ENGLISH

ENGLISH I

Credits: 5.0 (Year)

This course is designed to develop and extend a student’s reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. These skills will be honed through a study of world literature, with an emphasis on the integration and synthesis of information. A thematic approach provides students significant genre exposure. Students receive intensive instruction in preparation for taking the NJSLA; instruction is integrated into instructional units throughout the year. Students will begin the process to eventually master various forms of composition as well as increase competence in public speaking, listening, using technology, and analyzing different types of writing.

HONORS ENGLISH I

Credits: 5.0 (Year)

This course is designed to develop and extend a student’s reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. These skills will be honed through a study of major literary genres, with an emphasis on the integration and synthesis of information. A thematic approach provides students with reoccurring genre exposure. The units for this course include: Oral Tradition, Self-Discovery, Culture, Love and Relationships, and Political/Societal Awareness. Students will master various forms of composition and will increase competence in public speaking, listening, using technology, and analyzing different types of writing. Students receive intensive instruction in preparation for taking the NJSLA; instruction is integrated into instructional units throughout the year. Students who qualify for this course will be expected to complete several independent, concurrent reading and writing assignments throughout the school year.

Incoming 9th grade students should read the Honors Placement Criteria

COLLEGIATE WRITING AND 21st CENTURY PRESENTATION

Credits: 2.5 (Semester) - Required for Freshman only

Teaching those skills necessary for strong college and career bound writing performance, this course will provide all students with the skills and abilities necessary to write in a highly academic setting. This course will provide the foundation for the rest of our students' academic career. Writing in a globalized economy is not enough. Students today must also be able to present their ideas to a wide range for audiences through a wide range of media for effective, purpose-driven outcomes. The Presentation component of this course will prepare students to be strong public speakers and designers of effective 21st century ideas. Required course for all freshmen

ENGLISH II

Credits: 5.0 (Year)

In their second year of College Preparatory English, students study American literature from Native American and Colonial times to the present, using a thematic approach. Topics include the study of American writers, their literature, the influence of their literature on the culture, and the influence of the times on their ideas and writing. In addition to literature study, students receive instruction in more sophisticated learning, thinking, speaking, and study skills necessary for the preparation of formal writing and oral presentation. Special attention is placed on PSAT and NJSLA preparation. Major literary units include Native Americans and the Oral Tradition, Voices for Freedom, War and Peace, Social/Cultural Revolution, Individualism/Celebration of Self, Real Voices and Perspectives, Academic Curiosity and Personal Exploration, The American Dream, The Individual vs. Society, The Immigrant in America/ Cultural Change.

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HONORS ENGLISH II

Credits: 5.0 (Year)

This course is primarily a survey of American literature. Topics will include the study of American writers, their literature, the influence of their literature on the culture, and the influence of the times on their ideas and writings. In addition, students will attempt to see the influence of this writing on media, culture, literature, and philosophy today. This course is also designed to develop language skills through an integrated study of speaking, grammar, composition, and literature. The writing process is emphasized and students are expected to read critically.

Students receive intensive instruction in preparation for taking the NJSLA; instruction is integrated into instructional units throughout the year. Students are also expected to take notes from lectures and class discussions, and to be self-motivated and industrious. Students must qualify for enrollment in this course.

Students must meet the Honors criteria (84 or better in the previous level honors course, or 92 or better in the previous level CP course).

ENGLISH III

Credits: 5.0 (Year)

Students study British literature from the Middle Ages to the present during their third year of English. Writing assignments are more complex and students are required to complete a research paper. Students receive intensive instruction in preparation for taking the NJSLA; SAT instruction is integrated into instructional units throughout the year. Major units of study include the Anglo-Saxon and medieval periods, English Renaissance, seventeenth and eighteenth century, Romantic literature, and the twentieth century.

IB ENGLISH 11 HL

Credits: 5.0 (Year)

Students begin a two-year higher-level study of world literature. Detailed analyses of poetry and prose, featuring seminal works by Kafka, Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Achebe, Yeats, Solzhenitsyn and others, strongly support students’ preparation for university studies and subsequent professional careers. Formal assessments include written literary analyses and oral presentations; informal assessments involve inquiry-based literary circles and creative endeavors. This international coursework provides the foundation for the second year of IB English study and International Baccalaureate exams. Students who qualify for this course are required to complete assignments during the summer months. For further information please click the link to the INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE description.

Certificate only (non-diploma) students must meet the Honors criteria (84 or better in the previous level honors course, or 92 or better in the previous level CP course).

ADVANCED PLACEMENT LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION

(Junior-Level Option)

Credits: 5.0 (Year)

This course is designed to develop critical reading, thinking and writing skills reflecting high levels of sophistication. AP English Language and Composition examines the rhetorical aspects within prose

readings. Prose selected for study represents a variety of purposes and disciplines from American, British, and World Literature, with strong, course-driven attention to non-fiction selections. Nine Inquiry / Thematic Units from a variety of contemporary issues underscore the critical reading work for this challenging and comprehensive inquiry- rooted, skills-based course. Writing tasks will be centered on the AP Examination’s three essay types: a Rhetorical Analysis Essay examining rhetorical aspects and author’s intent in a prose passage; an Argument Essay supporting, refuting, or qualifying an assertion related to a contemporary issues-based prompt; and, a Synthesis Essay requiring use of sources to argue a point of view. Emphasis will be on the use of persuasion within university, community, and professional / vocational endeavors.

