Senior Course Description
140 COLLEGE AND CAREER READY: COMPOSITION (CCR: COMPOSITION)This course is designed to prepare and transition students directly into college and career pathways requiring general education college writing skills. Most seniors will be recommended to take this course in addition to another senior English Elective. The students will work to develop mastery of the following writing styles: cause/effect, informational, descriptive narration and critical analysis. This course is project based and focuses on student writing with an emphasis on the students’ chosen career path. Students will be encouraged to use college and career pathways as a focus for their research to complete projects using the four styles of writing. Students will focus on developing skills including the use of Standard English to develop coherent sentences using a variety of structures as well as the use of punctuation, verb tense and word choice to produce well-developed academic essays. Any student that completes this course with a grade of “C” or higher will receive guaranteed placement in a college level English Course at South Suburban College within 18 months of successful course completion.
141 ADVANCED COMPOSITIONThis semester course is designed to focus on the theory and practice of narrative, descriptive, expository, andargumentative writing. Emphasis will be placed on sentence structure and paragraph development to craft a varietyof compositions. Students will be given opportunities to explore a variety of research sources and genres of writing.Instruction will be tailored to analysis of critical issues with a focus on writing to assumed audiences, and inappropriate styles and tones. In addition to major writing projects, formative assignments will consist of analyticreading responses or pieces of writing that contribute to larger writing projects-in-progress. Research topics will bechosen from real life issues faced by modern society and be discussed using both fiction and nonfiction assupportive evidence. Students will also evaluate and provide feedback on one another’s writing as part of peerresponse groups.
146 CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES This course is intended for students with average reading and writing skills. This course examines cultural themes in American Literature to enhance students’ awareness and appreciation of the multiethnic nature of the American culture. Students will engage in close reading, discussion, analysis and interpretation of texts written by individuals from a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Students will also write essays that examine cultural themes including ethnic identity, cultural assimilation, generational conflict and prejudice 147 SOCIAL ISSUES This course is intended for students with average reading and writing skills. The course is designed to increase the analytical writing skills of students through an investigation of current social issues including, but not limited to, cloning, assisted suicide, genetic testing, intellectual property (piracy), cyber-crimes, gay marriage, gambling and social security reform. Students will compose argumentative and persuasive essays in order to prepare for written expression beyond high school.
148 SPECULATIVE LITERATURE This course is intended for students with average reading and writing skills. This course is meant to cover a span of fantasy fiction, science fiction, epic fantasy, ghost stories, horror stories, folk stories, fairy tales, magic realism and modern mythmaking. This literature will be studied in terms of its 37 | Page historic, social and literary contexts. In addition, the literature will be explored in terms of the influences that created them and how the literature achieves its effects. Students will complete several literary analysis essays that examine the human equation and ideological thought.
149 CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE This course is intended for students with average reading and writing skills. Students will read a variety of literature written primarily after 1950 that reflects the literary response to the contemporary society. In their study, students will focus on authors, themes, concerns of the times, structures, and techniques that have influenced the development of contemporary literature. The bulk of selections are novels, complemented by plays, poems and short stories. Regular essay assignments will focus intensely on literary analysis.
144 STUDIES IN CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE This course is intended for students with above average reading and writing skills. It is designed to help students use language arts skills to evaluate historical and contemporary issues. Students will evaluate and use a variety of reading materials, analyze the World Literature, and evaluate the effect of language and genre on purpose and meaning, and apply ideas in literature to real-life issues. Students will also use technology to produce written documents based on personal experience and research. Finally, students will participate in oral presentations and evaluate various literary media.
145 ADVANCED PLACEMENT® ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION This course is intended for college-bound students with above average reading and writing skills who plan to take the Advanced Placement® Exam in English Literature & Composition. It is designed to help students develop the language arts skills equivalent to a freshman college course. Students will develop their reading and writing vocabularies while analyzing and evaluating a wide range of literary classics of various genre. Students will write numerous in-depth, impromptu literary analyses as well as other compositions using research and technology. The student may take the examination in Advanced Placement® English Literature and Composition given in the spring by Educational Testing Services. Students will receive an AP workbook, which accompanies the course. Students may take the Advanced Placement® Examination for possible college credit.
153 LITERATURE STUDIESThis semester course focuses on the analytical approach to literature. Literature may include the novel,short story, poetry and drama. Plot structure, narrative technique, character depiction and theme, andfiction as a literary genre are examined. Students study terminology and literary concepts in order tointerpret, analyze, and critically evaluate literary works from all three genres. In addition, students willstudy critical reading strategies, literary criticism, including the work of culturally diverse writers.Students will write formal essays to demonstrate understanding of Plot, Character Development,Theme and Historical Context. Emphasis will be placed on the use of direct textual evidence to supportcritical analysis of literary works. Students will practice steps of literary analysis using a tiered approachto develop project based outcomes.