Teaching and Learning

Designed for the ninth grader who possesses both a strong ability and great interest in the study of English, Honors English I provides a course of study that teaches students to think deeply and carefully through reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Independent readers in Honors English I study these major works: Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet, Sophocles’ Oedipus the King and Antigone, Homer’s Odyssey, William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, and Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point. Students also read other plays, essays, poetry, and novels, often independently. Composition assignments range from literary analyses to creative writing, with an emphasis on the former; ten conferenced and revised compositions are required. Students design and deliver at least two oral presentations, including a persuasive speech. Students complete a reading and study assignment the summer before Honors English I.