English

Our Program

English courses are required for all four years at Hanover High School. All ninth graders take a year-long, genre survey course intended to elevate their skills and knowledge in preparation for their effective participation in the elective program in subsequent years. In grades ten through twelve, students may select from the department’s rich array of elective offerings. Because our aim is to match individual students with the course and area of study best suited to their needs and interests, the English Department does not designate elective classes by grade level, nor do we have a required sequence of courses which all students must take. We do require that students take at least two literature and one writing course. In place of more elaborate requirements, we require that students each year review with their current teachers their progress to date, their success in developing fundamental skills, their evolving intellectual interests, and so forth. Based on this individual review of a student’s needs, courses are chosen for the following year.

New Hampshire requires four years of English, and our department affirms that all students can improve their skills over time. Therefore, we require all students to take an English class every semester that they are enrolled here at Hanover High as a full-time student. The only exception is that a student who has exceeded the requirements in terms of English credits and has an educationally valid reason to not take English may petition the English Department for a waiver for a semester.

Guidelines

Students must take at least one writing course. Students may take no more than two writing courses overall. However, Fiction Writing and Journalism only count as a writing course for those students who need the writing credit. Please note though, the English Department strongly discourages students’ taking two writing classes (APW, Comp I, Comp II, SWS, Journalism, Fiction Writing, and Intro to Creative Writing) in successive semesters either year-to-year or in a single year. Students interested in Senior Bridges for English credit should as juniors choose a first, second, and third choice for an English course and fill out the registration form in February — just as they would if they were not anticipating doing a Senior Bridges project. See the Senior Bridges section in this handbook.

Course Offerings

Mandatory Courses

English 9

Literature Courses

American Renaissance

Classic English Novels

Coming of Age

Contemporary American Culture/History

Early American Literature

Early English Literature

Fantasy Literature

Great Themes in the Humanities

Greek Myths

Later American Literature

Later English Literature

Modern American Dramatic Literature

Mystery & Adventure

Myth & Ritual

Poetry

Regional American Literature

Russian Literature

Science Fiction

Shakespeare

Short Fiction

Short Story Masterpiece

The Rebel in Literature

Twentieth Century Literature

World Classics

Writing Courses

Advanced Prose Writing

Composition I

Composition II

Fiction Writing

Introduction to Creative Writing

Journalism

Senior Writing Seminar

Other Electives

Business Communication

Individual Reading & Writing

Media Literacy: From Video to Web 2.0

Philosophy

Power of Words

Public Speaking

Phases

Most elective courses are given phase designations indicating the relative difficulty of each class. Phase I courses are the least demanding. Phase 5 (Honors) courses are the most demanding. Some courses are grouped so heterogeneously — English 9 and some writing courses, for example — that no phase is indicated.

The phase level of a course is a reflection both of the quantity of reading and writing (see chart below) and of the difficulty of content in the course. For unphased courses, please refer to the course descriptions in the following pages.

Additionally, higher phase courses may have a greater percentage of the course grade based strictly on summative assessments—major tests, essays, and projects—while lower phase classes may include more formative assessments—homeworks, journals, quizzes, and other completion assignments—in the final course grade.

Honors Courses

Each semester one or more honors courses (Phase 5) are offered for students who have outstanding potential and interest in the field of English. Students in Honors English should have demonstrable skills in reading and writing, and be beyond the need for remedial work in language arts. They must be committed to study which includes:

• • Extensive reading: 30-55 pages per night (150-275 per week), depending on difficulty and genre. Readings will be assigned on weekends and over vacations as well.

  • Weekly short writing assignments and four to six longer, polished writing assignments requiring drafts and revisions outside of class time. Final drafts must be typed and be error-free. Papers should demonstrate depth, complexity, and focus.

  • Frequent essay tests that underscore critical abilities and understanding of class work.

  • May include research assignments on background and critical works.

The English Department hopes that each student who has the desire and the commitment to work very hard will consider an Honors class. Be advised, though, that we intend to uphold these standards in all Honors classes. Some students will choose to remain in Honors classes even though their grades are low, because they welcome the challenge. Students should consider their total course loads, sports commitments, and other extra-curricular activities before choosing an Honors course.

