This course is the second year of a college preparatory English sequence. Content is organized thematically and will employ the use of essential questions to guide critical thinking about texts that include short stories, novels, nonfiction, drama and poetry. There is a clear emphasis on the progressive development of skills identified in the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (9-10). English II places special emphasis on developing student writers who can produce well-crafted, organized, multi-paragraph essays written for a variety of audiences, with a focus on evidence-based analyses of multiple sources. Students will be assessed, in part, through the use of regular district-wide benchmark assessments.