Creative Writing

Able students interested in creative writing receive guided instruction and experience in writing poetry, short stories, and drama. Students will receive instruction and guidance in the conventions of each of these three genres, along with frequent teacher-student and peer conferences. As a culminating activity, students may elect one genre in which to refine their skills and to present a finished work to the class. Students will also have a chance to share and publish what they have written in a variety of forums, such as readers' theatre, the school literary magazine and web page, and opportunities outside the school setting.

English 11: Advanced Placement Language and Composition A & B

AP Language and Composition A and B are designed for the highly motivated student who wishes to read complex texts with understanding and to write prose of sufficient richness and complexity to communicate effectively with mature readers. Students become skilled readers of prose written in a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts and skilled writers who compose for a variety of purposes. Both their writing and their reading should make students aware of the interactions among a writer's purposes, audience expectations, and subjects, as well as the way generic conventions and the resources of language contribute to effectiveness in writing. Students write essays that proceed through several stages or drafts, with revision aided by teacher and peers. The course assumes that students already understand and use standard English grammar. At the end of the course students are prepared and should take the annual Advanced Placement Examination and may receive college English credit or advanced, preferential placement in English. All advanced placement courses are in the honors program.

English 12A & 12B

This course integrates all the language skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking, and viewing) and the processes (language and literature) in a thematic organization. Students experience texts of different genres and forms including film, magazines, and newspapers and complete mandatory common tasks. Common tasks focus primarily on developing practical and persuasive forms of communication, such as a college application essay. Instruction in reading and writing strategies, grammar and vocabulary in integrated into every unit. All students reflect on and complete their high school "showcase" portfolios.

English 12: Advanced Placement Literature and Composition A & B

Able 12th-grade students may elect this freshman college-level course as their English program. Within broad guidelines define at the national level, the program stresses practical application of the principles of rhetoric and the close study of a wide selection of challenging literature, both classical and contemporary. Students deepen their understanding of how literature communicates meaning through form and content by reading and discussing work representative of dominant literary genres and themes. Students increase their precision in thought and expression by applying methods of literary analysis; they also write and revise expository and argumentative essays frequently. At the end of the course students are prepared for and should take the annual Advanced Placement Examination in English and may receive college English credit or advanced preferential placement in English.

Film & American Culture

Students will analyze film and screen play texts as a reflection of American culture. Films studied will include both those that have received critical acclaim and those that have been popular with the American viewing audience. Students will examine the American Film Institute's Top 100 Greatest American Movies in relation to historical events and their own concepts of what makes a quality film. Students will study the literary, cinematic, and dramatic aspects of film, examining the effect of the director's choices on the outcome of the work. The internet will be used as a tool for helping students move beyond their own opinions about what they view, and students will engage in activities designed to help them watch film in a more interactive way.

Humanities

This course is an interdisciplinary course organized around ideas and ideals of Western Civilization, and to some extent, Eastern Civilization. Students study how perceptions of human nature and the place of humans in the universe change over time. Students examine works from the performing arts, fine arts, literature, philosophy, and historiography. The reading list will be diverse and challenging and serve as a basis for analysis and discussion. Students will produce an independent multi-media project as a culminating activity. Units of study will include The Classical Age, Medieval Europe, The Renaissance, Neoclassic/Enlightenment, and Romantic Era.