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To view the curriculum for these courses, visit the
To view the curriculum for these courses, visit the
Advanced Placement (AP) Literature and Composition
Advanced Placement (AP) Literature and Composition
Course Details:
Course Details:
Grade: 11-12
Length: two semesters
Prerequisites: English 10 and teacher recommendation
WRITING INTENSIVE
Course Description:
Course Description:
AP Literature and Composition is a yearlong honors level course for learners of superior work habits and a willingness to be intellectually challenged. It is designed to provide a learning opportunity for those learners capable of doing college level work and the possibility of gaining advanced placement and/or credit in college English, upon successful completion of the AP English Literature and Composition examination. This course provides a comprehensive background in the analysis of literature, and requires a significant amount of independent reading and writing.
The first semester of this course fulfills one literature requirement, and the second semester fulfills the writing intensive graduation requirement.
Please visit the College Board-AP Central website for more information (http://apcentral.collegeboard.com).
British Literature
British Literature
Course Details:
Course Details:
Grade: 11-12
Length: one semester
Prerequisites: English 10
Course Description:
Course Description:
British Literature combines a survey of British texts, with an emphasis in formal structured writing. British Literature lays a foundation for understanding modern events, society, and conflict. Canonical British literature and post-colonialist texts are the tools used to analyze the relationship between the past and the present, and to examine contemporary issues related to race, class, and gender.
Read at least 2-4 book-length reading selections (fiction, drama, nonfiction, etc.), such as:
1984 by George Orwell
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (option to pair it with Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe)
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (option to pair with Pride by Ibi Zoboi)
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
At least one Shakespeare play:
Hamlet (option to pair with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard)
Macbeth
Othello
Read at least 3-5 shorter written pieces (articles, essays, speeches, short stories, poetry, excerpts from longer pieces, etc.) independently and/or in literature circles. Some options include, but are not limited to, additional reading from authors listed in this course, selections on the supplemental book list (either whole text or excerpts), or the following:
The Danger of a Single Story by Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell
A Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Excerpts from Edward Said, such as Culture and Imperialism
Excerpts from at least two of the following:
Arthurian legend
Beowulf (option to pair with excerpts from Grendel by John Gardner)
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Paradise Lost by John Milton
Romance poetry
Victorian poetry
Teachers may select from the book lists of other literature courses not presently offered at their schools (or in collaboration with their colleagues).
Holocaust Literature
Holocaust Literature
Course Details:
Course Details:
Grade: 11-12
Length: one semester
Prerequisites: English 10
Course Description:
Course Description:
Holocaust Literature is a thematic approach that challenges learners to pull lessons that connect our contemporary era to the history of the Holocaust, teaching awareness and tolerance for other cultures internationally as well as within our own communities. The course continues to build on historic and literary foundations through activities that involve critical thinking and analysis. Learners focus on individual stories and historic content that connect a variety of experiences, allowing learners to ‘own’ their study of the Holocaust. In giving historical content to literature, it provides clarity and builds better foundations for reference points, thus making a meaningful connection for all learners. Formal literary analysis is required, as well as a variety of other writing experiences.
Core Requirements:
One fiction or drama selection
One graphic selection
One nonfiction selection
Read at least 2-4 book-length reading selections (fiction, drama, nonfiction, etc.), such as
Alicia, My Story by Alicia Appleman-Jurman
All But My Life by Gerda Weissmann Klein
The Book Thief by Mark Zusak
Diary of Anne Frank (play) by Francis Goodrich and Albert Hackett
Diary of David Sierakowiak by David Sierakowiak
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Maus I – II by Art Spiegelman
Notes from the Warsaw Ghetto by Emanuel Ringelblum
Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi
Survivors of the Holocaust by Zane Whittingham
Upon the Head of a Goat: A Childhood in Hungary by Aranka Siegal
The Wave by Todd Strasser (pseudonym Morton Rhue)
Read at least 3-5 shorter written pieces (articles, essays, speeches, short stories, poetry, excerpts from longer pieces, etc.) independently and/or in literature circles. Some options include, but are not limited to, additional reading from authors listed in this course, selections on the supplemental book list (either whole text or excerpts), or the following:
I Never Saw Another Butterfly by Hana Volavkova
Teachers may select from the book lists of other literature courses not presently offered at their schools (or in collaboration with their colleagues).
