High School English
AP Literature and Composition:
The purpose of this course is to engage students in rigorous reading, writing, and discussion at the college level. The texts chosen for this course are meant to encourage readers to consider how context impacts analysis and meaning. Ultimately, this will lead students to dig deeper into how authors’ choices and readers’ biases work together to tell stories.
Students will read a variety of written work, including poetry, drama, short stories, and novels spanning from the fifteenth century to the present day. Throughout our forty weeks together, texts will be grouped by both time period and theme. We will read books based on a rotation of whole class, book club, and independent reading.
Within each unit, students will show their understanding and analysis of the assigned literature through both formal writing and classroom discussion. Students will periodically practice a timed writing response through the use of an excerpt from a recently read piece. Additionally, students will participate in Socratic Seminars and online discussions. Students will also write formal essays outside of class that will ask them to make connections between pieces read within the unit. Essays will show evidence of learning through the use of a strong thesis and ample evidence. Students will also practice the use of specific word choice, clear organization, strong sentence fluency, and adherence to formal conventions.
This course will also offer mini lessons regarding vocabulary and grammar. The specific vocabulary words and areas of grammar will be dependent on the needs of the students.
AP Language and Composition:
This course is offered every other year with AP Lit and Comp.