Teaching and Learning

Prerequisite: English Department approval based on placement criteria. A student whose semester grade falls below a B- will meet with the teacher and parent to discuss the best placement for the student the following year.

 

Designed for the academically ambitious sophomore who has demonstrated a strong interest in and commitment to the study of English, this course emphasizes literature, vocabulary, writing, speaking, and listening.  Students are expected to read at a mature level, simultaneously analyzing both content and form, and to write with clarity, precision, and sophistication about both literature and personal experiences. The recognition and importance of biblical allusions is a unifying thread between the semesters. Major works include Black Boy, 1984, The Catcher in the Rye, nonfiction essays, The Bible as/in Literature, a variety of poetry and drama, and at least one Shakespearean play. Other works may include the memoir Night, Aristotle's Poetics and modern novels such as A Thousand Acres or The Things They Carried. Students are required to complete an independent reading project each quarter.  In conjunction with the study of literature, students are required to give at least one formal oral presentation.  Students are required to write, conference, and revise a minimum of five compositions each semester.  Students complete a reading and writing assignment the summer before Honors English II.