Note: The topic list is not exhaustive. A unit may be supplemented or scaled back depending on a number of factors, including student interest, time constraints and school requirements.
Unit 1: Advertising
Weeks 1- 4 (August)
Minor
Quizzes
Short oral presentations and written analysis
Major
Text Analysis (Written in Class)
Unit 2: Popular Music and the Media
Weeks 5 – 7 (September)
Minor
Quizzes
Short oral presentations and written analysis
Major
Video and Oral Rationale (Homework and Class Presentation)
Unit 3: Documentaries
Weeks 8 – 11 (September - October)
Minor
Quizzes
Short oral presentations and written analysis
Major
Research Portfolio (Homework)
Unit 4: Editorials and Cartoons
Weeks 12 – 15 (October – November)
Minor
Quizzes
Short oral presentations and written analysis
Major
Written Task 1
Unit 5: Talk Shows Weeks 16 – 19 (November – December)
Semester 2 (January to May 2013)
Part 3 - Literature - Texts and Contexts
Through the close reading of literary texts, students will be able to consider the relationship between literature and issues at large, such as gender, power and identity. Students are encouraged to consider how texts build upon and transform the inherited literary and cultural traditions. The compulsory study of a translated text encourages students to reflect on their own cultural assumptions through an examination of work produced in another languages and culture.
Unit 1: Persepolis Weeks 20 – 26 (January – February)
Assessment
Minor
Quizzes
Short oral presentations
Written tasks
Major
Research Project
Literature Essay (In class)
Unit 2: 1984 Weeks 28 – 35 (March – April)
Assessment
Minor
Quizzes
Short oral presentations
Written tasks
Major
Oral Presentation (IB)
Comparative Essay (In class)
Unit 3: IB Tasks Weeks 36 – 37 (May)
Semester 1: Part 2 - Language and Mass Communication (Teacher selected materials)
Semester 2: Part 3 - Literature - Texts and Contexts (Persepolis and 1984)
Semester 3: Part 4 - Literature - Critical Study (The Awakening and selected poems by Seamus Heaney)
Semester 4: Part 1 - Language in Cultural Context (Teacher selected materials)
Course Outline for 2012-2013
Semester 1 (August to December 2012)
Part 2: Language and mass communication
In this part, students will consider the way language is used in the media. Mass media include newspapers, magazines, the Internet (for example, social networking), telephony, radio and film. This section also addresses the issue of how the production and reception of texts is influenced by the medium through which they are delivered.
Chronology of Topics and Assessments
Note: The topic list is not exhaustive. A unit may be supplemented or scaled back depending on a number of factors, including student interest, time constraints and school requirements.
Unit 1: Advertising
Weeks 1- 4 (August)
- Introduction to rhetoric
- Origins of media
- Understanding media
- Analyzing advertising (all media)
Minor
Quizzes
Short oral presentations and written analysis
Major
Text Analysis (Written in Class)
Unit 2: Popular Music and the Media
Weeks 5 – 7 (September)
- What is "Pop music"?
- What is the role of image in contemporary music?
- What do the lyrics of pop songs tell us about our society?
Minor
Quizzes
Short oral presentations and written analysis
Major
Video and Oral Rationale (Homework and Class Presentation)
Unit 3: Documentaries
Weeks 8 – 11 (September - October)
- What are the techniques used by documentary filmmakers?
- How subjective are documentary films?
Minor
Quizzes
Short oral presentations and written analysis
Major
Research Portfolio (Homework)
Unit 4: Editorials and Cartoons
Weeks 12 – 15 (October – November)
- What is an editorial? An editorial cartoon?
- What is the relationship between blogging and "traditional" editorials?
- How do cartoons try to change the world?
Minor
Quizzes
Short oral presentations and written analysis
Major
Written Task 1
Unit 5: Talk Shows Weeks 16 – 19 (November – December)
Semester 2 (January to May 2013)
Part 3 - Literature - Texts and Contexts
Through the close reading of literary texts, students will be able to consider the relationship between literature and issues at large, such as gender, power and identity. Students are encouraged to consider how texts build upon and transform the inherited literary and cultural traditions. The compulsory study of a translated text encourages students to reflect on their own cultural assumptions through an examination of work produced in another languages and culture.
Unit 1: Persepolis Weeks 20 – 26 (January – February)
Assessment
Minor
Quizzes
Short oral presentations
Written tasks
Major
Research Project
Literature Essay (In class)
Unit 2: 1984 Weeks 28 – 35 (March – April)
Assessment
Minor
Quizzes
Short oral presentations
Written tasks
Major
Oral Presentation (IB)
Comparative Essay (In class)
Unit 3: IB Tasks Weeks 36 – 37 (May)