11th Grade English

AP ENGLISH 11 - Language and Composition: Words, perspectives and power. How do authors employ language to manipulate and persuade us?

EN30 - 1 English Credit - Full Year

Prerequisite: Completion of English 10 with a final grade of B or higher; recommendation of English 10 teacher, approval of department head and an interest in writing.


Students must take an after school diagnostic writing test to familiarize them with academic expectations of an AP course. Students in this accelerated course will study a variety of texts in preparation for the

Advanced Placement Exam in Language and Composition. Using a number of American classics as a springboard, they will analyze and produce mature prose. Students will explore narrative, descriptive, and analytical modes of discourse, and consider audience and purpose. In addition, students will work on making their own writing more sophisticated. 

All students enrolled are required to take the AP exam in May for which there is a fee of $98.00. This will serve as the final exam for the course. Students who score 3 or higher on this exam may receive college credit or advanced college placement in English. 

ENGLISH 11H American Literature and the American Identity: How does American literature capture our country’s diverse voices and stories?    

EN31 - 1 English Credit - Full Year - Honors 

Enrollment is based on the recommendation of 10th grade teachers.


This American literature course focuses on “Giving Voice” to diverse perspectives within America’s multicultural pluralistic society.  Thematically, the course explores questions surrounding social identity, representation, race, ethnicity, class, gender, equity, immigration, oppression, resistance, and what it may mean to be an “American.”  This class is taught like a college seminar, where students are engaged in meaningful conversations about the literature and its larger ideas, lead in-depth and inquiry based discussions, form and substantiate arguments, and give presentations.  Students will also continue to develop their analytical writing skills and self-reflection.  


Works studied may include My Antonia, The Book of Unknown Americans, Moby Dick, Ceremony, The Color Purple, The Joy Luck Club, A Raisin in the Sun, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, The Namesake, Between the World and Me and Funny in Farsi.


ENGLISH 11A: American Literature and Ourselves : How does American literature test and reflect the ever-changing ideals and contradictions of the American identity?

EN32 - 1 English Credit - Full Year - A Level

Enrollment is based on the recommendation of 10th grade teachers.


What is American literature, and how has it been shaped by our history and the continuous modification of the American identity? How does American literature not only reflect the beliefs and experiences of our early colonial days but also demonstrate the increasing diversity and social complexity characteristic of modern American society? In this course, we will explore these questions as we embark on a literary and historical journey across hundreds of years, beginning with Early Colonial literature and working our way toward the Postmodern Era. As we study renowned authors such as Benjamin Franklin, Frederick Douglass, Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickinson, Arthur Miller, Mark Twain, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, we will trace the changes in American literature and the common themes that connect us as human beings and as Americans. Students in this course should expect a wide range of assignments, including not only traditional literary analysis essays, creative writing, and multi-faceted projects but also vocabulary training, grammar review, and preparation for the SATs.  

AMERICAN STUDIES ENGLISH SWS: What do democracy and freedom mean in U.S. history and in our society today?  How does American literature reflect the nation’s values and multi-ethnic and multi-cultural complexity?

Grade 11 

SWS10E / SWS11E - A Level / Honors 1 Credit English  


American Studies is a cooperatively taught, two credit integrated U.S. History and American Literature course. Through this interdisciplinary, project-based approach, students will study the Origin of “Race” and Reconstruction, with Edgar Allan Poe and Walt Whitman, Indian “Removal” with Lakota Woman; Robber Barons, Immigration, Spanish-American War, and World War I with Forgotten Fire, and The Jungle; The Twenties and Great Depression with The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath; Harlem Renaissance, World War II, America in the Fifties, Cold War and Vietnam with The Catcher in the Rye and The Things They Carried; Final Four Decades research projects and current events. Students will have many opportunities to refine research and writing skills, and will also prepare for SAT’s.

IB ENGLISH LITERATURE - HIGHER LEVEL  "Global Cultural Adventures"  Why does reading  literature from around the world broaden our intercultural understanding and respect for differences?


Year 1:  IBEN30SL or IBEN30HL (Grade 11)

Are you curious about other cultures? Are you interested in reading literature that represents a wide range of global perspectives and global issues? Do you want to develop your own independent interpretations of literature? Would you like to prepare and eat exotic cuisines in class and create cultural projects? Do you want to choose what you want to write about? Are you looking for an in-depth curriculum that examines topics deeply, instead of just memorizing facts for a test?  Then, IB English Literature is for you!


IB English Literature is a two-year student-centered, inquiry-driven, and discussion-based course that fosters deep critical thinking and reflection.  Over the two years, students are able to develop close, meaningful relationships with their peers and teachers. Since IB is internationally-minded, students will read diverse works of global literature from different genres, countries, cultural traditions, varied perspectives and voices, and historical periods. Emphasis will be placed on close reading and analysis of literary elements. Students choose their own literary line of inquiry for their IB Higher Level Essay, which is a literary analysis essay written on a student-generated topic that focuses on one one of the following: Identity, Culture, Creativity, Communication, Perspective, Transformation, and Representation. During junior year, students will complete varied written and oral assessments, including a Guided Literary Analysis of an Excerpt (Paper 1 on the IB Exam).


Literary Selections in Level 1

Things Fall Apart (Nigeria)

Chris Abani, poet

Like Water for Chocolate (Mexico)

Rosario Castellanos and Pablo Neruda, poets

Paradise of the Blind (Vietnam)

Ocean Vuong, poet

The Color of Water (America)

Kendrick Lamar

The Metamorphosis (Czechoslovakia)

Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead (Poland)

Joy Harjo and Marge Piercy, poets