Students who wish to consider the Advanced Placement options for either Language and Composition or Literature and Composition, please refer to the Advanced Placement opportunities section in the handbook.

Literature/Reading Courses

American Renaissance

Grades: 11-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 5 (Honors)

Prerequisite: None Not offered 17-18

American Renaissance introduces students to major writers of mid-nineteenth-century America: Emerson, Thoreau, Poe, Whitman, Hawthorne, Melville, and Dickinson. Emphasis is placed upon the exciting intellectual and cultural background of the time period: Romanticism, Victorianism, Transcendentalism, an evolving indigenous American intellectual tradition. Students are expected to read carefully, participate in class discussions, and write papers of depth and sophistication.

Classic English Novels

Grades: 11-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase 5 (Honors)

Prerequisite: None. Classic English Novels is a study of the English novel from the 18th to the 20th century. The reading is demanding, and students are expected to be prepared for probing class discussions. Students write analytical papers and discuss critical essays on the works of Defoe, Dickens, Shelley, Austen, Bronte, and Hardy.

Coming Of Age

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 4

Prerequisite: None

In this class students will read a variety of texts from different periods and cultures that explore the question of what it means to "come of age." Titles may include the French medieval text Yvain, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, William Faulkner’s “The Bear,” Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, Roddy Doyle’s Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, and Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. In addition to more formal literary analysis essays, there will be a number of creative written assignments and projects in which students respond to issues raised in class and in which students explore their own experiences coming of age.

Contemporary American Culture

Contemporary American History

Grades: See below • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 3

Prerequisite: None

1st Semester: Juniors only / 2nd Semester: 10-12

Fall Semester: If forty juniors enroll, two sections of Contemporary American History and Culture (CAC/CAH) will be team-taught as an interdisciplinary course with the Social Studies Department. The classes will be taught in adjacent time slots, allowing for occasional group meetings and two-hour activities: plays, speakers, student projects, movies, field trips. The course is arranged thematically to allow a study of American culture as reflected in literature, film, art, and music since World War II to the present. Students will be urged to frame their own answers to these questions: Who are we? What does it mean to be an American? What problems do we face? What suggestions do our writers, historians, filmmakers, musicians and artists offer? Spring Semester: Contemporary American Culture will be offered as a regular English course with no Social Studies component attached.

Early American Literature (EAL)

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 4

Prerequisite: None

Early American Literature is a survey of American literature from colonial days to the time of the Civil War. The student should be prepared not only to read extensively during the semester but also to write creative and formal papers related to the literature. Included among the works which may be read are: Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans, Thoreau's Walden, Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and essays and other writings by Wm. Bradford, Bradstreet, Edward Taylor, Jonathan Edwards, Patrick Henry, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, Edgar Allan Poe, Abraham Lincoln and others.

Early English Literature (EEL)

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 4

Prerequisite: None

This course is a literary and cultural survey of works from the 8th century to the early 16th century, written in the British Isles. Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales, Everyman, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Anglo-Saxon poetry, and parts of the Arthur Legend are included. Art and music will be explored to enhance literary understanding.

Fantasy Literature

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 2

Prerequisite: None

The works of fantasy literature, while drawing their inspiration chiefly from ancient myth and medieval legend, serve as a lens through which we view and make sense of our modern age. Rather than escaping reality, these stories confront it (albeit in their own peculiar way). Through class discussions, presentations, papers, tests, and projects, this course will offer students the opportunity to explore imaginary worlds like Tolkien's Middle-earth and Le Guin's Earthsea not only in our readings but also through art, music, creative writing, and film.

Great Themes in the Humanities

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 4

Prerequisite: None

The word “theme” has its root in the Greek word, “thema,” which means “a proposition,” or, “to set something down.” The themes of a text are its propositions about the world; they are the author’s answers to universal questions concerning the nature of human experience. It is this shared human experience that is the foundation of any serious inquiry in the humanities. In every culture, in every generation, human beings struggle with questions concerning love, death, morality, fate, free will, and human relationships. The great themes are the ones that continue to be relevant across cultures and across time. In this course, we will read texts that address the issues central to the human experience; we will read texts that address the questions: what is the nature of the world we live in? and, how ought we to live? Texts may include Gilgamesh, Inferno, Hamlet, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” The Turn of the Screw, Cat’s Cradle, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

Greek Myths

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 4

Prerequisite: None

Greek Mythology introduces students to the timeless tales of gods, goddesses, and heroes in ancient Greece. Readings include various myths, examples of Greek drama, poetry, and the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer. There are tests, oral reports, and compositions based on the reading. Steady effort is expected.

