Classical Magnet School

Rhetoric

COURSE OVERVIEW (7 th grade rhetoric):

In this class students will learn the art of effective written and oral communication. They will do so by studying some of the most revered stories in classical Greek and English literature, and by examining such important themes as creation, power, responsibility, and good vs. evil. Students will apply what they learn through various activities: persuasive writing, public speaking, art, and music, to name a few. Along the way, students will learn vocabulary, grammar, reading comprehension, and study skills that will help them to think and express themselves clearly. Students will be expected to move well beyond the mere regurgitation of facts and into the realm of ideas and critical thinking. In doing so, students will be able to connect fine literature to their own lives, now and in the future.

OBJECTIVES:

Students will apply the language arts (reading, writing, speaking, viewing, and listening) to make meaning and develop critical thinking skills.
Students will refine their process writing, including their application of grammar, usage and mechanics.
Students will increase their vocabularies.
Students will develop oral communication skills in small and large group activities.
Students will produce a writing portfolio which will include samples of creative, narrative, expository, persuasive, letter, analytical and reflective writing.

TEXTS WILL INCLUDE:

Metamorphoses by Ovid
The Iliad by Homer
The Clouds by Aristophanes
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	March	April	May	June
Essential Questions	How do readers construct personal interpretations of text based on elements within the text, prior knowledge and experience, and the context in which the text is read? What do good readers do? What do I need when I read? How does language change over time?	How does a civilization develop a creation myth?	Why are attributes important to a civilization?	What is afterlife?	All actions have a corresponding consequence	Were humans or gods responsible for the Trojan War?	Heroes and Heroines of Greek Mythology	Would Jason be a hero without Medea?		Prejudice (religious) Point of View
History Themes	Greek History and Geography	Greek History and Geography	Greek Philosophy	Greek Philosophy	Greek Philosophy	Greek Philosophy	Greek Philosophy	Roman History and Geography	Roman History and Geography	Roman Philosophy
Major Readings	Excerpts from Ovid’s TheMetamorphosis or Hesiod’s Theogony		Selected excerpts from The Iliad	Selected excerpts from The Iliad			“The Clouds” by Aristophanes		Introduction to Elizabethan Drama Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare	Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
Required Additional Readings	“Creation of the Greek Gods and Goddesses”	“ Palace of Olympus” Part I	“ Palace of Olympus” Part II	“The Trojan War” “Achilles and Hector” “The Trojan Horse” from The Aeneid	“The Judgment of Paris” “Hades”		“The Theft of Persephone” “Perseus” “Theseus & Ariadne”	“Agamemnon & Clytemnestra” “Jason and the Golden Fleece”
Seminars	Zeus’s Chair/Power – RTCM quote from page 3 in Classics and Myths Volume I	Polyptemus and Galatea – in conjunction with field trip to the Met “The Creation of Man” Miwok Indian Tale	“Meno” by Plato The Iliad	From On Being Abused by Others a sermon by the Buddha The Iliad	“The Wedding” “The Rights of Women” by Mary Wollstonecraft	Excerpts from The Trojan Women	From The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius “The Clouds”	“The Mermaid” Character by Voltaire	Julius Caesar	“We Cannot Live for Ourselves Alone” by Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. Julius Caesar
Coached Projects		Golden Age of Athens					Socrates Project		Julius Caesar Project Shakespeare Festival
Optional Additional Readings		King Minos and the Minotaur
State Standards and CMT Strands
Reading Strategy Focus
Writing Focus	Review essay and paragraph writing Review use of graphic organizer for persuasive writing Baseline persuasive essay			Achilles and Hector: Who is the real hero? Persuasive Essay	Hades and the Underworld: Choose one character studied so far this year and argue for where they belong in the underworld.
Grammar, Usage and Mechanics	Capitalization Names of people, places, groups, months, days, and holidays Titles of people First word in dialogue Names of organizations, nationalities, buildings, historical events Opening and closing of a letter Punctuation Comma After letter closing In a series In a date With an appositive With parenthetical expression With participial phrase With quotation marks With city and state Quotation marks Apostrophe Contractions Possessive Semi-colon Colon in a series		Usage Subject/verb agreement (number) singular and plural subject with intervening phrase Verb tense (time) present, past, future tenses (simple and perfect) Pronoun reference Comparative/Superlative Special problems in usage a/an they’re, their, there to, too, two good/well its, it’s I/me know/no then/than your/you’re whose/who’s hear/here who/whom were/we’re Spelling Grade appropriate words
Core Assessments

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