English Department

English is required during each year of study. The Academy's English curriculum is developmental and sequential, with certain skills being mastered at each grade level, allowing the students to articulate language in the upper grades.

All English courses are designed to encourage students to develop to the fullest extent possible their communication skills. We expect students will learn to speak correctly and effectively, to write accurately and cogently, and to read with intelligence and appreciation. Along the way students are taught to analyze, to criticize, and to evaluate literature.

English courses at the Academy are deigned to provide students with the knowledge of and the respect for reading, writing, speaking, viewing, and listening. The purpose of each course is to encourage critical and analytical thinking, to improve and increase vocabulary, to teach discrimination in literary tastes, to instill self-discipline and self-confidence, to provide incentive to language skills, to encourage the respect for the opinions of others, and to provide a strong foundation for future learning. English teachers hope to instill in all students the personal appreciation of the aesthetic pleasures and the practical benefits, which can be derived from the knowledge, and appreciation of one's language and literature. We also hope that students, through their own experiences and discoveries in literature, will learn much worth about the world and themselves and that this knowledge and understanding will assist them in living more meaningful lives.

ENGLISH 7

The English 7 class will cover a wide array of topics, including grammar, writing skills, vocabulary building, spelling, etc. A variety of activities will be directed in order to obtain the appropriate skills for lifelong reading and writing.

ENGLISH  8

The English 8 class will cover a multitude of topics, including grammar, writing skills, vocabulary building, comprehension skills, etc. At least one novel will be read during the course. A variety of activities will be directed in order to obtain the appropriate skills for life long reading and writing.

ENGLISH I (109)

Grade 9

1 Credit

English I is a traditional course which culminates the language arts experience. It introduces the rigors and rewards of college level English. It is a sophisticated course designed to introduce students to the essential forms of literature and to provide them with the tools to respond to and participate in those works they have read.

Students will learn how to communicate ideas clearly and correctly in both oral and written English. Although there will be some instruction of sentence and paragraph writing, the focus will rapidly move to the traditional five-paragraph essay as a vehicle of expression. Students will gain a command of the technical vocabulary necessary for writing convincingly about literature and also will continue a close study of English grammar. By the completion of English I, students are expected to demonstrate an awareness of the nature and function of language in human affairs.

Students will learn the importance of prewriting, outlining, editing, and revising by polishing two or more essays a quarter. By the end of the ninth grade year, students gain an appreciation for the process of writing, for the power of language, and for the beauty of literature.

WORLD LITERATURE (110)

Grade 10

1 Credit

Building on the foundation established in the ninth grade year, sophomores will hone their critical reading skills and will diversify their writing styles to accommodate their maturing thought processes. Students will read the literature emerging from a variety of cultures beginning with the Renaissance through the twentieth century. In addition to reading major literary works, students will examine essays to reveal the intellectual conversation between philosophical discourses and the literary responses to the ideas that have influenced the world.

In addition to reviewing the five-paragraph essay, students will broaden their styles of expression, modeling essays of comparison and contrast, description, definition, cause and effect, and persuasion. As students gain an appreciation for reason, argument, language, style, and structure, they will emerge as discerning thinkers ready to handle the complexity of the ideas and literature they will encounter in their junior and senior years.

AMERICAN LITERATURE (111)

Grade 11

1 Credit

English III explores a historical survey of American literature, from colonial essayists to contemporary poets and novelists.

Through close study of major writers, students will grasp the historical trends and that sense of destiny which shaped American literature, become aware of the importance of literary criticism, and learn to express and refine their own appreciation and evaluation of these important works.

Writing will increasingly concern the literature student, but students will also continue to compose essays based upon their own experiences and thoughts. Nonetheless, the major objective remains to develop the ability to deal with literature and simple literary criticism in a mature, effective style. Seasoned readers and writers will ultimately glean an awareness of the American experience and the spirit and character which we call the American Mind.

ENGLISH (112)

Grade 12

1 Credit

This course begins with a review of basic skills of writing and general college skills. it then becomes a courses in literary criticism. As such, it synthesizes the work begun in the earlier grades. Elements of literature are reviewed with a focus on how they are manifested through all genres: fiction, poetry, drama, the essay. Writing is based upon the literature under consideration and personal experiences. All basic methods of development are explored: exposition, description, narration, definition, and argumentation. Critique and evaluation of student writing are primarily concerned with matters of style and rhetoric.

Although all students read in common several major works, teachers or seniors are encouraged to select additional works, which appeal to the teacher's interest and area of expertise.

Major tests, critical literary essays, personal essays, quizzes, oral presentations, and class discussion will determine students' progress in the course.