English Studies
AP Literature and Composition
AP® English Literature and Composition immerses students in novels, plays, poems, and short stories from various periods. Students will read and write daily, using a variety of multimedia and interactive activities, interpretive writing assignments, and class discussions to assess and improve their skills and knowledge. The course places special emphasis on reading comprehension, structural and critical analysis of written works, literary vocabulary, and recognizing and understanding literary devices. The equivalent of an introductory college-level survey class, this course prepares students for the AP® exam and for further study in creative writing, communications, journalism, literature, and composition.
This course has been authorized by the College Board® to use the AP® designation.
AP Language and Composition
In AP® English Language and Composition, students investigate rhetoric and its impact on culture through analysis of notable fiction and nonfiction texts, from pamphlets to speeches to personal essays. The equivalent of an introductory college-level survey class, this course prepares students for the AP® exam and for further study in communications, creative writing, journalism, literature, and composition.
Students explore a variety of textual forms, styles, and genres. By examining all texts through a rhetorical lens, students become skilled readers and analytical thinkers. Focusing specifically on language, purpose, and audience gives them a broad view of the effect of text and its cultural role. Students write expository and narrative texts to hone the effectiveness of their own use of language, and they develop varied, informed arguments through research. Throughout the course, students are evaluated with assessments specifically designed to prepare them for the content, form, and depth of the AP® Exam.
AP® English Language and Composition is recommended for 11th and 12th grade students. This course fulfills 11th grade requirements. Consequently, we recommend that students take only one of the following courses: English 11, Texas English III, and AP® English Language and Composition.
This course has been authorized by the College Board® to use the AP® designation.
English 9
English 9 introduces students to informational and literary genres. Students investigate the elements of nonfiction and literature through the critical analysis of texts that range from essays, speeches, articles and historical documents to a novella, a play, poetry, and short stories. As they develop their writing skills and respond to theses, students learn to formulate arguments and use textual evidence to support their position. Throughout the course, students learn to engage with a variety of media types through which they process and synthesize information, discuss material, create presentations, and share their work.
Honors English 9
English 9 Honors is an overview of exemplar selections of literature in fiction and nonfiction genres. Students read short stories, poems, a full-length novel, a full-length Shakespeare play, and two book-length outside readings of their choice. For all readings, students analyze the use of elements of literature in developing character, plot, and theme. For example, in selected stories, students compare the effect of setting on tone and character development. In the poetry unit, students analyze how artists and writers draw from and interpret source material.
English 10
English 10 builds upon students' foundation of critical reading and analytical writing skills. Through texts that range from investigative journalism, essays, articles, and historical documents to short stories, drama, and poetry, students analyze the use of elements in literature and nonfiction. As they develop their writing skills and respond to ideas, students learn to refine arguments and organize evidence to support their position. To hone their listening and speaking skills, students engage with a variety of media types through which they analyze and synthesize information, discuss material, create presentations, and share their work.
English 10 supports all students in developing the depth of understanding and higher order skills required by the state standards. Students break down increasingly complex readings with close reading tools, guided instruction, and robust scaffolding as they apply each of the lesson's concepts back to its anchor text. Students build their writing and speaking skills in journal responses, discussions, frequent free response exercises, and written assignments and presentations, learning to communicate clearly and credibly in literary, argumentative, and informational styles.
English 10 Honors
The focus of English 10 Honors is the writing process. Three forms of writing guide the curriculum: persuasive, expository, and narrative writing. A typical lesson culminates in a written assignment that lets students demonstrate their developing skill in one of these forms.
English 10 Honors includes at least one anchor text per lesson focused on a thematic core of the capacity of language to influence others. Readings include poems, stories, speeches, plays, and a graphic novel, as well as a variety of informational texts, and these texts are often presented as models for students to emulate as they practice their own writing. The readings represent a wide variety of purposes and cultural perspectives, ranging from the Indian epic The Ramayana to accounts of Hurricane Katrina told through different media. Audio and video presentations enhance students' awareness and command of rhetorical techniques and increase their understanding of writing for different audiences.
English 11
In English 11, students examine the belief systems, events, and literature that have shaped the United States. Starting with the Declaration of Independence, students explore how the greatest American literature tells the stories of individuals who have struggled for independence and freedom: freedom of self, freedom of thought, freedom of home and country. Students reflect on the role of the individual in Romantic and Transcendentalist literature that considers the relationship between citizens and government. Students question whether the American Dream is still achievable while examining Modernist disillusionment with American idealism. By reading the words of Frederick Douglass and other pioneers of civil rights, students look carefully at the experience of minorities and their struggle to achieve equality. Finally, students reflect on how individuals cope with the influence of war, cultural tensions, and technology in the midst of trying to build and secure their own personal identity.
English 11 Honors
In English 11 Honors, students examine the belief systems, events, and literature that have shaped the United States. They begin by studying the language of independence and the system of government developed by Thomas Jefferson and other enlightened thinkers. Next, they explore how the Romantics and Transcendentalists emphasized the power and responsibility of the individual in both supporting and questioning the government. Students consider whether the American Dream is still achievable and examine the Modernists’ disillusionment with the idea that America is a “land of opportunity.”
In this course, students analyze a wide range of literature, both fiction and nonfiction. They build writing skills by preparing analytical and persuasive essays, personal narratives, and research papers. Opportunities for self-directed study, including outside readings, open-ended journal entries, and free-form projects, challenge Honors students to use their creativity and critical thinking skills to gain independent mastery of reading and writing. Finally, in order to develop speaking and listening skills, students participate in discussions and prepare speeches. Overall, students gain an understanding of the way American literature represents the array of voices contributing to our multicultural identity.
English 12
The English 12 course asks students to closely analyze world literature and consider how we humans define and interact with the unknown, the monstrous, and the heroic. In the epic poems The Odyssey, Beowulf, and The Inferno, in Shakespeare’s Tempest, in the satire of Swift, and in the rhetoric of World War II, students examine how the ideas of “heroic” and “monstrous” have been defined across cultures and time periods and how the treatment of the “other” can make monsters or heroes of us all.
English 12 Honors
The English 12 Honors course asks students to closely analyze British literature and world literature and consider how we humans define and interact with the unknown, the monstrous, and the heroic. In the epic poems The Odyssey, Beowulf, and The Inferno, in Shakespeare’s Tempest, in the satire of Swift, and in the rhetoric of World War II, students examine how the ideas of “heroic” and “monstrous” have been defined across cultures and time periods and how the treatment of the “other” can make monsters or heroes of us all.
Throughout this course, students analyze a wide range of literature, both fiction and nonfiction. They build writing skills by composing analytical essays, persuasive essays, personal narratives, and research papers. In order to develop speaking and listening skills, students participate in discussions and give speeches. Overall, students gain an understanding of the way British and world literature represent the array of voices that contribute to our global identity.
