Mr. Marshall Lancaster
Welcome to Mr. Lancaster's Sharepoint site. Keep on stopping! An avid Chaucer and Shakespeare buff, I teach the following classes at Pallotti: AP English Literature and Composition, Honors British Literature, and American Literature. A father to two daughters--Laursen (7 1/2) and Anna Page (3 3/4), I married my college sweetheart, Karen, in May of 1996. We met as undergraduates at UNC-Chapel Hill in 1987--twenty years ago! I earned a B.A. in English in May 1990. After working several years, I went back to school for a master's degree in English, which I earned at Appalachian State University in 1995. Having always appreciated the English literature of the Middle Ages, I moved to the DC-area in 1995 to start work on a master's degree in Medieval Studies, which I earned in 1997 from Catholic University. I have been in the classroom teaching English each year since then. My hobbies include reading British and American novels of all descriptions, mostly classics, and learning how to play the guitar. My other great fondness is for the popular music of the seventies and eighties--country, rock, and R & B. I have really enjoyed the soothing sounds of Jimmy Buffett and James Taylor over the years. My needs tend to be simple: movies, music, family, books, two cats, and the i-pod. Pallotti is a very special place in my life. Stay tuned for more.
Honors British Literature focuses on the English literature from Beowulf to the twentieth century. Novels, plays, short stories, and poetry make up the bulk of what we read and analyze. Writers of emphasis include Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, Mary Shelley, Aldous Huxley, and Somerset Maugham. Major assessments are tests, essays, projects, quizzes, and daily work. Other areas of study are vocabulary and the research paper.
American Literature has as its scope the literature from the early American colonies to the twentieth century. Focal areas are plays, novels, poetry, and short stories. We identify the American dream as it develolps over time and the extent to which certain cultures are either utopian or dystopian. Writings by Poe, Salinger, Fitzgerald, Hawthorne, Miller, and Dickinson receive attention in the course, among others. Vocabulary study and research papers are areas of emphasis.
AP English Literature and Composition prepares students for the AP exam in May by stressing close reading, careful analysis, and effective writing. The major assessments are timed writings like those appearing on the AP exam. Simulation of timed writings and timed multiple choice sections prepare students for logical pacing and certain kinds of questions. Authors read in the course are as follows: Joyce, Salinger, Hawthorne, Camus, Sophocles, Conrad, and Shakespeare. Other areas of study are literary terminology and devices. The research paper is designed to sharpen a growing skill set.