The High School English program further emphasizes writing proficiency and the understanding and appreciation of literature. Students learn how to do close readings of progressively more demanding texts and how to situate works of literature in a historical context. Active reading is encouraged, and students are expected to take advantage of class discussions to ask questions, debate ideas, and make connections to other disciplines. Creative writing assignments are linked to the study of literature in order to deepen students' understanding of genre, narrative technique, and thematic issues. We teach the nature of language and its correct use at all levels.

All students take an English course each trimester of the four years in high school. Grade nine and ten requirements are met by one-year courses. Grade eleven and twelve requirements are met by English electives. Not all electives are offered in any one year. Independent studies are developed to meet student interests and needs.

Honors Option

Honors options are offered to qualified eleventh- and twelfth-grade students who choose to make the commitment to higher expectations, an expanded workload, and additional tutorial time. The honors curriculum supplements the regular class work: honors students participate fully in the regular classes AND do additional honors work. Those students who meet the additional demands of honors to the satisfaction of the faculty receive an "honors" designation on their transcripts.

Grades 9 and 10

English 9 – Analytical Writing (full year - 1 credit) English 9 helps students to develop their own voices as critics and as writers, to think independently and reflectively, and to express their ideas clearly and powerfully. Throughout the year, students read challenging texts that explore questions about identity, culture, and the complexity of relationships. From Shakespeare’s Macbeth to Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the range of works invites students to consider how family, culture, race, and gender roles influence character choices and the development of narratives. The curriculum exposes students to a variety of literary styles and genres. In addition, students develop media literacy skills by making informed connections between page and screen. Class discussion and assignments emphasize close reading skills, informed speaking and active listening, rigorous literary analysis, and attention to the mechanics of writing.

English 10 (full year - 1 credit) In tenth grade, students build on ninth-grade skills, discussing and writing about increasingly sophisticated and complex literature. The goal is for students to become better readers, writers, thinkers and communicators. Through discussion, writing and group activities, the course stresses independent critical thinking, literary analysis and original interpretation. Special emphasis is placed on making connections between works of literature, students’ experience and the contemporary world at large. Students gain practice in a variety of writing styles, including formal essay, reflection paper, poetry, memoir/autobiography, dramatic monologue and the twenty-minute timed essay. By the end of the year, students are in the position to make informed choices about the electives they wish to take during their junior and senior years. Past readings have included F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby; Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises; William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying; Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany’s; Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie; Edward Albee, The American Dream/Zoo Story; Toni Morrison, Beloved; Junot Diaz, Drown; Aldous Huxley, Brave New World; Mark Twain, The Mysterious Stranger and Huckleberry Finn.

Electives (for Grades 11 and 12)

Each trimester during their junior and senior years, students choose an elective focusing on a particular author, genre, theme or region. New courses are regularly developed to meet the needs and interests of students.

19th - 20th Century European Literature: Humanity and Inhumanity (one trimester - 1/3 credit) What makes us human? Our bodies? The ability to communicate? A certain set of morals? Others’ perceptions of us? Humanity and Inhumanity in European Fiction explores these and related questions against the backdrop of some of the major phenomena of the past two centuries: industrialization, capitalism, scientific advancement, fascism and the spread of disease. Texts include Shelley’s Frankenstein, Balzac’s Old Goriot, Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, and Camus’s The Plague.

19th Century American Literature: Faith and Superstition (one trimester - 1/3 credit) This course traces the literature of a century riddled with drastic change. The reading highlights the superstitious nature of a “new” country. We explore the “Puritanical Ideal” and its effect on the American landscape. We also examine the hysteria created by superstition and the parallels to our culture today. Major texts include The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Wieland by Charles Brockden Brown, The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, The Crucible by Arthur Miller and various other works by Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, and Walt Whitman.

20th Century Literary Nonfiction: Writing from the Edge (one trimester - 1/3 credit) From the solitude of Peru’s Siula Grande to the frozen summit of Everest via Asia’s forbidden frontiers of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, this course immerses you in the writing of those who push themselves, willingly, beyond the endurance and experience of society’s “normal” boundaries. We read and reflect upon true stories of survival in the face of certain death, and accounts from those who write about their experiences from the edge of both physical and emotional precipices. Joe Simpson’s Touching the Void and John Krakauer’s Into Thin Air form the central texts. We also read Nick Danziger’s Danziger’s Travels. Group activities range from textual analysis to video work.

