Foundations of English

Full Year Course Number: 1092

Foundations of English is a foundational course covering a wide variety of skills and topics over the course of two semesters, and it is meant for students who have perhaps not yet met proficiency in all their level eight performance indicators. It targets the core learning in the same skill areas associated with English 9, but leverages different learning approaches to further develop core skills. Students will generally analyze a primary text in each module, along with additional support texts, in order to develop interconnected language arts skills.

Possible Texts: The Outsiders, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian

Teacher recommendation Required

Honors English 9

Full Year Course Number: 1094

The Honors level of this course may incorporate the use of differing reading material, pacing, and analytical depth, but satisfies the same set of Common Core standards associated with ninth-grade English. Honors English 9 experiences will be award upon successful completion.

Possible Texts: All American Boys, Mr. Pip, Catcher in the Rye

Teacher recommendation & Required Writing Prompt

English 10

Full Year Course Number: 1103

English 10 is a course covering a wide variety of skills and topics over the course of two semesters, building on and recombining skills developed in English 9. Students analyze core American texts in each module, along with additional support texts, in order to develop interconnected language arts skills.

Literary Myth and Fantasy

Full Year Course Number: 1160

Semester One

Literary myth is the study of Greek and Roman mythology and is designed to enhance the understanding of classical mythology and its continuing influence on our modern world. Students will study classical Greco-Roman mythology and examine how some themes and character types occur over and over in myths. Reading, individual projects/activities, a research paper and oral presentations will be part of this semester’s work. Areas of focus will include creation myths, gods and goddesses, punishment, heroes and heroines, mythological creatures and the afterlife.

Semester Two

The second semester of this course will begin with a discussion of the Heroes’ journey, and a discussion of the fantasy and science fiction genres. Students will analyze what elements determine the genres. What are the key essential ingredients necessary for prose to be classified as “fantasy and/or science fiction?”Students will go on the investigate the question “What makes a story great?” This semester the students will read short stories and books and discuss them in detail. Students will examine many authors including C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Dean Koontz, and Richard Adams.

Possible Texts: Edit Hamilton’s Mythology, The Hobbit, Watership Down, The Watchers, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

Prerequisites: English 9 & English 10

Literacy Through Short Texts 1

Full Year Course Number: 1030

Instruction will include a review of Grade 10 English standards in order to support student success on Grade 11 standards. Alternative short texts will be used to enhance student understanding. An increased level of support with reading and writing will enhance student progress toward proficiency.

Possible Texts: Short Fiction texts- Dahl, Poe, Marston, Stevenson, Twain,

Nonfiction- Alexie, Thoreau, Emerson, Quindlen, Angelou, Hughes, Henry, Smith, King, Lincoln

Recommendation of teacher or guidance counselor required.

Global Perspectives on Literature

Full Year Course Number: 1162

What is your perspective? How has your perspective been shaped by your environment? This class will explore perspectives ranging from personal belief systems, to Victorian England, marginalized voices in contemporary literature, and humanitarian crises worldwide. The content is used as a vehicle for close reading, informed, collaborative discussion, and various modes of writing. This course is ideal for students planning to attend a liberal arts college because of the focus on inclusion, diversity, culture, and equity.

Possible texts: The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Round House, Exit West, Our Only World, written and spoken-word poetry

Prerequisites: English 9, English 10 & English 11

Weird Tales: Speculative Fiction

Full Year Course Number: 1164

This new course utilizes the best of the previously taught classes, Horrific Tales and Dystopian Literature, to bring to students a new year-long study of stories, novels, and plays. Students will read, write, discuss and otherwise analyze works with elements, settings, and characters whose features are created out of human imagination and speculation rather than the realities of everyday life. Speculative fiction is the fiction of unlimited possibilities allowing the reader to see the existing world with new eyes. Reading, writing, and research project assignments will range from short exercises to essays and presentations of various lengths and types.

Possible Texts: Collection of short stories and novellas by: Edgar Allen Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Richard Matheson, Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, Ray Bradbury, and Kurt Vonnegut; Poetry and Essays by: Stephen Dobyns and Margaret Atwood; On Writing by Stephen King; Poemcrazy by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge; Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Macbeth; Novels: The Maze Runner, The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Hunger Games, Utopia, 1984, Animal Farm, The Testing, Ready Player One, Fahrenheit 451, The Time Machine.

Prerequisites: English 9, English 10 & English 11

Creative Writing

Full Year Course Number: 1149

Grade: 12

Creative Writing is a full year course for Grade 12 which allows senior students the opportunity to gain/increase confidence, to develop inspiration, and to improve upon the skill sets necessary to improve their writing. Students write every day and study the basic principles of poetry, fiction, non-fiction essays, memoir, play/stage writing, and children's writing. Students regularly engage in a workshop atmosphere providing and accepting critiques of their own work and the work of others. In addition, there are also in-depth discussions of both classical and contemporary works by established writers in all genres. Students will practice skills such as creating purpose, introducing conflict, developing characters, setting scenes, establishing mood and tone, and finding one's writer “voice”. A portfolio of polished work will be created at the end of each semester.

