Ms. Weingartner's Website
for
AP Lit, AP Comp, and Lit/Comp IV
Brenda Weingartner Contact Information Email: bweingartner@sasdpride.org Room 88
Phone: 724-962-7861 extension 1088 Planning Period: 11:15-11:55
Also available before 7:30 am and after 2:45 pm until 3:30 pm when not attending required meetings
Biography
Hired at SHS in 2001, Ms. Weingartner has taught primarily Literature/Composition IV (senior English/British and World Literature), Advanced Placement Literature, and Advanced Placement Composition. Prior to transitioning to high school instruction, Ms. Weingartner taught for ten years at Kent State University, Main Campus, while earning her Master's Degree and pursuing her PhD in English with specialization in Medieval Literature, Comparative Literature, and Linguistics. She earned her Bachelor's Degree in English Literature and Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh in 1982 after graduating from Neshannock High School in 1979. She also worked for regional retailer Fisher's Big Wheel as an assistant manager in the Cleveland area as well as the domestics buyer in the company's main office in New Castle, PA. During graduate school, she was employed part-time as a teller by First Federal Savings and Loan; when First Merit Bank took over, she was hired as a branch manager at the Neshannock and Westgate Plaza offices.
Ms. Weingartner lives in the New Wilmington area and opened Caterbury Tails Feline Grooming and Boarding, LLC, in November, 2013; she operates her business out of her home with limited hours during the school year (Saturdays and holidays) and expanded hours during summers. Her current cat family consists of three 16-year-old siblings (Callie, Fitzwilliam, and Fluff Muffin), two Exotics (Vida and Carolina), and Miss Jane Austen, a beautiful black kitten born in June 2015. Her hobbies include hiking, traveling, embroidery, reading, and gardening.
As she was inspired and encouraged by exceptional teachers at Neshannock High School (Susan Stolpe, Helen Middendorf, Charles King, Daniel Seamans, and Margaret McKnight to name only a few), so Ms. W aspires to not only prepare her students for college and the real world but also to encourage them to become life-long learners with a curiousity about the world.
AP Literature
Advanced Placement Literature
The highest level literature course offered at Sharpsville High School, AP Lit is the equivalent of an entry-level college literature course administered by the ETS with a required, culminating test in early May. The pre-requisite for this class is AP Composition and Ms. Weingartner's approval. Students read novels and complete projects during the summer before class begins; the class reviews the novels during early September. The other major units are Drama (from early Greek tragedy to modern theater) and Poetry (affectionately nicknamed "Poetry Boot Camp").
Click on the title block above to connect to the class syllabus, current tentative reading and assignment schedule, and links to helpful websites.
AP Composition
Advanced Placement Composition
Following a typical college Freshmen Composition course model, AP Composition focuses on grammar, correctness, and other basic elements during the summer preceeding the start of class in the fall. Exercises and tests measure and improve students' aptitudes in basic writing skills; students must pass the exams at 80% or higher by early September. During the year, assignments consist of reading units chosen with class input and corresponding writing assignments including the comparision/contrast essay, argumentative essay, and the research paper. Practice tests, vocabulary cartoon units, diagramming basics, and some cultural education (current events through major newspapers; background knowledge through packets supplied by Ms. Weingartner; and the requirement to look up all allusions mentioned in all essays read for class). Papers are discussed in a workshop setting, with all students required to read and make suggestions on all essays as an aide for writers to improve their writing and learn from others' essays (as well as from the academic essays read in each unit). The year ends with the required ETS test in early May.
Click on the title block above to connect to the class syllabus, current tentative reading and assignment schedule, and helpful links to related websites.
Lit/Comp IV
Literature/Composition IV
Otherwise known as Senior English, Lit/Comp IV focuses on British with some world literature, usually presented in chronological order with historical background as necessary to help students understand when and how this literature evolved. (The history notes provide practice in taking notes in preparation for college classes; all history tests are open-note, thus rewarding students for improving their note-taking ability.) Students read epics such as the Iliad and Beowulf, medieval writings by Marie de France and Geoffrey Chaucer, Shakespeare's Macbeth, sonnets, the Romantic poets, and a variety of novels. In addition to brief writing assignments, all students will complete a research paper based on reading assignments. Grammar and correctness will be addressed in mini-lessons as needed to improve student writing.
To see the syllabus, current tentative reading and assignment schedule, and helpful links to related websites, click on the title block above.