Later American Literature (LAL)

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 3

Prerequisite: None

Later American Literature is a survey of American literature from the first half of the twentieth century framed by the idea of the American Dream. The reading list for the course is extensive and may include novels such as Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises and Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. Plays may include Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and Fences by August Wilson. Students may also study the poetry of World War I and a collection by Robert Frost. Assessments will include traditional literary analysis essays, creative projects, poetry explication, quizzes, tests and class participation.

Later English Literature (LEL)

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 3

Prerequisite: None

Later English Literature is a survey of English literature from the late 17th through the late 19th centuries. While the reading list is extensive, emphasis will be placed on reading shorter works or excerpts of longer works by representative authors of each period. There will be at least two novels included among the readings. All works are studied against the intellectual background of the time in which they were written. Among authors and works to be studied are: Cavalier poets of the 17th century; the Diary of Samuel Pepys, Pope and Swift from the 18th century; Romantic writers Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley and Keats; and Dickens and Oscar Wilde from the Victorian Age. Requirements will include tests and quizzes, analytic and creative essays, and class participation.

Modern American Dramatic Literature

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 5

Prerequisite: None Not offered 17-18

How do social trends impact identity? Through the use of extensive in- and out-of-class reading and activities, students will gain an appreciation and understanding of the American identity as well as the human condition from different points of view. In each of these plays, there is a character struggling to be recognized. What are the social constraints placed upon them? How has their voice been minimized or silenced? In this course we will investigate the human condition through these characters that so desperately want their voices to be heard, but even speaking from a stage, is anyone listening? It is our job to listen. In this course students will read plays written in the past century by American authors, beginning with Eugene O’Neil and bumping into present day Pulitzer Prize winners Suzan Lori Parks and David Mamet. Each play centers on a character or characters that feel like an “other.” They are on the outside looking in on a world to which they seem to be denied access. Through these characters and their stories, students will investigate how race, gender, social class, economic status, sexual preference, and social standing impact both a person’s identity as well as their access to the idea that we have come to call The American Dream. Plays will be selected from the following list of authors: Lillian Hellman, Clifford Odets, Eugene O’Neil,Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Edward Albee, Sam Shepard, A.R. Gurney, David Mamet, August Wilson, Suzan Lori Parks, and Tony Kushner.

Mystery & Adventure

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 1

Prerequisite: None

This course will involve a study of adventure fiction and non-fiction, and the mystery, detective, and horror genres, including short stories, plays, novels, poetry, and film. Readings may include: Robert Cormier's The Rag and Bone Shop, Roland Smith’s Elephant Run, Paul Fleischman’s Seedfolks and Cynthia Rylant’s I Had Seen Castles.

Students will be required to read and complete homework assignments outside of class.They will also be expected to read and write in class and to contribute regularly to class discussion. Assessments include reading journals, vocabulary study, tests, quizzes, creative and analytical papers, oral presentations, projects, and active participation during class discussions.

Myth & Ritual

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 2

Prerequisite: None

This course is designed to improve a student's ability to read and think critically. By studying the elements of mythology and archetypal symbolism, students will be better able to recognize, interpret, and analyze literature and film. Readings may include, Gilgamesh; Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Hesse's Siddhartha, McCarthy’s The Road, Zusak’s I am The Messenger and White’s Charlotte’s Web. Films may include, Stars Wars “A New Hope,”The Legacy of Star Wars, The Power of Myth "The Hero's Adventure," Older Than America, Pow Wow Highway, The Way Home, and The Snow Walker. Assessments include reading journals, tests, quizzes, creative and analytical papers, oral presentations, projects, and active participation during class discussions. Please note: This course does not include Greek myths.

