English 1 is a two-semester course that introduces students to the novel, the short story, poetry, and drama. The course focuses on different ways to approach texts of each genre. Students learn literary elements, poetic devices, and other critical terms that enable them to interpret various texts. Students also develop public speaking and writing skills by delivering three speeches and completing literary analysis, creative writing, and research paper assignments during the year. Vocabulary enrichment and grammar instruction are also components of the course.
Content Objectives
The goal of the course is to instill an appreciation of literature and to build cultural literacy. English 1 introduces students to the more advanced study of literature. Students will no longer just report, but must learn to analyze character, plot, and story structure. They must also learn to craft original claim statements and support their claims with textual evidence. A seminar classroom format requires all students to be active participants in discussions each day. Teachers encourage students to grow as readers and writers and to find their own voices.
Materials
- Achebe's Things Fall Apart
- Cisneros' House on Mango Street
- Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men
- Golding's Lord of the Flies or Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night
- Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
- Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God
- Poetry
Methods of Evaluation
Grades reflect students’ performances in reading, speaking and writing as well as their participation in classroom discussions. There are three grammar competency tests during the year, on which students must have a passing average in order to advance to English 2.
English 2 classes divide the academic year in order to focus on four literary genres: drama, fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. During each quarter students take tests and write critical essays, both in and out of class, on various representative works of each genre. Additionally, we emphasize vocabulary and both structural and functional grammar.
Students must achieve a passing average on two grammar competency exams in order to advance into junior English. Student prose is developed through frequent journals and analytical essays, which are often revised. In an effort to build public speaking confidence and skills highlighted in our freshman curriculum, sophomores present formally to their classmates at least once during the year.
Sophomores placed in Honors English 2 (by teacher recommendation and departmental invitation) follow a similar genre-based curriculum to that found in English 2. There is, however, a greater emphasis placed on independent reading and paper production than in the regular sections.
Parallel reading projects and subsequent critical analyses of works such as Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, and Shusaku Endo’s Silence are typical of the heightened requirements of this demanding course. Moreover, all written work is held to a higher standard, as the verbal acuity of students in the course allows for a stylistic focus transcending grammatical functionality.
Content Objectives
Among our goals are the building of a solid allusive base and the development of a lifelong reading habit. Towards these ends, our curriculum includes established classics—such as Macbeth, Antigone, The Metamorphoses, and Inferno—as well as more modern works that have been proven to capture the imaginations of young scholars—such as Athol Fugard’s "Master Harold" . . . and the boys, Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle, and John Hersey’s Hiroshima. Students gain a basic understanding of each genre and an awareness of what makes each form of expression unique. After developing a solid groundwork in the separate forms, students are encouraged to try their hands at creating examples of their own, pulling largely from personal experiences.
Materials
- Shakespeare, Macbeth
- Fugard, "Master Harold" . . . and the boys
- Sophocles, Antigone
- Knowles, A Separate Peace
- Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle
- Krakauer, Into Thin Air
- Ovid, The Metamorphoses
- Dante, Inferno
- Arp, Perrine’s Sound and Sense
-
Holt Handbook: Grammar, Usage, Mechanics, Sentences
- Sophocles, Oedipus Rex (Honors only)
- Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon (Honors only)
- Shusaku Endo, Silence (Honors only)
Methods of Evaluation
Grades reflect performance on both in- and out-of-class assignments. Quizzes, tests, in-class essays, and longer papers on reading material are common. As is appropriate for students at the sophomore level, there are frequent opportunities for revision. Cooperative, engaged participation in class discussion is also expected.
English 3 is a two-semester course focused on exploring the works of major American writers from the earliest days of English colonization to contemporary times. The course includes the works of authors from the diverse cultural environments that characterize the American nation, past and present. Among others, authors such as Olaudah Equiano, Thomas Jefferson, Mark Twain, Emily Dickinson, and Langston Hughes appear as voices representing the American cultural tradition. English 3 includes in its core curriculum one Shakespeare play: Othello, The Moor of Venice.
There is strong emphasis on critical thinking, reading, and writing. Students write regular expository responses to their readings in journals and formal essays. Students also take in-class timed essay tests to allow them to practice time-efficiency and precision in their writing. In the second semester, students write an extensive research paper on a literary topic, an assignment designed to teach them to use literary research tools and secondary sources. Class discussions are organized to best develop strong listening and oral skills; students work to communicate ideas with one another as well as with the teacher.
Students are urged to participate actively.
The English Department also requires a basic level of grammar competency for promotion to English 4, and students prepare for and take three competency tests during the course of the year.
Content Objectives
English 3 prepares students for English 4, as well as provides the foundation for college reading, writing, and analysis. The department strives to develop further proficiency in reading, writing, grammar usage, and discussion, building upon the skills base established in English 2. Students learn to think more effectively and sensitively about topics of cultural import as these emerge from the readings. American literature provides a good vehicle for self-exploration; students tap into their own experiences as they compare and contrast their perspectives with those presented in the studied works.
English 3 challenges students to develop clarity, precision, and creativity in self-expression, both written and oral. The intention is that these skills will become useful tools in their development of an ever-increasing sense of independence and self-awareness in their thinking and writing.
