ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS (4 credits are required for graduation and must include: English 9 or Honors (1 credit); English 10 or Honors (1 credit); English 11 or AP Language & Composition (1 credit); 2 English Electives (0.5 credit)) Class: Creative Writing Course Number: 1315 Credit: 0.5 Grade Level: 11-12 Recommended Prerequisite(s): English 9, English 10 Weighted: No In Creative Writing, students learn how to communicate personal experience and observation through various genres, possibly including memoirs, short stories, children’s stories, and poetry. Within each genre, students will evaluate both their own writing and the writing of their classmates. Grammar, mechanics, and revisions are stressed for clear, concise, effective writing.
Class: Drama as Literature Course Number: 1316 Credit: 0.5 Grade Level: 11-12 Recommended Prerequisite(s): English 9, English 10 Weighted: No Drama as Literature is a study of dramatic literature from the early Greek and Roman inventors to the recent European and American dramatists. Possible readings include Antigone, Medea, Everyman, and Othello; additionally, modern plays by Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chekhov, and an American musical may be explored. Written assignments delve into specific plays regarding characterization, specific dialogue, author’s theme or purpose, and historical relevance. Students will be asked to act in class.
Class: Dystopian and Utopian Literature Course Number: 1362 Credit: 0.5 Grade Level: 11-12 Recommended Prerequisite(s): English 9, English 10 Weighted: No Mankind has always sought after ways to organize itself into mutually beneficial groups. Some brave souls have proposed visions for perfectly organized societies. More recently, writers have taken a somewhat darker view, and portrayed societies that are failed utopias, or just altogether dysfunctional. Studying these works can teach us much about what we value in a society and in each other. This course will include the exploration of essays, poems, short stories, non-fiction texts, the novel as well as music and art. Students will be involved in active, hands-on learning that will be aimed at analyzing the role of individuals, groups, and rules in society. By immersing students in numerous different written genres, students will be able to analyze and synthesize the concepts necessary for them to ultimately create a much deeper understanding of their role as a citizen and member of society.
Class: English 9 Course Number: 1302A & 1302B Credit: 1.0 Grade Level: 9 Recommended Prerequisite(s): None Weighted: No In English 9, listening, speaking, and writing skills are stressed, including vocabulary development, and grammar skills. Literature is studied either by genre or theme to include the novel, short story, drama, and nonfiction. Author studies may include Shakespeare, Harper Lee, and a variety of contemporary works.
Class: Honors English 9 Course Number: 1303A & 1303B Credit: 1.0 Grade Level: 9 Recommended Prerequisite(s): Teacher recommendation Weighted: No English 9 Honors is a two-term course offered to grade 9. It is designed to include the study of literature, grammar, vocabulary, and writing. English 9 Honors classes spend more time on abstract concepts and literary analyses and considerably less time on basic comprehension than English 9 regular class. A progressively rigorous approach to grammar, vocabulary, and speaking & listening skills are embedded into each of the units. Selections could include novels (Black Boy, All Quiet on the Western Front, To Kill a Mockingbird and A Tale of Two Cities), short stories, poetry, drama (Romeo and Juliet), and a number of non-fiction texts.
Class: English 10 Course Number: 1330A & 1330B Credit: 1.0 Grade Level: 10 Recommended Prerequisite(s): English 9: Honors/Regular Weighted: No Students will have the opportunity to read a variety of fiction and nonfiction texts and will be encouraged to connect their reading to themselves, other content discipline areas, other fiction and nonfiction texts, and ultimately to their larger global community. In addition, students will learn a variety of different essay modes including argumentative, persuasive, analytical, reader response, narrative, expository, and research writing.
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