Poetry

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 3

Prerequisite: None

This course is for students who enjoy poetry: reading it, writing it, interpreting it, and discussing it! We will learn to appreciate many kinds of poetic forms and follow a survey from the Renaissance to contemporary English, Irish, and American poetry. Both creative and academic writing is required.

Regional American Literature

Grades 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 1

Prerequisite: None

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to American literature from different regions of the United States. We will focus on reading comprehension while also studying the writing styles of the different authors and the culture and food presented in each story. Writing assignments will focus on personal, analytical and creative writing, and texts may include the following novels: The House on Mango Street, The Secrets of the Tsil Café, Donald Duk and The Secret Life of Bees. Other novels, poems and short stories may be added according to the instructor.

Russian Literature

Grades: 11-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase 5 (Honors)

Prerequisite: None Not offered 17-18

Russian Literature is designed for the student who is an excellent reader and writer and whose discussion skills (questioning, clarifying, listening, stating) and critical writing skills are well developed. The student is, thus, ready to engage with demanding literature, both in class discussion and through critical essays and creative projects. The course is a survey of fiction written by nineteenth- and twentieth-century Russian and Soviet writers. Most of the course will be devoted to nineteenth-century works, which may include Turgenev's Fathers and Sons, Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, and Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, and shorter fiction by Pushkin, Gogol, Tolstoy, and Chekhov. Twentieth-century works may include Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, Zamiatin's We, and Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, and short stories by Isaac Babel. There will be outside reading both quarters (Anna Karenina and one other work).

Science Fiction

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 2

Prerequisite: None

Science Fiction is an important genre in modern literature. In this course, students will read and view some of the classics as well as modern examples found in novels, short stories and videos. Major works may include Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, DuPrau’s City of Ember, Orwell’s 1984, Card's Ender’s Game and Weir’s The Martian. Videos may include Gattaca, Minority Report, and the classic 2001: A Space Odyssey. Class discussion, papers, and tests will comprise the major work in the course.

Shakespeare

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 4

Prerequisite: None

Shakespeare is a study of dramatic literature; thus, the material in the course invites careful reading, visualization, discussion, and performance. Five or six plays are chosen for any given semester from the histories, comedies and tragedies. Selected sonnets will also be studied. Projects may include live performances, journals, or creative assignments. Several analytical papers are required.

Short Fiction

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 1

Prerequisite: None

In Short Fiction, students will read short stories and poetry and watch appropriate films. They will use the text Characters in Conflict and study how to analyze stories. Course work will also include papers and tests.

Short Story Masterpieces (SSM)

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 3

Prerequisite: None

Short Story Masterpieces is designed to study the short story as an art form. Students are expected to engage actively with the reading through class discussions and written responses. In addition to developing critical reading skills, this course helps students learn to recognize, appreciate, and react to a variety of writing styles. Authors studied may include Edgar Allan Poe, Anton Chekhov, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, James Baldwin, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, John Cheever, Raymond Carver, and Alice Walker, among others. Assessments include standard literary analysis essays as well as reading journals and creative projects. Students will also explore a single author through a multi-faceted independent project.

The Rebel In Literature

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 2

Prerequisite: None

In The Rebel in Literature, students will gain an appreciation of Western literature from the point of view of the rebel, the protagonist who defies or isolates himself from traditional value systems or community. We will study especially what is the nature of the rebel; how in spite of his resistance and separation, he is often defined by that against which he rebels; why he needs to seek isolation from the surrounding communities; and what the rebel can show us about our culture and humanity. Readings may include The Rule of the Bone, The Chocolate War, The Outsiders, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, and Persepolis. Films such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Pink Floyd The Wall, and Cool Hand Luke will also be an important part of the course. Reading, writing essays and reflective pieces, and developing creative projects will all be essential components of the class.

Twentieth Century Literature

Grades: 11-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase 5 (Honors)

Prerequisite: None.

This class examines novels, plays, and poetry from the Twentieth Century. Possible thematic focuses include gender, race and ethnicity in Twentieth Century Literature; postcolonial literature; experimentation and Modernism; and the literature of war. Authors for the course may include Conrad, Joyce, Woolf, Kafka, Ellison, Morrison, Silko, Garcia Marquez, and Camus.