Students who qualify for this course are required to complete assignments during the summer months. Students must meet the Honors criteria (84 or better in the previous level honors course, or 92 or better in the previous level CP course).

ENGLISH IV

Credits: 5.0 (Year)

Through close readings of literary works from various genres, students can practice and master essential language skills while delving into fundamental human truths. English 4 CP offers students opportunities to investigate contemporary issues while studying seminal works from such authors as Albert Camus, Robert Heinlein, J. R. R. Tolkien, Douglas Adams, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Margaret Atwood, and Ursula LeGuin. Designed to address the needs of a diverse student population, this course is differentiated in content, process, and product: each student will be able to select works to read from a Board-approved list, design and create projects related to these works, and compose various types of written responses to them.

IB ENGLISH, GRADE 12 HL

Credits: 5.0 (Year)

Students complete their two-year higher-level study of world literature. With a focus on drama, students will pursue in-depth studies of three Shakespearean tragedies (Hamlet, Othello, and Macbeth), Oedipus Rex, A Streetcar Named Desire, A Doll’s House, and Waiting for Godot. Additionally, they will read Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain, as well as T. S. Eliot’s poetry. As in the first year of this course, formal assessments include written literary analyses and oral presentations; informal assessments involve inquiry-based literary circles and creative endeavors. Additionally, in May, students pursuing either the IB diploma or a certificate in IB English will sit for the international exam. This coursework provides the foundation for strong performance in university studies and preparation for subsequent professional careers. Students who qualify for this course are required to complete assignments during the summer months.

Certificate only (non-diploma) students must meet the Honors criteria (84 or better in the previous level honors course, or 92 or better in the previous level CP course).

ADVANCED PLACEMENT LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION

(Senior Level Option) Credits: 5.0 (Year)

Advanced Placement English is a college level literature and composition course designed to enhance student appreciation and understanding of great literature and nonfiction ranging from its earliest beginnings to the present day. Participants will learn to analyze and write effectively about this literature and its philosophical relationship to contemporary experience, and they will have an opportunity to earn college credit from participating

institutions. The teacher, in conducting the class serves as discussion leader, questioner, critic, and scholar helping the members of the class assume much of the responsibility for their own learning.

Students that qualify for this course are required to complete assignments during the summer months. Students must meet the Honors criteria (84 or better in the previous level honors course, or 92 or better in the previous level CP course).

ELECTIVES:

JOURNALISM, MEDIA, and POPULAR CULTURE

Credits: 5.0 (Year)

New media has changed the conversation about journalism, news, and popular culture. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, bloggers, WikiLeaks and online news sites, reality television, YouTube, Hulu, and Netflix have all impacted the way we consume media, get our information, and spend our free time. This course will explore the impacts of these outlets on the human condition and analyze the current and long-term impacts of these changes.

Students will learn to be perceptive and responsible consumers of mass media by analyzing, discussing, and writing about how each medium impacts themselves, their peers, and their society. Students will discuss current events and engage in daily discussions about news from a variety of sources. Chromebooks will be utilized as students explore a variety of websites and sources and compare and contrast reporting and accuracy. Students will engage in thought- provoking discussion, analytic writing, and creative group and individual projects as they work through a variety of topics. Screenings of different news sources, films, YouTube clips, television shows will be used in conjunction with print newspapers and magazines. Additionally, we will explore career options in news media, journalism, public relations, and marketing.

An emphasis will be placed on writing for publication as it is not only rewarding, but students gain confidence as writers and editors when they design and print newsletters, magazines, and newspapers. In this course, the emphasis is on writing for high school publications. Students will compose and edit articles, complete page layouts, and print the school newspaper, The Beacon, as part of their work in this course. Additionally, they will practice writing for other media, including literary magazines, journals, social media, and television/radio. This class will run like a newsroom, and emphasis will be placed on discussion. Students will be required to participate in all facets of putting together a newspaper, from research and brainstorming to distribution, while they incorporate the impact that news media has on the world.

CREATIVE EXPRESSIONS

Credits: 2.5 (Semester)

Students utilize workshop techniques to write poetry, short stories, and plays. Writing as a process is emphasized and students use computers for pre-writing, composing, revising, and publishing their original works.

PSYCHOLOGY IN FILM

Credits: 2.5 (Semester)

In this course students will study the psychological concepts and approaches, and how they can be utilized to interpret and understand characters, motives, and plot within film. Some concepts of focus are: Perception, cognition, emotion, disorders, and treatments of disorders.

Some movies that will be the basis of our study: "I am Sam," "Benny and Joon," "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "Beautiful Mind," "Batman Returns," "Rainman," Castaway," Edward Scissorhands," "Awakenings," "Girl Interrupted," "What About Bob," "Antwone Fisher," are just some of the options of study which are a vast array of psychology topics.

SAT PREP

Credits: 2.5 (Semester)

Success on the SAT requires practice and gaining confidence in test taking. Students who approach this class seriously will benefit by increasing their vocabularies, enhancing their abilities to read for comprehension and for inference, and mastering the formats of the various sections of the SAT. The course will be taught as a combination of online and classroom instruction.