English

Introduction to Literature
Required for all Freshmen

English Nine
The ninth grade English course is designed to help students develop effective language skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening comprehension) while broadening knowledge of important literary texts and genres and strengthening analytic skills. A variety of materials are employed, including grammar and literature texts, a vocabulary/grammar workbook, as well as supplemental readings.

English Nine Honors
Departmental approval required
The Ninth Grade Honors English course introduces students to the four main literary genres: drama, poetry, short fiction, and the novel. Beginning with an in-depth examination of the required summer reading texts, students learn skills necessary for close reading and literary analysis. New vocabulary is introduced regularly, through literary selections as well as a vocabulary text. The writing skills necessary for effective communication in every aspect of life are taught with emphasis on the literary essay. Grammar skills are strongly emphasized and taught in tandem with writing, some lessons growing directly out of student writing, and others as a separate strand of the course using a grammar text.

Survey of American Literature
Required for all Sophomores

English Ten
English ten includes a study of American literature from historical and thematic perspectives. Beginning with the writings of the Puritan settlers and indigenous peoples and continuing to contemporary texts, the literary selections reflect the experience of all who have contributed to the intricate pattern of American life and literature. In addition to a chronologically arranged anthology, students read a variety of supplemental selections, both classic and contemporary, during the year and as summer reading. Writing is emphasized and each student is encouraged to continue to develop her individual voice through a variety of creative and academic writing activities. Again, vocabulary is taught through literary selections as well as through a vocabulary workbook. Time and consideration are devoted to preparation for the verbal portion of the PSAT.

English Ten Honors
Departmental approval required
The Sophomore Honors English course focuses on the students’ appreciation and analytic understanding of American literature, their firmer grasp of principles of grammar and style, experimentation with creative writing, and systematic expansion of their vocabulary. Therefore, the daily assignments range among these studies, and the almost daily class discussions provide students the opportunity to display their developing skills.

Survey of British Literature
Required for all Juniors

English Eleven
The course covers literature, writing, and basic grammar skills. We focus on British literature, analytic essay writing, and standard English conventions of punctuation, spelling and usage. To prepare for the PSAT exam, we scrutinize earlier tests and decode ways to respond to all sections of the PSAT: analogies, critical reading, and sentence completion, as well as Test of Writing Skills. To prepare for the New York State Regents Examination in English, students practice the four types of analytic essay responses they will be required to write for this exam

English Eleven Honors
Departmental approval required
The Junior Honors English course focuses on the students’ appreciation and analytic understanding of British literature as well as developing the skills necessary to write competent expository essays. Daily assignments include readings, writing exercises, reviews of grammar and style, and vocabulary exercises. The almost daily class discussions require the students to express and explain what they are learning.

World Literature
Required for all Seniors

English Twelve
This course covers literature, writing, and advanced grammar skills. We concentrate on literary works of non-Western origin. As preparation for the SAT exams, we practice analogies, critical reading, and sentence completion, using study aids and prior SAT exams. We expand our analytic essay writing skills to encompass an annotated, MLA style research paper of 1500-2000 words supporting an original thesis.

English Twelve Honors
Departmental approval required
Similar to English Twelve in content, but with greater analytic emphasis and a. 2500-3000 word research paper.

Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition
Departmental approval required
The Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition course focuses on, first, the students’ attainment of college-level appreciation and analytic understanding of literature, expressed orally and in writing; and, second, the students’ mastery of those skills necessary to produce a college-level research paper. Daily assignments involve reading a wide range of poetry and prose as well as writing analytical and creative essays. Daily discussions call upon the students to respond critically to these assignments.

Advanced Placement English Language and Composition
Departmental approval required
This course, which prepares students for the Advanced Placement Language and Composition Exam, emphasizes a study of non-fiction, including biography, memoir, essays of persuasion, epistolary writing, satire/humor, journalism/reportage, reverie, and the prose poem. Writings from many disciplines constitute the reading portion of the course. These include hard science and natural science, art and architecture, music, literary theory, anthropology, psychology, mythology, politics, and linguistics. We will analyze the rhetorical elements of the works considered, with a view to understanding the connection between form and content. Students then practice writing in these various modes, both imitating the master writers and striving to develop a voice and style of their own. Poetry, drama, and fiction are included in the reading list, but with less emphasis as compared with the AP Literature and Composition class.

Creative Writing
Senior elective one semester
This course affords young writers the opportunity to explore various forms of literary expression, including poetry, song, performance art, memoir, fiction, and drama, while gaining understanding of the relationship between form and content. Through meditation and creative visualization, students gain access to a rich store of memories, images, feelings, and ideas that lie dormant in the mind. The course is structured as a workshop. Students share their work regularly with the other members of the class and learn to give and receive constructive feedback. Language as the writer’s ultimate tool underlies everything that the course seeks to impart. Students are encouraged to experiment with language to strive to use language in ways that are evocative and rich and resonant and textured. Each student is required to create a semester long project in addition to the daily/weekly exercises and activities.