World Classics

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 3

Prerequisite: None

World Classics introduces students to books that are widely read throughout the world, and are also set in various parts of the world. Different themes are emphasized each year. Titles may include Cervantes’ Don Quixote; Moliere’s Tartuffe; Achebe’s Things Fall Apart; Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities; Buck’s The Good Earth; Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac; Voltaire’s Candide, and Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. Students should be willing to read enthusiastically and to share ideas in class discussions.

Composition/Writing Courses

Advanced Prose Writing (APW)

Grades: 12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: N/A

Prerequisite: None

Advanced Prose Writing seeks to enhance students' creative, non-fiction prose writing. Students will craft a minimum of five major essays, which may include the following forms: a response to a college application question, a critical review, a biographical profile, an argument/thesis essay, various personal reminiscences, and an essay exploring a place or object. Participants will read a minimum of twenty essays and one to three book-length non-fiction works by authors such as Jonathan Swift, Russell Baker, Steinbeck, Dillard, Durrend, Kincaid, and Mailer. Students will be expected to work effectively by themselves and in groups, frequently sharing their essays through peer review. Students should not take this class just to complete a college essay. All English classes will afford a chance for students to receive feedback on their college essay. Additionally, the English Department discourages students who have taken Advanced Studies Program at St. Paul’s School from taking this course as those students will craft similar essays in that program.

Composition I

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: N/A

Prerequisite: Teacher Recommendation

Composition I is a course designed to help students to learn how to write in considerable detail and learn how to write more easily. By the end of the course, most students will be able to write a composition of five paragraphs or longer compositions of several pages. Students will study vocabulary, grammar, model essays, read at least two books and practice editing skills. Students read non-fiction and fiction and keep a portfolio.

Composition II

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: N/A

Prerequisite: Teacher Recommendation

Composition II is intended for the student who can already write in detail. Students receive instruction in specific kinds of writing assignments, which may include description, comparison, character study, literary analysis, personal narrative, and persuasion. Students also practice writing in-class essays. Students read non-fiction and fiction, keep a portfolio, and study grammar and vocabulary.

Fiction Writing

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: N/A

Prerequisite: None

In Fiction Writing students write narrative sketches and short stories; learn to use the various techniques of fiction writing such as dialogue, character development, and description; read pieces of fiction in order to analyze how professional writers use fiction writing techniques; and learn to discuss, analyze, and critique each other’s work.

Introduction to Creative Writing

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 2

Prerequisite: None

Frequent reflective and creative journal writing exercises, and at least four larger writing projects over the semester, students would improve overall writing skills, including usage and mechanics, focus, organization, tone, voice, and use of appropriate details. Exercises for vocabulary enrichment and use of figurative language are a regular part of the curriculum. Through analysis of exemplary poems, essays, stories, and short plays/screenplays, students explore creative writing techniques in order to use what they have learned in their own writing pieces.

Journalism

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: N/A

Prerequisite: None

Journalism is a writing course designed to expose the student to various periodical article formats. This course has frequent critical deadlines, and students will be expected to contribute writing pieces to the school newspaper. Students should be motivated writers with good editing skills. Using local and national papers and magazines as models, students will write a minimum of six articles, ranging from news pieces to sports to editorials, and will participate in peer-review of their work. If a student enjoys delving into current events and issues, this course will provide a refreshing opportunity to experiment with different styles and techniques.

Senior Writing Seminar (SWS)

Grade: 12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 5 (Honors)

Prerequisite: None

Senior Writing Seminar is an advanced writing course in which students select their own topics and choose the prose forms that best present them. Students are expected to write at least seven major papers, to read extensively outside class, to take in-class essay tests, and to meet for conferences with the teacher and other classmates. Students applying for this course should be competent writers who are prepared to push themselves in thinking and writing, and to give and receive criticism with grace.

Other Electives

Business Communications

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 1

Prerequisite: None

Effective communication skills, written and oral, are a must in today’s business world. Students will complete exercises in grammar and punctuation and create a variety of business documents. They will practice listening and speaking skills. Student will work on resume building and job seeking skills, as well as read literature with a business emphasis.

