ELA 12 Honors is a course devoted to improving students’ ability to use 21st Century skills to analyze and respond to key pieces of World Literature in the canon. This is achieved through a focus on expository and analytical writing based on close readings of a variety of text types. The skills developed in this course are intended to provide students with a firm foundation for college- level English courses as well as career pathways. The course is organized by thematic units geared toward specific writing outcomes. These units include reading a variety of text types that support student application and production of specific texts of their own that address particular purposes and audiences. Through careful and purposeful study of world texts and issues, students will discover, identify, and analyze the strategies and techniques writers use to interpret the world in which they live. Through a variety of mentor texts students analyze not only the components of effective writing, but also the issues at hand in order to determine their own action steps to engage in the world beyond the classroom. Additionally, this course is designed to assist students with mastery of California’s Common Core State Standards.