English

Department Chair: Julia Grandison

The English program provides students with the skills and insights necessary for academic competence and for growth as independent and creative individuals. We strive to introduce students to a variety of literary genres, and to great writers from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. Students begin to see literature as an art, as a mirror that reflects their lived experiences, as a window that illuminates the experiences of others, and as a powerful tool for raising consciousness regarding pressing issues. Our curriculum is grounded in our Learn Well, Live Well, Lead Well goals and competencies and endeavors to cultivate thoughtful readers and adept writers of the English language. Students take English each year in the Middle and Upper Schools.

Twelve credits of upper school English and a final grade of at least 70 in Senior English are required for graduation.

LOWER SCHOOL

History & Stories, Grade level: 3

HAS or History and Stories is a class that combines Language Arts and Social Studies. Students in third grade learn about themselves and their identities, their immediate communities, important people in history, and about the global community through geography. Students read about, write about, and discuss characters in books and real historical and contemporary figures. In History and Stories, third graders hone their communication skills while building empathy and perspective taking. They learn about characters and traits, citing evidence, and grow their comprehension skills to help them become readers who learn. Third graders also write about their reading and about what they’ve learned in social studies. Students write personal narratives, information pieces, creative pieces, and poetry.

History & Stories, Grade level: 4

This interdisciplinary course combines the 4th-grade reading, writing, and social studies curriculum through the lens of being a positive change-maker in an ever-changing global world. The course has 3 pillars; identity, perspective, and action as a reader, writer, and citizen. The students begin with a deep dive into their identity and what makes them unique. Next, they practice perspective-taking as it relates to the world and to literary characters. Using programs such as Lucy Calkins’ Reading and Writing Units of Study and Level Up Village, students shape their perspectives and come together to understand others’ perspectives. In the end, they ponder the essential question: How can I make the world a better place? This is the start of their journey of growing into leaders that make the world a better place.

Language Arts, Grade level: 5

In fifth-grade language arts, students explore identity and consider multiple perspectives in poetry, short stories, personal narratives, realistic fiction, and nonfiction articles. Students develop skills in reading, critical thinking, speaking, and writing. Supporting ideas with detail in creative, expository, and persuasive writing is an integral part of their writing development in grade five. As students broaden their vocabulary through the Worldly Wise program, they strengthen their ability to decode word meanings of unfamiliar words. The texts they study provide windows and mirrors in which students discover diverse cultures and experiences. As they analyze and discuss multicultural works, fifth-graders deepen their empathy and understanding. Students have the opportunity to connect with peers across the globe in a Level Up Village collaboration and investigate actions related to Sustainable Development Goals to inspire positive change. Themes of developing one’s identity, considering multiple perspectives, and appreciating diversity support students' growing awareness of their community at a personal, national, and global level.

Language Arts, Grade level: 6

Sixth grade language arts is designed to increase communication skills through reading, writing, speaking and the study of grammar and vocabulary. Students read a variety of fiction and non-fiction texts including novels, short stories, poetry, memoirs, mythology, and folktales. These texts will model the various styles, voices, genres, and tones students will encounter in their writing. Writing will include responses to literature, reflective essays, creative pieces, and dialogue journals. They use graphic organizers to lay out their ideas and plan their writing. Grammar and vocabulary will be taught in context and through mini lessons. Students will participate in class discussions, art enrichment activities and deliver presentations. Students will take their prior knowledge and explore deeper and subtler themes. Unit themes include developing different perspectives, embracing heritage, perseverance, and overcoming obstacles.

MIDDLE SCHOOL

English 7: Windows and Mirrors, Grade level: 7

This course concentrates on the development of skills necessary in all subject areas: reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary, critical thinking, and discussion. Students study the craft of short stories, memoirs, graphic novels, lyrical prose and poetry, and the fantasy genre. Each piece of literature provides both a window and a mirror in which students see themselves and others’ perspectives. Writing activities include expository and creative options: students learn to analyze and write about literature with detail, organization, and depth; they have opportunities for creative expression in order to draw meaningful connections with the literature and their lives. Class discussions support reading comprehension and analytical skills. Students study and apply vocabulary words gleaned from each work of literature. They become well versed in the parts of speech and the parts of the sentence. Literary themes typically include coming of age, discovering identity, the power of friendship, multigenerational struggles and connections, and finding one’s voice.

English 8: Finding Voice, Grade level: 8

This course reinforces the skills of critical thinking, reading comprehension, discussion, close-reading analysis, creative and analytical writing, grammar, and vocabulary. Students engage with various genres: short stories, a graphic novel, a memoir, an allegory, and a play. Each work of literature provides an opportunity to understand and explore individual voices. Writing activities include expository and creative options. Students strengthen their analytical ability, organization of paragraphs, argumentation skills, and logical progression of ideas. In order to draw meaningful connections with the literature and their lives, students explore creative expression. They learn and apply vocabulary words gleaned from each work of literature. They become well versed in the parts of speech and parts of a sentence. Literary themes include coming of age, discovering identity, the power of friendship, multi generational struggles and connections, and finding one’s voice.

