Academics

Through exploration of short fiction, novellas, essays, poetry, and novels from Africa, Asia, Europe, and  North and South America, World Literature exposes ninth-grade students to a variety of human experiences and challenges them to consider their own story and perspective. This class uses discussion and writing to investigate the various themes, beliefs, values, and cultural practices that constitute the global community. Many of the texts used in this course support a cross-curricular approach between ninth-grade English and History, helping students see literature as a product of the society and time period in which it was written and deepening their understanding of the themes and concepts therein. Students will practice creative writing, personal narrative, analytic argumentation, and summative exposition in order to increase their composition skills and further their ability to clearly articulate their critical thinking. Additionally, students will routinely engage in academic and collaborative discussion, developing their abilities as verbal communicators and cooperative members of a learning community.  

The stories we hear, pass along, and create serve to form our view of the world around us. Consequently, the "Western World" is an amalgamation of multi-ethnic oral traditions and texts that have echoed through cultures of West Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas for the last four millennia. Sacred scriptures, epic poems, myths, tragedies, comedies, and folk tales all constitute the spiritual and moral landscape that is inherited from a collective past. To establish where some of the fundamental beliefs of contemporary society originated, our course begins with various stories that are central to religious and cultural identities, and it ends with contemporary short stories from a diversity of authors. Instead of simply reading ancient texts by themselves, we’ll look at contemporary examples of the characters, themes, and archetypes that are found in these seminal stories and examine how they continue to shape our worldview for the better. Of equal importance, we'll also employ critical thought to identify ways in which these traditionally revered stories serve to reinforce harmful power imbalances existing today, and we contextualize this with the historical examples examined in History 10. Challenging reading, lively discussion, and critical questioning are staples of this class. Additionally, we’ll frequently practice crafting logical, clear, and mechanically sound analytical writing.

This course is an intellectual extension of the regular section of English 10. Honors-level students are expected to interact with course content in a more rigorous and sophisticated manner. For example, this may mean that honors students will be asked to explore a given text further by reading an additional translation or commentary and then presenting their understanding to the rest of the class. Or, perhaps students will be asked to read a challenging companion novel to help them more deeply understand the concepts at hand. Honors students are assessed using higher expectations for participation, written work, reading comprehension, and general complexity of ideas.  Ultimately, students in the honors section can expect to read and write more than their regular class counterparts, but, more importantly, they will be called upon to produce high-quality and thoughtful commentary in class and on homework.

Eleventh-grade English examines numerous narratives that explore the course’s ongoing question: What defines an American story? Beginning in the fall with several short stories from a diverse array of authors, students in American Literature will write evidence-based analytic and argumentative pieces, focusing on fine-tuning their theses in pithy, direct statements. As the course continues, we will read several novels from Jesmyn Ward, Tommy Orange, and Tim O'Brien, among others - all while continuing to enhance our argumentative prose. As the course focuses on fictional narratives that take varied perspectives and make wildly different statements about the United States, all fiction works are supplemented with non-fiction essays and poems that relate to the content at hand. Meanwhile, students maintain a regimen of weekly creative writing and vocabulary throughout the year. Students begin and end the year by asking the question: What does America mean to me? This course is aimed at helping students refine, nuance, and effectively communicate their answers to that question.

Grade Level: 11
Summer and winter break work required. AP exam and fee required.

The AP English Language and Composition course aligns with the introductory college-level rhetoric and writing curriculum, which requires students to develop evidence-based analytic and argumentative essays that proceed through several stages or drafts. Students evaluate, synthesize, and cite research to support their arguments. Throughout the course, students develop a personal style by making appropriate grammatical choices. Additionally, students read and analyze the rhetorical elements and their effects in both fiction and non-fiction texts, including graphic images as forms of text, from many disciplines and historical periods. The texts that students analyze are drawn primarily from American literature. Throughout the year, students will examine these texts through the lens of several thematic units - focusing on race, modern technology, and the environment, among others. Summer and winter break work is required of AP students as they complete this rigorous academic course. 

Contemporary Literature is a year-long course that complements the study of specific texts with an emphasis on various skills and sub-genres, such as contemporary short fiction, memoir, essay, creative nonfiction, and novel. Recent texts have included North Woods by Daniel Mason, Maus by Art Spiegelman, and Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. The course offers a robust, literary-intensive experience that aims to prepare students for subsequent college-level literature classes as well as underscores writing and reading as essential academic skills.

This class is specifically tailored to support the needs of new international students as they venture into the English literature and writing classroom. Students will read level-appropriate texts that scaffold their development in English grammar and vocabulary and introduce them to assorted literary concepts. Verbal and written communication will be regular staples of this course as students engage in small-class discussion and work closely with the instructor to increase their language comprehension and proficiency. Through personalized support and consistent language interaction, this course aims to enable students to successfully participate in a mainstream English literature classroom with native speakers.