English

St. Thomas More requires students to take four years of high school English. The goal of the English curriculum is to facilitate the development of basic communication skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Through learning and practicing the basic rules of language, the students develop the skills necessary for communicating accurately and logically. Students advance their knowledge of literary techniques by reading classical, traditional, and modern selections while simultaneously developing the skills necessary for understanding and appreciating literature. In terms of writing, students refine vocabulary and advance their knowledge of grammar and composition. A four-year study of the writing process enables students to develop writing skills in multiple composition styles such as narrative, descriptive, persuasive, analytical, and expository.

Students will:

Refine vocabulary and advance their knowledge of grammar, literature, and composition
Develop the skills necessary for communicating accurately and logically through learning the basic rules of language
Advance their knowledge of literary techniques and genres through the reading of classical, traditional, and modern selections
Learn to understand and appreciate literature
Develop writing skills in all four composition styles: narrative, descriptive, persuasive, and expository

English 1: Introduction to Literature and Writing

Grade 9 – 1.0 credit (Required)
Note: Honors English 1 is not a weighted course.

Freshman English incorporates a balanced approach to literature and rhetoric. This emphasis provides a strong foundation in grammar and usage conventions. Students practice the basic steps of the writing process: identifying a clear and concise topic, using prewriting strategies, developing a coherent claim, drafting, revising and editing, and ending with a polished final draft. The class focuses on descriptive, narrative, informational, and argumentative topics. While learning and honing their writing and grammatical skills, students explore several genres of literature, ranging from poetry, short stories, and novels that cover tragedy, comedy, romance, drama, and suspense. Students comprehend and analyze plot, character, theme, and other literary devices. Additionally, students become comfortable participants in ongoing literary discussions.
Honors English 1: Introduction to Literature and Writing

Grade 9 – 1.0 credit (Required)
Note: Honors English 1 is not a weighted course.

Freshman English incorporates a balanced approach to literature and rhetoric. This emphasis provides a strong foundation in grammar and usage conventions. Students practice the basic steps of the writing process: identifying a clear and concise topic, using prewriting strategies, developing a coherent claim, drafting, revising and editing, and ending with a polished final draft. The class focuses on descriptive, narrative, informational, and argumentative topics. While learning and honing their writing and grammatical skills, students explore several genres of literature, ranging from poetry, short stories, and novels that cover tragedy, comedy, romance, drama, and suspense. Students comprehend and analyze plot, character, theme, and other literary devices. Additionally, students become comfortable participants in ongoing literary discussions.
Advanced Placement (AP) Language and Composition

Grade 11 or 12 – 1.0 credit
Note: This is a two-semester course. It fulfills the English 3 requirements and fulfills an additional elective credit.
Prerequisite: AP teacher approval and B- or better in American Literature.
Note: This is a weighted course.

Per the description from the College Board, Junior AP Language and Composition: The AP English Language and Composition course aligns to an introductory college-level rhetoric and writing curriculum, which requires students to develop evidence-based analytic and argumentative essays that proceed through several stages or drafts. Students evaluate, synthesize, and cite research to support their arguments. Throughout the course, students develop a personal style by making appropriate grammatical choices. Additionally, students read and analyze the rhetorical elements and their effects in non-fiction texts, including graphic images as forms of text, from many disciplines and historical periods.

At St. Thomas More, AP Language and Composition will utilize texts from the British and American tradition along with other global texts. Also, students in AP Language and Composition will apply their knowledge and reading of non-fiction texts only in an ongoing study to become more skilled writers of rhetoric and persuasion, utilizing and polishing every step of the writing process. Students should be prepared for a heavier reading and writing workload. Finally, students will prepare for the AP Language and Composition test at the end of the school year.
Advanced Composition (PACC)

Grade 12 – 0.5 credit

This semester of senior English is a writing intensive college level course emphasizing rhetorically effective writing across many styles and genres. The course stresses reading and analyzing texts from a writer’s perspective, while thinking critically about its rhetorical structure and authorial intent. Students learn to offer plausible, thoughtful interpretations while honing their writing and speaking crafts stressing polished, concise, coherent, and grammatically correct writing and speaking. At its core, this course synthesizes the skills students have developed the last three years, and builds off them to prepare high school seniors for college level writing.
Literature and Visual Arts

Grade 12 – 0.5 credit
Seniors are required to take either Literature and Visual Arts or Monsters in Literature.

Literature and Visual Arts highlights the fundamental relationship between word and visual texts. Students read literary texts and analyze how artists reinterpret or reimagine the works across various mediums—including film, paintings, graphics, etc. As a class, students explore how artists convey meaning through both literal and sub-textual techniques. Students practice reading images and sharpening their rhetorical skills by writing about their conclusions persuasively.
Monsters in Literature

Grade 12 – 0.5 credit
Seniors are required to take either Monsters in Literature or Literature and Visual Arts.

In Monsters in Literature, students explore what makes something monstrous and how authors represent monsters in literature and other art forms. Physical or psychological, individual or collective, real or imagined, the course investigates how monsters shape and reflect various cultures’ attitudes about what is evil or monstrous. Students continue refining their analytical reading and writing skills by engaging with interesting visual and literary texts.
Advanced Placement (AP) Literature and Composition

Grade 12 – 1.0 credit
Prerequisites: AP Teacher approval and a B- or better in British Literature or AP Language and Composition.
Note: This is a weighted course.