African-American Literature (one trimester - 1/3 credit) This class studies literature by 20th century African-American authors. Through reading and discussion, the class addresses questions of race, class, identity, power, privilege and the human condition. The authors represent many perspectives: male and female, urban and rural, historical and contemporary. Over the summer, students read Richard Wright, Native Son and Autobiography of Malcolm X. During the term, they read Richard Wright, Uncle Tom’s Children; August Wilson, Fences; Z.Z. Packer, Drinking Coffee Elsewhere; and Toni Morrison, Tar Baby. In addition, we begin each class with a short group reading, such as a poem or newspaper article, to stimulate discussion and make connections to the world. Sample readings include Cornel West on Hurricane Katrina, obituaries of August Wilson and Rosa Parks, and poems by Terrance Hayes. Students write for every class.

Alienation in Modern Literature: (one trimester - 1/3 credit) Alienation is among the most pervasive themes in modern literature, visual art, movies, and music. The idea of being profoundly alone, or misunderstood, or an outsider pops up again and again—and not always in a negative way. This class will take a look at the various methods authors and other artists use to portray alienation and its relevance in our lives. Readings may include: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison; Notes from Underground by Fydor Dostoevsky, The Stranger by Albert Camus, Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, and Down These Mean Streets by Piri Thomas—as well as shorter writings by Hawthorne, Kafka, and Melville.

Art of the Short Story, The (one trimester - 1/3 credit) What makes an effective story? How do writers tell effective stories? What does literature reveal about our social, political, moral and cultural values? How does it illuminate the human condition and human interactions? Through reading and creative writing assignments, the class explores these fundamental questions. Readings may include: Annie Proulx, Brokeback Mountain; Steve Martin, Shopgirl; J.L Carr, A Year in the Country; Glenway Westcott, Pilgrim Hawk; Gabriel García Márquez, Novellas; Edith Wharton, Ethan Frome; Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness and Stephen King, The Body.

Asian Literature (one trimester - 1/3 credit) This course explores Chinese and Japanese literature from ancient to modern times with an emphasis on developing cross-cultural literary sensibilities. Students read poems, folklore, novels and non-fiction. Course readings include Japanese Haiku poetry, the poems of the T'ang Dynasty in China, the Tao Te Ching, and The Tale of Genji, as well as contemporary works by Banana Yoshimoto and Kobo Abe. Poems and short works by European writers such as Chaucer and Shakespeare are read as points of comparison.

American Poets - Many Voices (one trimester - 1/3 credit) We read poetry by American authors from different backgrounds. Most of the poetry is contemporary, but also includes works by earlier writers one would find in any anthology of great American poets. Most of the poetry is in verse, but some is in prose; we also read plays written in verse. Students learn how to read different styles of poetry more effectively and thus appreciate more fully the personal visions that the poets present. Students also write poetry in a variety of styles. Readings include Cane by Jean Toomer, Howl and Other Poems by Alan Ginsberg, and Murder in the Cathedral by T. S. Eliot.

Creative Writing: Writing Fiction and Poetry (one trimester - 1/3 credit) This course is devoted to writing poetry and fiction. Students submit written work for every class meeting. By the end of the term, each student will have amassed a thirty- to fifty-page portfolio. In class, students practice writing through short exercises; they also spend time reading and critiquing each other’s work. Published poetry and fiction serve as models and inspiration. In the first half of the term, students write poetry using a variety of meters, forms, and literary devices, including epigraph; ekphrastic; alliteration; anaphora; sestina; sonnets; iambic and trochaic dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter, and pentameter; and 13 X 13 poems. In the second half of the term, students write fiction, employing a variety of forms and techniques and gradually working their way up from short sketches (100 words) to long-form stories (2,000 words). In the final week, students edit and revise their work for a final portfolio.

Creativity: (one trimester - 1/3 credit) This course explores the creative process in the arts, and considers the question: What does it mean to lead a creative life? Major readings: Oscar Wilde’s novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Anton Chekhov’s play, The Seagull, and Geoff Dyer’s group of impressionistic essays, But Beautiful: a Book about Jazz. In the spirit of creativity, students consider a variety of approaches to essay writing. In addition, students, over the course of the term, develop an extended writing of their own choice (at least ten pages)—possibilities: a one-act play, short stories, memoir essays, or poems. Honors students create a 26-page “ABC book” with a different stylistic writing goal for each letter (it’s more complex than that, but that’s the basic idea).

European Drama: Theater of Ideas (one trimester - 1/3 credit) All great theater (the plays that last) contain major ideas for the audience to consider. In this course, we read such plays, and in the process explore the different forms that theater has taken from the masked actors of ancient Greece to the realistic, non-realistic, and surreal plays of the present. Major readings include Sophocles (Oedipus Rex and Antigone), Ibsen (The Wild Duck), Chekhov (The Seagull), Sartre (No Exit),andEliot (Murder in the Cathedral. We also look at several contemporary one-act plays and performance pieces. Course essays relate to production aspects of the plays as well as to their themes; and students write monologues and dialogues as a means of gaining a better understanding of playwriting considerations.

