11th Grade Options

ENGLISH 11

English 11 engages and supports students in the development of skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. These skills will be developed in context through the study of fiction and non-fiction from the 18th century to contemporary works written by a wide variety of American authors. By the end of grade 11, students will be able to read and respond independently and proficiently to a variety of complex texts with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the 11-12 text complexity band. 

AMERICAN STUDIES 

American Studies is the combination of literature and history which allows students to see the connections between American culture and the historical forces that shaped it. This course will emphasize the ways in which works of fiction and non-fiction serve as commentaries on social, political, and cultural concerns in history. By the end of grade 11, students will be able to read and respond independently and proficiently to a variety of complex texts with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the 11-12 text complexity band. 

ADVANCED PLACEMENT ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION 

The purpose of the Advanced Placement Language and Composition course is to enable students to read complex texts with understanding and to write prose of sufficient richness and complexity to communicate effectively with mature readers. The course is perfect for those students who wish to develop their writing skills and their awareness of style and rhetoric. The AP student is often asked to demonstrate how diction, imagery, figures of speech, and sentence structure contribute to some total effect. The AP student must be prepared to read selected texts and passages from the canon of American literature and must be comfortable working independently. 

ADVANCED PLACEMENT ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION 

This AP English Literature and Composition course engages students in the careful reading and critical analysis of imaginative literature. Through the close reading of selected texts, students deepen their understanding of the ways writers use language to provide both meaning and pleasure for their readers. As they read, students consider a work’s structure, style, and themes as well as smaller-scale elements such as the use of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone. Students will complete writing assignments that will increase their ability to explain clearly, cogently, even elegantly, what they understand about literary works and why they interpret them as they do. The culminating experience will be the preparation of a formal research project. 

AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE (DUAL CREDIT)

African American Literature is a chronological survey of writings by and about African Americans from the 1800s until the present day. Students will read a variety of novels, short stories, poems, plays and nonfiction works, and will examine texts within the social, cultural, and historical contexts in which they were created. As they read, students will deepen their understanding of the literature through the study of themes and varied writing assignments.

CREATIVE WRITING (DUAL CREDIT)

This course is designed for students who have previously demonstrated a mastery of writing skills and who wish to pursue more depth in writing descriptions, short stories, poems, scripts, and one-act plays. Various works of literature will be read for the purpose of providing effective models for student writing. Students will be encouraged to submit their work to the school literary magazine and other publications. Development of writing style and skills will be emphasized. 

Advanced Composition I (Dual Credit)

African American Literature (Dual Credit)

British Literature

Creative Writing (Dual Credit)

Debate and Argumentation

Film Studies

Journalism (year-long)

Latin American Literature

Theatre Arts I

Theatre Arts II: Acting and Production

Theatre Arts III: Advanced Acting

World Literature