Social Themes in Literature
Social Themes in Literature
Course Details:
Course Details:
Grade: 11-12
Length: one semester
Prerequisites: English 10
Course Description:
Course Description:
Social Themes in Literature is a thematic approach to the study of contemporary and historical social issues through a variety of texts, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama. Learners respond to the texts verbally, in writing, and through classroom presentations. They will read and explore narratives written by and about people who have been historically under-represented in the literary canon (women, Native Americans, African Americans/Africans, Latinx, Asian/Asian Americans and LGBTQ+ peoples). They will gain an understanding of diverse people, experiences, and contributions of the many voices that make up the global community. Learners will also gain a deeper awareness and appreciation for their own and others’ cultures. Formal literary analysis is required, as well as a variety of other writing experiences.
This is a personalized learning course. This class provides a unique opportunity for learners to create their own reading list, which must include one item from fiction, nonfiction, drama or graphic, and poetry. Learners will examine contemporary and historical social issues through diverse perspectives and authors. They are encouraged to choose diverse selections, and may appeal to the teacher to use a different title from the supplemental reading list in the appendix.
Read at least 2-4 book-length reading selections (fiction, drama, nonfiction, etc.), such as:
The 57 Bus (Slater)
All You Can Ever Know (Chung)
American Born Chinese (Yang)
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Sáenz)
Bless Me, Ultima (Anaya)
Enchanted Air (Margarita Engle)
Farewell to Manzanar (Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston)
Handmaid’s Tale (Atwood)
I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced
Little Foxes (Helman)
Mexican White Boy (de la Pena)
Obasan (Kogawa)
Persepolis (Satrapi)
Poet X (Acevedo)
Poisonwood Bible (Kingsolver)
Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Albertalli)
They Called Us Enemy (Takei)
Trifles (Glaspell)
When Heaven and Earth Changed Places (Hayslip)
Read at least 3-5 shorter written pieces (articles, essays, speeches, short stories, poetry, excerpts from longer pieces, etc.) independently and/or in literature circles. Some options include, but are not limited to, additional reading from authors listed in this course or selections on the supplemental book list (either whole text or excerpts), such as pieces written by:
Maya Angelou
W.H. Auden
Jimmy Santiago Baca
Rick Barot
Elizabeth Bishop
Lord Byron
Dorothy Chan
Countee Cullen
Rita Dove
Mariposa Fernandez
Hafiz
Garret Hongo
Hiromi Ito
Ha Jin
June Jordan
Federico Garcia Lorca
Audre Lorde
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Pablo Neruda
Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Naomi Shihab Nye
Sharon Olds
Mary Oliver
Michael Ondaatje
Linda Pastan
Marge Piercy
Sylvia Plath
Adrienne Rich
Rumi
Sappho
Gertrude Stein
Gary Soto
Gertrude Stein
Truong Tran
Sojourner Truth
Ocean Vuong
Alice Walker
Walt Whitman
Teachers may select from the book lists of other literature courses not presently offered at their schools (or in collaboration with their colleagues).
World Literature
World Literature
Course Details:
Course Details:
Grade: 11-12
Length: one semester
Prerequisites: English 10
Course Description:
Course Description:
World Literature integrated course combines a survey of international authors with composition. Prose, poetry, and drama are used as vehicles for examining culture and important authors outside of our national and cultural boundaries, as well as improving writing skills. Formal literary analysis is required, as well as a variety of other writing experiences.
Read at least 2-4 book-length reading selections (fiction, drama, nonfiction, etc.), such as:
The Cherry Orchard by Anton Cheknov
A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen
Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen
In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseni
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Read at least 3-5 shorter written pieces (articles, essays, speeches, short stories, poetry, excerpts from longer pieces, etc.) independently and/or in literature circles. Some options include, but are not limited to, additional reading from authors listed in this course or selections on the supplemental book list (either whole text or excerpts).
Teachers may select from the book lists of other literature courses not presently offered at their schools (or in collaboration with their colleagues).
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