Gender in the Classics: (one trimester - 1/3 credit) In this class we will read two classic English novels, written between the Romantic and Victorian eras (the late eighteenth century to 1901). However, our overall focus will be on the ways in which writers of a range of texts portray gender roles within their societies. Moving from the present day and going back to the Romantic era, we will reflect upon the representation of gender in written and media texts. Beginning with the depiction of men and women in twenty-first century advertisements, we will identify the stereotypes and myths deployed to achieve immediate impact upon an audience. Our work with Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles will be informed by investigation of the significant political and cultural developments for men and women in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Gender in Shakespeare (one trimester - 1/3 credit) This course explores the issue of gender in several of William Shakespeare’s works. We focus on Shakespeare’s representation of men and women and the roles their relationships play in his work. The class addresses a number of questions: how does each character’s representation challenge or redefine prescribed notions of both men and women? Are the prescribed notions of the sixteenth century analogous to those of the twenty-first century? Who seems to be the audience that each piece implicitly addresses? Are the tone and focus of Shakespeare’s works reflective of the rulers of his time (Elizabeth and James)? Some previous knowledge of Shakespeare is useful but not required for this class. Works that are studied include Taming of the Shrew, As You Like It, King Lear, and Othello. A number of shorter readings (criticism, historical context, and contemporary work) are also assigned.

Great American Novel, The (one trimester - 1/3 credit) What makes a book great? Who decides this? Can certain ideas or themes be considered specifically American? What features must a book have in order to be considered a novel? This course explores these and other questions by looking at the role novels have played in the development of American society, and at the roles race, gender and culture play in the construction of aesthetic values, literary form, and meaning. We examine novels (both full length and excerpts) and attempt to locate these texts in relation to the social and historical contexts from which they emerged, as well as to consider the extent to which literary values change over time. Required texts include Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, On the Road by Jack Kerouac, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, and The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. Students also read poetry, excerpts of novels and short stories from The Norton Anthology of American Literature.

Hamlet (one trimester - 1/3 credit) This course is offered to all students in the spring of their junior year. Every member of the department develops an elective around the study of Hamlet. Students are invited to choose the approach to the play that interests them most. Recent offerings have included Hamlet and Ghosts; Variations on Hamlet; Hamlet and Existence; Dysfunction, Hamlet and Revenge; Youth and Young Manhood in Henry IV, Part I and Hamlet; Teen Angst, Succession and Tragedy: Hamlet, Franz Kafka, Sigmund Freud, Shirley Jackson, etc…

Images of Women (one trimester - 1/3 credit) In the Images of Women elective, students have an opportunity to reflect not only upon the ways in which women are presented in texts and the media, but also to consider the wider issues of gender stereotypes. As a start, we look at the representation of women in the printed media; we then move on to a consideration of the social and economic obstacles that have been imposed upon them (obstacles which have been written about in literature and perpetuated by the media, moving from the Georgian era to the iPod generation). From Virginia Woolf to Sharon Olds, the set texts encourage students to think about the historical ‘difficulties’ faced by women, and how the female genre has developed in spite of the additional demands of motherhood and supporting the husband. Within this framework, we pay close attention to narrative technique and authorial intention. Class discussion and writing assignments encourage thoughtful literary analysis, close reading skills and attention to the mechanics of writing.†

Irish Literature (one trimester - 1/3 credit) How did the British Empire’s closest colony deal with the experience of the near obliteration of its cultural identity in the late Georgian/early Victorian eras? And, after this experience, how did sectarian violence and random acts of terrorism scar the psyche of its population? These are amongst the questions that we consider as we read the poetry, prose and plays of a people whose stereotype is of a population tied both to the pulpit and the pub. We also reflect upon the unique sense of humor to emerge from the turmoil of Ireland’s quest for identity. Texts studied include Brian Friel’s play Translations and Roddy Doyle’s Paddy Clarke, Ha Ha Ha. We also read and consider poetry by WB Yeats and Seamus Heaney. A viewing of Jim Sheridan’s In the Name of the Father offers an insight into the representation of historical tension between the Catholic Irish and British authorities.

Latin American and Caribbean Literature (one trimester - 1/3 credit) This course explores Latin American and Caribbean Literature with the common themes of oppression and resistance. Readings are chosen from the following: Columbus' Egg: New Latin American Stories on the Conquest, Love in the Time of Cholera by Marquez, Jubiaba by Amado, Guerillas by Naipaul, and The Little School by Portnoy and Of Love and Shadows by Allende. Also included are short stories by Garcia Marquez and others and poetry by Neruda, Paz and others. Written assignments include both critical and creative analysis of the required readings.

