Room 143
mgutierrez@westfieldnjk12.org/gzucker@westfieldnjk12.org
English IV: Exploring American Voices is the required junior English course. Encompassing the cultural richness of the American experience, the course includes the study of Native American works, Puritan literature, revolutionary voices, abolitionist rhetoric, slave narratives, transcendental philosophy, Gothic tales, regional literature, and the energetic range of 20th and 21st century expressions of the experiences of immigrants, soldiers, flappers, wanderers, protestors and ordinary citizens. Emphasizing either the chronological sweep of American literature or a thematic development of important issues and ideas, English III offers all students the opportunity to express themselves as independent thinkers within the context of their rich heritage. Through juxtaposing student voices in the classroom with the voices of the authors of the texts, the course emphasizes the value and power of individuality and honors the diversity of race, class, gender, ethnicity, religion, experience and ideology that characterizes American culture.