Individual Reading & Writing (IRW)

Grade: 12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: N/A

Prerequisite: Department Approval Not offered 17-18

Individual Reading and Writing is a course intended for the senior who would like to set up a regular program of reading and writing and would then pursue this “contracted” program for the semester. It is recommended that only students who can cope with an independent structure and who have fairly well-developed writing and interpretive reading skills apply for the course. This course is offered in the spring only. Students apply for admission during the fall of their senior year. Not all applications are approved, so students should sign up for another second-semester senior year English course in the usual manner, spring of their junior year.

Media Literacy: From Video To Web 2.0

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 2

Prerequisite: None

Media Literacy asks students to look critically at a wide variety of media formats. Students will examine films, web resources and print media with an eye towards topics such as bias, perspective, corporate influence, copyright, fair use, etc. By looking at these topics critically, students can become better, more informed consumers of all types of media. In addition, we will examine how each type of media requires different writing styles and techniques. Throughout the course students will complete several short critical essays as well as completing at least 1 short script, a website, a blog and a podcast.

Philosophy

Grades: 11-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 4

Prerequisite: None

The purpose of this course is to help students to develop a clear sense, both conceptual and historical, of the ideas that underlie and link material studied in the various academic disciplines and to introduce students to the joy and excitement which philosophical thought can afford. We begin with a survey of fundamental issues in philosophical thought. Among these might be the nature of good and evil, the problem of identity, free will vs. determinism, cosmological and theological questions, the problem of knowledge (epistemology), metaphysics, the nature of beauty (aesthetics), existentialism, the philosophy of science, the influence of non-Western thought on the Western tradition, etc. Following a survey of topics selected from among the above, we undertake a more detailed chronological study of a number of individual philosophers. These will vary from year to year, depending on student interest and on relevance to topics under study in other courses in the school. Students will participate in rigorous and ardent discussion of an array of challenging ideas, discussion that will reward a genuine and sustained intellectual curiosity. Accountability is by means of papers, tests, and class participation.

Power of Words

Grades: 10-12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: 3

Prerequisite: None

In this course, we explore the derivation of English words and their varying meanings over time. Drawing on the students’ personal experiences as well as numerous texts, we look at how words reflect and are affected by shifting societal attitudes. We also emphasize vocabulary development and increased sentence variety. Finally, the course focuses on rhetoric – how and why we are convinced, particularly by the written and spoken word.

Throughout the course, the prevalent question is this: How do words derive their power?

Public Speaking

Grades 10 – 12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase: N/A

Prerequisite: None

The focus of this course will be learning how elements of public performances can improve any student's effectiveness. Public Speaking will benefit both those with and those without an interest in pursuing oration beyond the course. We will explore public speaking, memorization, relaxation and communication skills. Our reading and writing will be based on plays, speeches and monologues with an emphasis on the speaker’s approach to texts. The student taking this class should be prepared for multiple oral presentations in front of the class and possibly for audiences outside of the class as well.

Senior English Project

Grade: 12 • Credit: 1/2 • Phase N/A

Prerequisite: See Senior Bridges Project

Senior English Project is for the student who can work well independently and who has a strong interest in examining some area of English in depth. Past projects have included writing a novel, directing a play, producing a baby-sitting manual, making an educational film on ice hockey, researching the poetry of Richard Eberhardt, and photographing illustrations for a collection of his poetry.

2017-2018 Course Offerings by Semester

Semester 1 Courses

Literature/Reading Courses

Phase Code Title

Composition/Writing Courses

Phase Code Title

Other Electives

Phase Code Title

NO = “Not offered” next year but may be offered again in 2018-2019.

*The 1st semester section of CAC is for juniors only; the 2nd semester section is open to the other grades.

**Seniors must apply in the Fall of their senior year.

Semester 2 Courses

Literature/Reading Courses

Phase Code Title

Composition/Writing Courses

Phase Code Title

Other Electives

Phase Code Title

NO = “Not offered” next year but may be offered again in 2017-2018.

*The 1st semester section of CAC is for juniors only; the 2nd semester section is open to the other grades.

**Seniors must apply in the Fall of their senior year.