12th Grade English - Full Year

Seniors must take one half-year course each semester from the elective sections or one full year course. The AP English Literature and Composition and College Composition Honors are full year courses.

Note: Students will not be allowed to enroll in two (2) English classes in the same semester without the express permission of the English department head.

AP ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION: How do the stories we read reflect and challenge the complexities of being human; what can we learn about ourselves and the world through literature?

EN41 - 1 English Credit - Full Year

Prerequisites: Completion of English 11 with a final grade of B or higher; recommendation of English 11 teacher and approval of department head.

Students of AP English Literature and Composition will read a variety of literature, representing a diversity of time periods, cultures, and points of view. Through a comparative reading of literature, students will construct meaning in literature by being attentive to language, imagery, characterization, action, argument, and the various techniques and strategies authors use. Students are expected to write a

literary analysis essay after each major work. Autobiographical essays will be written for college applications. Verbal language skills will be strengthened through prepared formal presentations, interactive discussions, student-taught lessons, and dramatic performance. All students will take the AP exam in May, which will serve as the final exam for the course.

All students enrolled are required to take the AP exam in May for which there is a fee of $98.00.

Students who score 3 or higher on this exam may receive college credit or advanced college placement in English.

COLLEGE COMPOSITION - HONORS: My Voice Matters - How is writing an expression of one’s identity and power?

EN71 - 1 English Credit- Full Year - HONORS

College Composition focuses on the conventions and forms of academic writing. Students will write convincing, well developed, and well organized arguments that are supported through synthesis of information and evidence, analysis, and proper documentation. First term will focus on the college application process, including evaluating schools, communicating with admissions representatives, completing the Common Application, and writing the college essay and Supplementals. Over the course of the year, students will develop a portfolio of essays that includes different modes of writing: personal narrative (college essay), persuasive argument, comparison-contrast, informative, point-counterpoint, process, feature writing, and editorial opinion. Grammar as rhetoric and style will be taught to improve syntax clarity, variety, and conciseness. One term will be devoted to researching, writing, and orally defending an inquiry-driven 15-20 page Senior Thesis based on a subject of personal academic interest. Students will read literature that considers humans’ existential quest for meaning, identity, and self-actualization. Literary selections may include The Color of Water, 1984, The Metamorphosis, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and The Namesake.

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 2: IBEN30SL2 or IBEN30HL2 (Grade 12)

This course will continue the work begun in IB English Literature Higher Level 1, with an emphasis on independent close reading and analysis of authorial choices and literary techniques. As well, during the first term, seniors will work on their college applications and personal stories. Students will explore how readers, writers, and texts interact, how time and space influences the work, and how intertextuality influences interpretation. The culminating assessments of senior year are the IB Individual Oral, an oral analysis of a global issue found in two works, IB Paper 1 Guided Analysis of an excerpt, and IB Paper 2 Comparative Analysis of 2 works.

Literary Selections in Level 2

A Doll’s House (Norway)

The Scarlet Letter (America)

The Color Purple (America)

Langston Hughes and Amanda Gorman, poets

The Grapes of Wrath (America)

Martin Espada, poet

Augustown (Jamaica)

Louise Bennett, Mutabaruka, and Bob Marley, poets

Poets: Emily Dickinson and Sylvia Plath