Per the description from the College Board, Senior AP Literature and Composition:
The AP Literature and Composition aligns to an introductory college-level literary analysis course. The course engages students in the close reading and critical analysis of imaginative literature 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, symbolism, and tone. Writing assignments include expository, analytical, and argumentative essays that require students to analyze and interpret literary works.

The class uses selections from the suggested AP reading list which is similar to the accepted literary canon. In addition, the class functions a college course, emphasizing closer analytical readings and deductive reasoning in an attempt to comprehend the literature and offer further insight to ongoing literary conversations. The course also prepares students for the AP Literature and Composition test through practice multiple choice exams, essay writing, and vocabulary and Latin roots. Ultimately, by the time students graduate, they will be prepared to enter advanced college English courses.
Speech and Rhetoric

Grades 9, 10, 11 – 0.5 credit (Elective)
Note: This does not count towards the required English credits.

Through this course, students learn to organize, research, and select language for effective speech writing. The goal is to acquire the self-confidence and comfort of public speaking while learning how to express ideas and opinions in an organized and convincing manner. Students learn the theory behind various persuasive and informational techniques and practice giving effective presentations in the form of introduction, informative, persuasive, and special occasion speeches. In addition, students learn how to become better listeners during formal and informal presentations and take effective notes while listening.
Creative Writing

Grades 9,10, 11– 0.5 credit (Elective)
Note: This does not count towards the required English credits.

Students will explore the notion of being an author while continually building their authorial identity, working towards establishing their particular writing voice. They will learn about the different areas of fiction and non-fiction writing, ranging from character and setting development to plot creation. Students write personal essays, poetry, short stories, and journals while working with different forms of writing in the digital world. Students partake in several workshop days where students are expected to read the work of others. While engaging in group or individual discussions, students give meaningful critiques of another’s writing. Students also learn how to receive criticism and use it to improve their writing.
World Literature

Grades 12 – 0.5 credit

In World Literature, students will explore the literatures of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, reading authors like the classical Chinese poet Tu Fu, the Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes, the Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe, the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, and the Egyptian novelist Naghuib Mahfouz. In an increasingly diverse society and global economy, this exposure to the experiences and perspectives of different peoples is vital. By engaging with these different perspectives, students will continue honing their abilities to read and write with sensitivity and precision.
English 2

Grades 10 - 1.0 credit (required)

This course explores the historical progression of American literature from Native American writings through the Twentieth Century. The literature in this class works in conjunction with sophomore United States History class. Offerings include a survey of short stories, poetry, essays, novels, and drama from literary movements including Early American, Enlightenment, Romanticism, Transcendentalism, Realism, Modernism, and Post-modernism. Formal writing exercises, class discussions, speeches, and presentations will afford students opportunities to further develop their writing and verbal skills.
Research and Composition

Grades 11 —0.5 credit

Required for all Juniors not enrolled in 1042/1043 In this required composition course, students will study and practice primary and secondary research and learn how to incorporate the results of the research into their writing. This process includes finding sources, evaluating their credibility, and smoothly integrating them into both formal and informal writing pieces. Students ultimately demonstrate the ability to make conscious decisions about style, genre, sources, and citations.
Dystopian Literature

Grades 11 —0.5 credit

This course focuses on ways in which dystopian literature speculates about the future of society and reflects the fears and anxieties of the cultural context from which it emerges. While dystopian novels often depict a nightmarish world, there’s a purpose to reading about a future that’s negative—namely to serve as a warning against troubling realities. Through this, students will discuss the ways that fictional and real societies dehumanize citizens. Students will explore topics such as totalitarianism, technological advancements, government surveillance, language, and more
Comedy and Satire in Literature

Grades 11 —0.5 credit

As forms of cultural and political expression, satire and comedy are important tools for exposing uncomfortable truths about powerful individuals and institutions that might otherwise seem untouchable. If used correctly, comedy can go beyond a means of just entertainment and can be used to highlight social inequity. Through the study of satiric techniques, the students see how satire enables us to laugh at ourselves while at the same time effecting reforms. Students will use literature to examine political and social issues of concern in the past and evaluate their relationship to political and social issues of concern today and in the future.
Shakespeare

Grades 11 or 12 —0.5 credit

This course will look closely at a select number of Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets. Many that his works are among the greatest of humanity’s cultural expressions, and that we all should seek to know and understand them. Students will learn how to read and understand Shakespearean language, identify relevant themes, and consider the lasting impact of some of Shakespeare’s most influential works. Additionally, we will watch film/stage interpretations to analyze the choices made in staging the plays to determine the meanings made.
AP Seminar

Grades 11 or 12 —1.0 credit
Prerequisite: Department Approval

The AP English Language and Composition course aligns to an introductory college-level rhetoric and writing curriculum, which requires students to develop evidence-based analytic and argumentative essays that proceed through several stages or drafts. Students evaluate, synthesize, and cite research to support their arguments. At St. Thomas More, AP Language and Composition will utilize texts from the British and American tradition along with other global texts. Students should be prepared for a heavier reading and writing workload. Finally, students will prepare for the AP Language and Composition test at the end of the school year.