POSSIBLE TEXTS: Memoirs such as Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi & The Color of Water by James McBride, Various Novels, Short Stories, and Plays. Various Essays from: The Language of Composition by Shea & Scanlon, Various Essays from The Orwell Reader, A Creator's Guide to Transmedia Storytelling: How to Captivate and Engage Audiences across Multiple Platforms, Picturing Texts by Lester Faigley & Diana George, Selections from Hamlet’s BlackBerry by William Powers, Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics

Prerequisites: English 9, English 10 & English 11

Reinventing Literature: Storytelling in a Multimedia World

Full Year Course Number: 1163

This class will examine how essential questions are explored through the telling of stories in formats as diverse as comic books and films to social media and video games.Students will read, write, discuss and otherwise analyze works across different media with all the elements, settings, and characters of great literature. In addition to analyzing the literary elements present in the model texts, students will be encouraged to consider the different limitations and possibilities of telling stories across these media by deconstructing the essential elements of the forms and creating original works.

Literacy Through Short Texts 2

Full Year Course Number: 1130

Instruction will include a review of Grade 11 English standards in order to support student success on Grade 12 standards. Alternative short texts will be used to enhance student understanding. An increased level of teacher support with reading and writing will reinforce student progress toward proficiency.

Possible Texts:

Short stories- Gordon, Kingsolver, Weaver, Bradbury, Stevenson, Dickens, Twain

Nonfiction texts- Montaigne, Franklin, Keller, Truth, Tan, Sloan, King.

Recommendation of teacher or guidance counselor required.

AP English Language & Composition

Full Year Course Number: 1119

Grade: 11

AP Language and Composition is for 11th graders only. It is equivalent to an entry-level college literature and composition course. The course is organized according to the requirements of The CollegeBoard, AP English Course Description.

The curriculum is designed to expose students to a diversity of voices and ideas in literature while experiencing a variety of reading and writing styles. The purpose of the AP English Language and Composition course is to enable students to read complex non-fiction texts with understanding and to write prose that is rich, complex, and sophisticated that communicates effectively with mature readers. Students will be trained in stylistic analysis, logical reasoning, and communication skills necessary for the AP Language and Composition Examination in May. Students who earn a score of 3 or higher may be awarded credit and/or advanced placement at many colleges and universities. Since this is a college-level course, performance expectations are appropriately high and the workload is challenging. Students are expected to commit to several hours of course work per week outside of class. Due to the demanding curriculum, students must bring to the course sufficient command of mechanical conventions and an ability to read and discuss prose.

Summer Reading and Writing Required

Prerequisites: English 9 & English 10

IB Literature HL - Year 1

Full Year Course Number: 1007

Grade: 11

This two-year course is organized into four semesters over a two year period, each semester is focused on a group of literary works meeting requirements of the IB curriculum and emphasizing student exposure to and understanding of a variety of cultures, genres and periods. Students engage in close, detailed readings and reflect critically resulting in the presentation of literary analysis through both oral and written communication. In the fall of Junior year, in preparation of an Individual Oral Presentation, students study the stylistic techniques of narrative fiction while developing an enhanced understanding of literary devices and conventions of rhetorical style. In the spring of Junior year, in preparation of an Individual Oral Commentary, students continue this study and strengthen reflection on the power of authors’ rhetorical choices. In the fall of Senior year, students work with three novels, all works in translation, and prepare a four stage assessment which culminates in a 1200-1500 word essay on the literary aspects of one of these works. In the spring of Senior year, students analyze the linguistic conventions used in four works of Drama. The senior year concludes with two papers completed in an exam setting; one is a commentary based on two unseen passages of poetry or prose, the other is a comparative discussion with focus on conventions of the Drama genre.

Possible Texts : Year of Wonders, The Secret Life of Bees, The Hunger Games, Mr. Pip, Macbeth, Orwell's Essays, Collection of Walt Whitman Poetry, Beowulf, Frankenstein, 1984, The Prince, Hamlet, Death of a Salesman, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, The Glass Menagerie

Prerequisites: English 9 & English 10

IB Literature HL - Year 2

Full Year Course Number: 1219

This two-year course is organized into four semesters over a two year period, each semester is focused on a group of literary works meeting requirements of the IB curriculum and emphasizing student exposure to and understanding of a variety of cultures, genres and periods. Students engage in close, detailed readings and reflect critically resulting in the presentation of literary analysis through both oral and written communication. In the fall of Junior year, in preparation of an Individual Oral Presentation, students study the stylistic techniques of narrative fiction while developing an enhanced understanding of literary devices and conventions of rhetorical style. In the spring of Junior year, in preparation of an Individual Oral Commentary, students continue this study and strengthen reflection on the power of authors’ rhetorical choices. In the fall of Senior year, students work with three novels, all works in translation, and prepare a four stage assessment which culminates in a 1200-1500 word essay on the literary aspects of one of these works. In the spring of Senior year, students analyze the linguistic conventions used in four works of Drama. The senior year concludes with two papers completed in an exam setting; one is a commentary based on two unseen passages of poetry or prose, the other is a comparative discussion with focus on conventions of the Drama genre.

Possible Texts : Year of Wonders, The Secret Life of Bees, The Hunger Games, Mr. Pip, Macbeth, Orwell's Essays, Collection of Walt Whitman Poetry, Beowulf, Frankenstein, 1984, The Prince, Hamlet, Death of a Salesman, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, The Glass Menagerie

Prerequisites: English 9, English 10 & IB Literature HL - Year 1