Advanced ESL

This course is for Advanced English Language Learners. Students continue to refine skills in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and grammar. Grammar instruction emphasizes the editing process for personal habitual error patterns each student makes in the English language. Note-taking skills, academic vocabulary and literary analysis are emphasized. Subject matter includes the analysis and comprehension of poetry, short stories, novels, film, art and cultural awareness.

English I

This is a literature-based course that lays a foundation of skills students will need throughout high school. Students will be exposed to a variety of classical and contemporary genres: novels, short stories, plays, poetry and non-fiction. with an emphasis on critical reading and composition skills. Additional skills include: literary analysis and close reading, expository essay writing, creative and timed writing, grammar, vocabulary, discussion group skills, oral presentations, and dramatic interpretation.

World Literature

This class integrates texts from various cultures and historical periods in order to develop students’ abilities to analyze the text based on factual and inferred evidence. Understanding themes through plot, tone, characters, and point of view are key skills that students will review and continue to develop. Students will analyze how the author develops their topic through rhetoric, organization, and language choices as well as evaluate the credibility, reasoning, and use of evidence in the text. Basic writing skills and the ability to craft an argument into a formal essay will be honed.

American Literature

This course surveys American literature from the 17th through the 21st centuries. The study includes various forms of literature from many American movements, beginning with narrative letters from Puritan settlers and continuing through the contemporary era. Students trace the development of American Literature, discuss the historical and cultural environments, and grasp the development of the American voice and identity. Written expression of ideas is emphasized, and effective reading strategies are taught and practiced. Students are required to complete research projects, writing assignments, and reading assignments.

British Literature

This is a survey course that encompasses major prose and poetry of English writers spanning the periods from Anglo-Saxon to Post-modern. The goal is to acquire an understanding of the ideas and literary genres that define these periods and to build a foundation for advanced studies in English literature. All readings will be considered in a literary and historical context so that the student might gain an understanding of the historical, cultural and philosophical influences that shape the texts. Students will express their understanding of key concepts through class discussions, writing assignments, a midterm and final exam.

English Honors

English Honors integrates literature from a variety of times and places and non-fiction texts with composition and acts as a pre-AP course for AP Language and AP Literature. Selected novels, dramas, short stories, and articles that encompass a wide scope of literature will be read and analyzed in terms of purpose, rhetoric, and style. Writing skills will be advanced, and students will research, write and deliver a persuasive speech. Mini-grammar lessons will be taught on an “as needed” basis.

AP Language and Composition

This course enables students to read complex texts with understanding and to write prose of sufficient richness and complexity to communicate effectively with mature readers. In this class, students will consider the question of a life well-lived as they read various American literature texts, including an in-depth unit on the African American experience. Additionally, students will immerse themselves in non-fiction texts on contemporary topics such as Education, Politics, Work, Community, and Gender.

AP Literature and Composition

This course is designed to engage students in close reading, discussion, and analysis of novels, plays, poetry, non-fiction essays and literary criticism. While the course devotes significant time to preparing students for the AP Literature exam, the class seeks to look beyond the exam itself toward more lasting purposes, namely, developing a solid and enduring Christian worldview lens through which to interpret difficult texts. We will learn how to read these thought-provoking texts with enough depth that we can have engaging discussions and write in a clear, intelligent manner, grow as people, and have fun in the process.

Expository Reading and Writing Course (ERWC)

This is a course for seniors who have not taken or do not plan to take Advanced Placement levels of English. It is designed to equip students with the reading, critical thinking, analytical, and writing skills necessary for college level English. Students will be expected to increase their awareness of the rhetorical strategies employed by authors and to apply those strategies to their own writing. They will read closely to examine the relationship between an author’s argument or theme and his or her audience and purpose; to analyze the impact of structural and rhetorical strategies; and to examine the social, political, and philosophical assumptions that underlie the text.