Course Descriptions

This course engages students in literary analysis and inferential evaluation of great texts both classic and contemporary. While critically reading fiction, poetry, drama and literary nonfiction, students will master comprehension and literary analysis strategies. Interwoven in the lessons are activities that encourage students to strengthen their oral language skills and produce clear, coherent writing. Students will read a range of classic texts including Homer’s The Odyssey, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game.” Students will also study short but complex texts, including inferential speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. Contemporary texts by Richard Preston, Julia Alvarez and Maya Angelou round out the course. Students will also study poetry, continue to hone their grammar skills, learn MLA formatting and will analyze multiple writing and narration techniques.

This course invites students to explore a variety of diverse and complex texts organized into thematic units. Students will engage in literary analysis and inferential evaluation of great texts, both classic and contemporary. While critically reading fiction, poetry, drama, and literary nonfiction, Honors students will master comprehension, use evidence to conduct in-depth literary analysis and examine and critique how authors develop ideas in a variety of genres. Interwoven throughout the lessons are activities that encourage students to strengthen their oral language skills, research and critically analyze sources of information and produce clear, coherent writing. In addition to activities offered to students in core courses, Honors students are given additional opportunities to create and to participate in project-based learning activities, including writing a Shakespearean sonnet and creating an original interpretation of a Shakespearean play. Honors students will read a range of classic texts, including Homer’s The Odyssey, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” and Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game.” Students will also read Sue Macy’s full length nonfiction work Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way) and will study a variety of short but complex texts, including contemporary texts by Julia Alvarez and Maya Angelou. Students will explore theme, characterization and the author’s craft. Students will write for various purposes and audiences and will learn about media literacy and how to properly evaluate informational sources.

Focused on application, this course reinforces literary analysis and 21st century skills with superb pieces of literature and literary nonfiction, application e-resources and educational interactives. Each thematic unit focuses on specific literary analysis skills and allows students to apply them to a range of genres and text structures. As these units meld modeling and application, they also expand on training in media literacy, 21st century skills and the essentials of grammar and vocabulary. Under the guidance of the eWriting software, students also compose literary analyses and research and narrative essays while reading satire, Shakespearean sonnets, and Orwell’s Animal Farm. Students will explore descriptive, persuasive, expository, argumentative and compare-contrast writing and read short fiction and nonfiction pieces along with Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Students also gain experience in evaluating arguments and speeches, analyzing government documents and evaluating the use of rhetorical devices.

This course provides engaging and rigorous lessons with a focus on academic inquiry to strengthen knowledge of language arts. Honors reading lessons require analyzing complex texts, while concise mini-lessons help students to advance writing and research skills in order to craft strong, compelling essays and projects. Students will write argumentative and analytical essays based on literary texts as well as an informative research paper. They will read and study a wide range of literary and informational texts from Shakespearean sonnets, Orwell’s Animal Farm, Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science to Sonia Sotomajor’s “A Latina Judge’s Voice” and Benét’s “By the Waters of Babylon.” Here, students will write descriptive, persuasive, expository, argumentative and compare-contrast essays and will continue their study of grammar and rhetorical devices.

This course invites students to delve into American literature from early American Indian voices through contemporary works. Students engage in literary analysis and inferential evaluation of great texts as the centerpieces of this course. While critically reading fiction, poetry, drama and expository nonfiction, students master comprehension and literary analysis strategies. Interwoven in the lessons are tasks that encourage students to strengthen their oral language skills, research and critically analyze sources of information and produce clear, creative, coherent writing. Students will read a range of short but complex texts from Ernest Hemingway, Langston Hughes, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Richard Wright and Flannery O’Connor, including works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman and Sojourner Truth.

This course invites students to delve into American literature from early American Indian voices through contemporary works. Students will engage in literary analysis and inferential evaluation of great texts, including The Awakening by Kate Chopin, poems by Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman, and essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Sojourner Truth along with texts from Zora Neale Hurston, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Flannery O’Connor. While critically reading fiction, poetry, drama, and expository nonfiction, Honors students will master comprehension, use evidence to conduct in-depth literary analysis, and examine and critique how authors develop ideas in a variety of genres. Students will continue to strengthen their oral language skills, research and critically analyze sources of information and produce clear, coherent writing.

This course offers fascinating insight into British literary traditions spanning from Anglo-Saxon writing to the Romantic period. With interactive introductions and historical contexts, this course connects philosophical, political, religious, ethical and social influences of each time period to the works of many notable authors, including Chaucer, Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth I and John Keats along with writings from Stevenson, Poe and Yeats. Also including a variety of current and nonfiction texts as well as world literature. Students will continue practicing several forms of writing and will hone their grammar skills.

This Honors English course invites students to delve into British literature, from ancient texts such as the epic of Beowulf through more contemporary works. Students will engage in a variety of rigorous lessons with a focus on academic inquiry, literary analysis and inferential evaluation. While critically reading fiction, poetry, drama and expository nonfiction, students will master comprehension, use evidence to conduct in-depth literary analysis, examine and critique how authors develop ideas in a variety of genres, hone their grammar and researching skills and synthesize ideas across multiple texts. In addition to activities offered to students in core courses, Honors students are given additional opportunities to create and participate in project-based learning activities. Students will read texts by Chaucer, Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth I, John Keats, Stevenson, Poe and Yeats, among others.