Music In/As Literature: From the Iliad to the iPod (one trimester - 1/3 credit) What do Homer, Shakespeare and Fitzgerald have in common with the Ramones, Radiohead and Jay-Z? More than you might think. For centuries, poets, novelists, playwrights and songwriters have shared similar artistic goals: to entertain, illuminate, educate, criticize and, perhaps above all, tell stories. The Iliad was originally sung to music, and authors today still strive to make their words sing on the page. Major universities already teach classes on the significance of the blues, jazz, sixties music and hip-hop. Can your favorite songs be far behind? This class explores the complex intersection of literature and music, including jazz, blues, rock, punk, indie, rap & hip-hop. We ask many questions, including: How have writers and musicians influenced each other? How do songwriters and authors approach similar creative challenges, such as innovation vs. tradition? How have they addressed similar themes, such as love, death, and social criticism? Why are some forms of music and writing considered High Art (Shakespeare, Mozart) while others are considered Low Art (Romance novels, Justin Timberlake)?

Philosophical Literature (one trimester - 1/3 credit) “To be a philosopher is to solve some of the problems of life, not only theoretically, but practically.” – Thoreau. This course uses works of literature, class discussions, writing assignments, and visual-based activities to examine the values each of us currently lives by. Over the summer, you read two books that provide the basis for initial writings and discussions: (1) Everyone reads Our Town, a play by Thornton Wilder; and (2) any one of the following five novels that you have not read already: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, On the Road by Jack Kerouac, or Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift.

Post-Colonial African Literature (one trimester - 1/3 credit) In this course, we explore the common experiences of the colonial legacy and the struggle for independence among African societies. At the same time, we take into account the diversity of African cultures as it manifests itself in the literature of the continent.†Some of the key questions that we ask of each text are: How is Africa represented and by whom? In what language and through what imagery? What are the political, cultural, and individual implications of representing Africa and its people in particular ways? Readings include Achebe, Things Fall Apart; Soyinke, Death and the King’s Horseman; Ngugi wa Thiong'o, The River Between; Conrad, Heart of Darkness; and Vera, The Stone Virgins.

Question of War, The (one trimester - 1/3 credit) In this course students are encouraged to bring in their own questions about war – past, present and future – and to explore answers. In-class texts include prose, poetry, art and film associated primarily with World War I. Texts include a selection of poetry; memoirs (in particular, substantial extracts from Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves and Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain); letters and diaries. Films are drawn from the following list: All Quiet on the Western Front, The Grand Illusion, Paths of Glory, Regeneration (aka Behind the Lines), and The Trench.

Rites of Passage (one trimester - 1/3 credit) This course centers on literature that has as its focus those rites of passage that mark our lives as we move from childhood to maturity. Texts included are Tom Sawyer by Twain, Betsey Brown by Shange, This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff, Our Town by Wilder, and various short stories.

Sexuality and Identity in Literature (one trimester - 1/3 credit) In what ways has literature defined certain desires, identities and plots as normal and others as deviant? What place do gay and lesbian desires have within literary forms that have traditionally revolved around heterosexual romance and marriage? What does it mean to define a literary work as gay or lesbian? In this course we look at these and other questions. Although our focus is on literary works, we also consider how gay and lesbian themes have been treated in other narrative forms (film, television, drama). Reading includes works by Austen, Baldwin, Forster, Hollinghurst, Truong, and Winterson.

Transcendentalists, The (one trimester - 1/3 credit) This course studies the writers of the nineteenth century literary movement and the times in which they lived. Writers studied include Emerson, Alcott, Fuller, Adams, Thoreau and Melville.

Unhappy Families: The Works of John Cheever and Raymond Carver (one trimester - 1/3 credit) In this class, we read short stories about American families and their troubles, including love, marriage, divorce, money, friendship, work, pressure to conform and the elusive pursuit of happiness. What do these families say about our society and values? How can we relate these fictional people and situations to the present and our own lives? We begin with an in-depth study of John Cheever and Raymond Carver, perhaps the two most influential short fiction writers in America since World War II. Cheever (1912-82) deals with affluent people in New York City and its suburbs, not to mention “country houses” and vacation spots. Carver (1938-1988) chronicles working and middle-class Americans in grim circumstances. After that, we read other American writers who tackle similar themes.

South African Literature (one trimester - 1/3 credit) This course explores how contemporary South African writers have confronted their country's troubled past and re-imagined its future. We examine literary responses to colonialism, apartheid and the recent transition to democratic rule under Nelson Mandela. The authors included represent a wide range of backgrounds, points of view and literary styles; they are at once embedded in history and poised to look at the complex interplay of politics, race, ethnicity, gender, and identity. Readings include Njabulo Ndebele, Fools and Other Stories; Nadine Gordimer, July’s People; Mark Behr, The Smell of Apples; Zˆe Wicomb, You Can’t Get Lost in Cape Town; and J.M. Coetzee, Disgrace.