11th Grade English

AP ENGLISH 11
EN30 - 1 English Credit - Full Year

Prerequisite: Completion of English 10 with a final grade of B or higher; recommendation of English 10 teacher and 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 $95.

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 11: American Voices / Honors

EN31 - 1 English Credit - Full Year

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 is 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 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
EN32 - 1 English Credit - Full Year

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 Post-modern 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.

ENGLISH 11B
EN33 - 1 English Credit - Full Year

Junior English B focuses on the literary trends of the United States from the l600’s to the present time. Students will explore poetry, drama, short prose and novels.
This course will emphasize strongly the development of those basic learning skills including reading, writing and organizational skills.
Enrollment is limited to 15.

American Studies is a cooperatively taught, three 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, Walt Whitman, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; Indian “Removal”, Robber Barons, Immigration, Spanish-American War, and War I with The Sun Also Rises, Forgotten Fire, and The Jungle; The Twenties, Great Depression, Harlem Renaissance, and World War II with The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath; 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.
Enrollment in the Humanities Seminar is also required for this course.

Honors students will complete the American Studies curriculum, with the addition of reading and writing assignments, research projects and class presentations.

IB ENGLISH LITERATURE - Year 1
IBEN30SL or IBEN30HL

IB ENGLISH LITERATURE - Year 2
IBEN30SL2 or IBEN30HL2
This class can be taken as an English elective outside of the IB Programme.

The IB Diploma Programme language A: literature course develops understanding of the techniques involved in literary criticism and promotes the ability to form independent literary judgments. In language A: literature, the formal analysis of texts and wide coverage of a variety of literature—both in the language of the subject and in translated texts from other cultural domains—is combined with a study of the way literary conventions shape responses to texts. Students completing this course will have a thorough knowledge of a range of texts and an understanding of other cultural perspectives. They will also have developed skills of analysis and the ability to support an argument in clearly expressed writing, sometimes at significant length. This course will enable them to succeed in a wide range of university courses, particularly in literature but also in subjects such as philosophy, law and language.

The aims of the language A: literature course at both higher and standard levels are to:

• encourage a personal appreciation of literature and develop an understanding of the techniques involved in literary criticism

• develop the students’ powers of expression, both in oral and written communication, and provide the opportunity of practicing and developing the skills involved in writing and speaking in a variety of styles and situations

• introduce students to a range of literary works of different periods, genres, styles and contexts

• broaden the students’ perspective through the study of works from other cultures and languages

• introduce students to ways of approaching and studying literature, leading to the development of an understanding and appreciation of the relationships between different works

• develop the ability to engage in close, detailed analysis of written text

• promote in students an enjoyment of, and lifelong interest in, literature.

IB LITERATURE and PERFORMANCE SL

IBEN31SL1

IBEN31SL2
This class can be taken as an English elective outside of the IB Programme.

The IB DP literature and performance course is an interdisciplinary synthesis of language A and theatre. It incorporates essential elements of literature and performance and aims to explore the dynamic relationship between the two. At the heart of the course is this interaction between (i) a conventional literary emphasis on close reading, critical writing and discussion and (ii) the practical, aesthetic and symbolic elements of performance. A distinctive outcome of this synthesis is the performance of a piece transformed from poetry or prose. In this exciting, creative process text is viewed from different angles in a way that goes beyond what is characteristic of either literary or theatre studies as single disciplines. The course as a whole examines literary and dramatic texts and seeks to develop intellect, imagination and creativity. It encourages intercultural awareness through a study of texts from more than one culture. Literature and performance is available at standard level only.

The aims of the literature and performance course are to:

• equip students with the skills to explore critically and imaginatively a range of literary texts and performance possibilities

• develop in students the ability to articulate their responses to literature and performance in a variety of styles and contexts

• introduce students to a range of performance skills

• broaden the perspectives of students through the exploration of texts from differing cultures, periods and genres

• foster a personal and passionate engagement with literature and performance, and by so doing guide students towards a better understanding of themselves and the world.