ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

English IV comprises two elements:  composition coursework (including all papers from the former Senior Composition class) and a study of British Literature.  The writing-intensive composition coursework focuses on development of organization, voice, fluency, conventions of written English, and the Research Paper Writing Process.  The study of British Literature includes study of such classics as Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales, Macbeth, and Pygmalion.

Studentswill develop their reading and writing skills through an intense curriculum in which writing assignments, projects and weekly vocabulary quizzes are emphasized. Students will also regularly participate in oral presentations, outside reading and group discussion. Students should be prepared to hone their writing skills with no less than 10 five paragraph essays and one 1500 word research project. Students will be expected to be self-motivated and be responsible for completing independent reading and writing.

Advanced American Literature to 1860 is a survey course covering samplings of the major writing from pre-colonial American to the Civil War, interspersed with works from major influential European authors of corresponding periods. American authors studied include Bradford, Edwards, Franklin, Paine, Jefferson, the Fireside Poets, Emerson, Thoreau, Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, and others. European authors include Shakespeare, and Moliere. Students are expected to read, discuss, and write about poems, essays, stories, and novel that are assigned.

Advanced American Literature After 1860 is a survey course covering samplings of the major writers from the Civil War to contemporary times, interspersed with works from major influential European authors of corresponding periods. Authors studied include Whitman, Dickenson, Twain, Cather, Frost, Steinback, Welty, Robinson, Hemingway, Elliot, Pound, O'Connor, Masters, Porter, Faulkner, Hughes, Sandberg, Cummins and Updike. European authors include Kafka and Orwell. Students are expected to read, discuss, and write about poems, essays, stories, and novels that are assigned.