Course Information Sheets

Course Content: What does it mean to be an “American” and what responsibilities accompany citizenship in a democratic society? We will read and discuss texts from the 1400s to the present, analyzing them in our effort to answer the above questions and questions students bring to the course about the intersection of literature, culture, and identity.

Sophomore Composition and World Literature (CWL) takes students on a global “field trip” through reading novels, narratives, memoirs, short stories, poetry, non-fiction articles, and watching films from a wide array of multicultural contexts. Additionally, it is designed so that students will become proficient in the Common Core State Standards grades 9 and 10. The goal of the course is to prepare college-bound sophomores for the literacy demands of higher education. Students in this year-long course will develop proficiencies in rhetorical and literary analysis, research and argument, speaking and listening, writing, and academic language.

AP English Literature is a rigorous, college-level course focused on reading, analyzing, and writing about imaginative literature (fiction, poetry, short stories, drama) from various time periods. Students engage in close reading and critical analysis of fiction to deepen their understanding of the ways writers use language to provide both meaning and pleasure. As they read, students consider a work’s structure, style, and themes, as well as its use of figurative language, imagery, and symbolism.

In this college-level course students will learn to write rhetorical analysis, argument and synthesis essays. Heavy emphasis will also be placed on developing independent thinking and on learning to support an argument with evidence in writing and in discussion. Practice timed writes will help prepare students to take the AP test. Students will also focus on critical reading, thinking, and discussion of multi-voiced readings from American authors from the 1600s to the present, and consider how American literary eras express philosophies, identities and collective truths.

Literature, Culture, and Society (LCS) is a 12th grade English course focused on helping students understand, analyze, and evaluate relevant cultural and society issues through literature. The goal of the course also is to prepare seniors seeking a challenging learning experience for the literacy demands of higher education. Through a sequence of rigorous instructional units, students in this year-long course develop proficiencies in college-level narrative, expository, and argumentative reading, speaking and listening, writing, and academic language. The course presents a process for helping students read, comprehend, and respond to informational and literary texts which culminates in a self-directed research project (senior thesis). To facilitate these learning outcomes, group work and ongoing self-assessment of student work will play a significant role in the learning process as outlined by the Common Core Standards for 11th and 12th grade. The course also fulfills the ERWC (Expository Reading and Writing Curriculum) course description approved by the UC and CSU.

Philosophy in Literature is a college-preparatory senior English class in which we study the development and ideas of Philosophy through analysis of literature. Through a sequence of rigorous instructional units, students in this course develop advanced proficiencies in argument, informative/explanatory and narrative reading, writing and speaking and listening. All students complete a Senior Thesis that involves in-depth inquiry and college-level research skills. In-class discussions to develop skills in Socratic discussion and collaborative learning are an essential component of the class.

AP Seminar is a foundational course that engages students in cross-curricular conversations that explore the complexities of academic and real-world topics and issues by analyzing divergent perspectives. Students learn to investigate a problem or issue, analyze arguments, compare different perspectives, synthesize information from multiple sources, and work alone and in a group to communicate their ideas. Students explore the complexities of one or more themes by making connections within, between, and/or among multiple cross-curricular areas and by exploring multiple perspectives and lenses (for example: cultural and social, artistic and philosophical, political and historical, environmental, economic, scientific, futuristic, ethical) related to those themes.

Course Content: This college preparatory, National Common Core Standards-based English course builds skills in reading, writing, listening and speaking.