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The English Department
General Studies |
Mrs. Judy Tiger - Chairperson The course of study in the English Department emphasizes reading, listening, writing, analytical and critical thinking skills. The English Department focuses on four content areas: literature, writing, grammar, and vocabulary. Each year these four curricular areas are integrated into one fundamental course of study. In both semesters of each year, students are given supplemental reading assignments and projects or papers that require them to read critically, research, and apply what they have read. The curriculum includes elements to foster and enhance reading comprehension and writing skills. In order to hone their reading comprehension skills, students read passages and answer questions that test their understanding of meaning, tone, and implications in the passages. Students are also required to close read and annotate all of their texts. The aim of the writing program is to develop and reinforce coherent paragraphs, essays, and creative assignments. Students are encouraged to write multiple drafts of their work and to develop revisions after consulting with their teachers and classmates. Students are exposed to a variety of texts, which affords them the opportunity to experience the joy of literature. Through analysis of themes and literary devices, students learn how texts are constructed and how to glean meaning from literature. The curriculum makes connections between the works themselves and their historical contexts; whenever possible, students make cross-curricular connections. Selected English and Social Studies Department assignments are jointly assigned and assessed. All students are required to complete summer reading assignments that are evaluated at the start of the school year. Grade Nine: English Literature and Composition The writing program in grade nine introduces students to the demands of correct, clear, and coherent written expression. It emphasizes the paragraph, the building block of the complete essay, and then proceeds to the expository essay. Students write and re-write, and meet with their instructors for individual help revising and correcting their work. Essays are based on literature and on topics of general interest. Formal grammar, vocabulary, and etymology are included as necessary adjuncts to correct expression, both written and oral. A newly developed Research Skills course is also given to all ninth graders. The study of literature in grade nine is comprised of significant texts of world literature that introduce students to sophisticated literary analysis. Texts include, but are not limited to: Jane Eyre (Brontë), The Canterbury Tales (Chaucer), Macbeth (Shakespeare), Our Town (Wilder), and a wide selection of short stories, poetry, and non-fiction. The curriculum also includes a unit on Greek and Roman mythology and The Odyssey. Literature study emphasizes critical thinking and textual analysis. Classroom discussion considers character, setting, theme, symbolism, figurative language, and other literary elements. Grade Ten: Introduction to British Literature The writing program in grade ten builds on the skills learned in grade nine. It continues to develop expository essay writing skills, and begins to prepare students for the Regents Exam in English. Formal grammar and vocabulary remain crucial components of the curriculum, and students study rules of English usage. A Writing Skills class is also offered in grade ten. The study of literature in grade ten focuses on British Literature. The class concentrates on development of reading, discussion, and speaking skills to enhance powers of analysis, accuracy of perception and expression, and maturity of thought. Texts for the course include, but are not limited to: Frankenstein (Shelley), Pride and Prejudice (Austen), Othello (Shakespeare), Gulliver’s Travels (Swift), and The Picture of Dorian Gray (Wilde), andselected Romantic poetry. The course also covers short stories and non-fiction. Grade Eleven: Introduction to American Literature The writing program in grade eleven works to refine the skills acquired in the previous grades. It continues to stress correct usage, grammar, and vocabulary as they contribute to effective writing and speaking. Grade eleven focuses on a survey of American literature. Texts include, but are not limited to: All my Sons (Miller), The Scarlet Letter (Hawthorne), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Twain), Death of a Salesman (Miller), The Glass Menagerie (Williams), Medea (Sophocles), and Hamlet (Shakespeare), The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald), in addition to selected short stories, poems, and non-fiction narratives. Time is allotted during the year to prepare for the English Regents exam, which is administered at the end of grade eleven. An Advanced Placement English Language and Composition course is available to advanced students. Grade Twelve: The twelfth grade features a seminar program. This is an opportunity for students to explore works of different eras and genres, all sharing a common theme. One goal of the seminars is to prepare students for college-level reading and writing. Seminars include: Women’s Voices, Women’s Lives: A course of poetry, fiction, and drama by and about women and their perceptions of themselves and their changing roles in society. Writers studied in the course include Maya Angelou, Sylvia Plath, Marge Piercy, Eavan Boland, Kate Chopin, Tillie Olsen, Henrik Ibsen, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Shakespeare and Company: A study of Shakespeare’s life, times, and works (including The Merchant of Venice), as well as poems, plays, and essays by other British Renaissance writers, such as Marlowe, Donne, Milton, and Marvell. AP English Literature and Composition: A course of study in world literature. Classwork involves intensive study of great works of literature and frequent reflective writing assignments. Texts include, but are not limited to: Things Fall Apart (Achebe), Their Eyes Were Watching God (Hurston), The Metamorphosis (Kafka), as well as selected poetry by Yeats, Eliot, Plath, Collins, and others. Elective Offering Creative Writing Students read the work of many writers from diverse styles and genres, and then write their
tiger@yuhsg.org
Open to Juniors and Seniors
own poetry and prose. In imitating the styles of different writers, they in effect try on different styles, sometimes finding one particular style that fits their own voice, and sometimes melding different styles to form their own. The course encourages students to question their prior assumptions and tastes about what makes “good writing”. Some assignments include formal poetry, spontaneous prose and poetry, the personal essay, fractured fairytales and historical fiction.
