Composition / Literature 9

This two-term course serves as an introduction to high school English instruction. In ninth grade, the learning of reading, writing, thinking, speaking, listening, and researching focuses on the concept of perspectives and pursuits. Within this overarching theme, students will explore a variety of texts and genres through close reading and will write narrative, argumentative, and informative texts. Students will compare and contrast texts and media that connect cultural and world views while focusing on complex characters and parallel plots, manipulated time, and flashbacks. They will make connections between their own lives and the lives of those they read. They will continue to develop their understanding of rhetoric through their reading, writing, and dialoging. Students will develop speaking skills through effective preparation techniques and develop critical listening skills. Students will continue to research authentic questions so they can orally articulate a claim supported by evidence while differentiating between primary and secondary document sources. They will continue to develop and monitor their reading, writing, and thinking processes as they read self-chosen texts, write about self-chosen topics, and think about their thinking.