UPPER SCHOOL

English 9: "Where I'm From": Identity and Belonging Grade level: 9, Credit: 3

In English 9, we move from the concrete to the abstract. We will study several genres of literature, expand our study of vocabulary and grammar, and further develop our writing skills, particularly with regard to analytical essays. We will also complete a short unit on flash fiction and nonfiction writing.

Example Texts: the novels Catcher in the Rye, Disobedience, and Their Eyes Were Watching God; the graphic novel Persepolis; a choice of contemporary independent reading books; and the play Romeo and Juliet.

English 10: Literary Lenses of the American Dream, Grade level: 10, Credit: 3

This American literature course explores the American Dream as it relates to immigration, race, gender, sexuality, and personal identity. Students read novels as well as a range of personal essays, short stories, poems, and plays. Authors include Amy Tan, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and August Wilson. The course stresses skills in expository writing techniques, which extend to an extensive, properly documented research paper, and in close textual reading. Additionally, the class emphasizes vocabulary skills and the basic rules and usage errors of English grammar.

English 11: Pride, Prejudice, and Pariahs: Deconstructing Power in English Literature, Grade Level: 11, Credit: 3

This course introduces students to major writers in each of the significant periods of English literary history from the Anglo-Saxons to the Romantics to the Post-colonial era. Students study works from a variety of genres—epic poetry, lyric poetry, plays, and novels—to examine the major themes of British literature. The course investigates the way the society of a historical era influences its artistic works and the way those works influence society, then and now; key themes include the definition of the hero, the concept of the Other, the role of gender, the role of the individual in society, the power of ambition in creating good or evil, and the ways literature conceives of love. The writing program prepares students for college-level expository writing and also includes creative assignments.

Creative Writing Workshop, 1 trimester Grade level: 10-12; Credit: 1 per trimester

In this single trimester course, students have the time and space to cultivate writing outside of the core academic framework, and view it as a creative, artistic endeavor. Students will generate original writing both in timed free-write formats and in the form of assigned stories, poems, scenes and plays. We will explore the original detail needed to make writing ring as authentic. No Prerequisite.

SENIOR ENGLISH, Grade Level: 12, Credit: 3

Seniors elect one of the following sections of English 12. Course availability is subject to sufficient enrollment. All English 12 courses conclude with a term paper.

The first half of this course is designed to help seniors write effectively and to become discriminating judges of their own work. All teachers use Ken Macrorie’s Telling Writing as the basic text. Students read aloud what they write for class, hear comments and suggestions, then rewrite and revise. They also study the writing of professionals and end the course by writing a short story or cultural narrative of their own.

English 12: Love in Literature

This course examines women in their relationships with family, friends, lovers, and significant others of all types in fiction and drama. Students read novels and plays that present various roles of women (wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, sex object, ideal, spinster), keeping in mind what Coleridge believed — that a great mind is androgynous. Works include Toni Morrison's Beloved and others chosen by the class; recent groups have read Nabokov's Lolita, Chopin's The Awakening, McEwan's Atonement, Roy's The God of Small Things, and Jones' An American Marriage.

English 12: Sixties Protest Literature

John Lennon said, “We were all on this ship in the Sixties, our generation, a ship going to discover the New World.” This course aims to make the Sixties come alive for seniors through the literature that defined and influenced the era. The words of the writers and musicians under study helped fuel the Civil Rights Movement, Black Power, the Women’s Liberation Movement, and the fight against the Vietnam War. Authors will include: Malcolm X, Norman Mailer, Ken Kesey, Eldridge Cleaver, Sylvia Plath, and Bob Dylan. Considering the legacy of the Sixties today, students will also have the opportunity to explore issues of social justice meaningful to them.

English 12: War and Literature

This course will examine how artists portray the experience of war in works of art. Students will read works of poetry, fiction, memoir, and drama and also explore other evocations of war—in the visual arts, music, and film. Recognizing that art both reflects and reshapes the way we think, the class will look at how war literature has changed society’s views of war and how war has changed artists’ visions. The course will begin with a brief review of early texts about war and then focus primarily on the works of the twentieth century. Works will include excerpts from Homer, Shakespeare, and the WWI war poets, Catch 22, and The Things They Carried among others. We will also read critical works such as Paul Fussel’s The Great War and Modern Memory. Students will participate in the teaching as leaders of discussion.

English 12: African-American Literature

In this course, students will begin to develop an understanding of African-American literature as a distinct literary tradition by examining the themes and aesthetics that connect works by African-American authors. Students will examine how African-American forms of artistic expression are necessarily in conversation with their historical and political contexts. Finally, students will trace the ways in which the African-American literary tradition has helped to construct African-American racial and cultural identities. Authors include Toni Morrison and Jesmyn Ward, as well as various poets and critics.

English12: Digitopia - The Implications of a Digitizing World

This course examines the consequences of an increasingly digitized world. It begins with a look at the physiological and psychological effects of our devices, an investigation of social media in terms of social construction of identity, and the significance of the coming world of artificial intelligence. Students will research the history of the computing world, examine memoirs about the creation of the digital world, and read short stories and novels, such as Dave Eggers' The Circle or Tim Maughan's Infinite Detail, envisioning the future of our world in light of this technological revolution.