Materials
-
Norton Anthology of American Literature
- Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
- Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
- Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild
- Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman
- William Shakespeare, Othello
- Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire
- Tennessee Williams, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
- Orgel, Building an Enriched Vocabulary
-
Holt Handbook: Grammar, Usage, Mechanics, Sentences
Methods of Evaluation
Grades at this level reflect performance in all the skills areas that make up the course objective: reading and writing, oral discussion, and grammar skills. The quality of input in writing, as well as in oral presentations and daily discussions, is evaluated carefully.
Students are assessed in these areas based on the depth of their critical analysis, and on their willingness to take intellectual risks to reach critical insights through the asking and answering of effective questions. Students are also evaluated for the level of effort and maturity with which they approach all aspects of their responsibilities in the course. Respect for others, thoroughness, and timeliness of preparation are included in each student’s evaluation at the marking period’s end.
AP English 3 is similar to English 3 in that it is a two-semester survey course in American literature. Enrollment in this course requires demonstrated excellence in written and oral expression in the context of literary studies. AP English 3 is intended to prepare students for college-level study, with a particular focus on recognizing and applying the rhetorical strategies that define great writing. This level also requires students to work through a supplementary list of “parallel” readings that are not included in the English 3 curriculum. They read and analyze these as independent projects, and produce essays that they share with peers through informal discussion and in more formal presentations. Timed essays in preparation for the AP exam are given frequently throughout the year, and students are guided to develop effective and precise responses to specific prompts like those they will encounter on the AP exam. As in English 3, AP students also write a major research paper in the second semester, review vocabulary, and take three “grammar competency” exams.
Content Objectives
As a course designed to take a firm step towards college preparation, English 3 AP works to develop skills in college-level literary studies. The course intends to be a mode by which these students will qualify themselves for college credit in English. Students are expected, as in English 3, to develop proficiency as thinkers, readers, writers, and confident speakers. AP English 3 students are expected to show strong leadership and maturity in their work in all areas, particularly in class discussion. This course is designed to train students to work effectively in various modes and settings. They work in small groups, in the library with research materials, and in their own time and space during study hours. They will be competent in composition, essay testing, grammar, and critical analysis, and will develop a basic understanding of American literature’s diverse cultural heritage.
Materials
In addition to the materials listed for English 3, AP students read the following texts:
- Warren, All the King’s Men
- Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter
- Morrison, Beloved
- Chopin, The Awakening
- Maclean, A River Runs Through It
- Alvarez, How the Garcia Girls Got Their Accents
- DeLillo, White Noise
- McCarthy, Blood Meridian
Methods of Evaluation
Grades at this level reflect performance in all the skills areas that make up the course objective: reading and writing, oral discussion, and grammar skills. The quality of input in writing and in oral presentations and daily discussions is evaluated carefully. Students are assessed in these areas based on the depth of their critical analysis, and on their willingness to take intellectual risks to reach critical insights through the asking and answering of effective questions. Students are also evaluated for the level of effort and maturity with which they approach all aspects of their responsibilities in the course. Respect for others, thoroughness, and timeliness of preparation, as well as punctuality and attendance are essential and included in each student’s grade and teacher comment at the end of the marking period.
English 4 is a one-semester course which is a survey of major British writers including Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth, and Keats. As in all English courses, there is strong emphasis on critical reading and writing. Timed and untimed essays are assigned at frequent intervals, and there is, in the first semester, a major research paper. Our seminar classroom format requires of all participants that they engage actively in all the work, taking notes, asking questions of each other, and offering constructive responses.
Content Objectives
English 4 is a culminating experience in that it presents texts which, generally, are more challenging than those of English 3, and it presents them in more depth and from more specialized perspectives. Our objective is to develop proficiency and maturity as critical readers and writers. We want to think, speak, and write with clarity, order, precision, sensitivity, and imagination. Further, our objective is to cultivate a sound appreciation of the most powerful, influential writers in English.
Materials
- Abrams, Norton Anthology of English Literature
- Shakespeare, Hamlet and The Taming of the Shrew (Fall ’07)
- Sophocles, The Oedipus Cycle (trans. Fitts and Fitzgerald)
-
Holt Handbook: Grammar, Usage, Mechanics, Sentences
Methods of Evaluation
Grades reflect all facets of the scholarly performance, including not only the quality of one’s reading, speaking, and writing, but also one’s punctuality, attendance, alertness, engagement in classroom discussion work, courtesy, and thorough, timely preparation of all assigned work. Each course of study is a collaboration involving everyone in the classroom.
AP English 4 is, like English 4, a one-semester course which is a survey of major British writers. Enrollment in this course requires demonstrated excellence in literary study. AP English 4 is a college-level course, distinguished from English 4 by its expectation of excellence in critical reading and writing, and by its parallel reading program involving the independent study of two or three prescribed major British novels and the presentation of critical papers based on the study of each novel. Timed essays, in AP exam format, are frequent, and other AP exam preparation exercises are built into the course. As in English 4, there is a major research paper, and a constant emphasis on effective seminar interaction among students.
Content Objectives
As a college-level course, AP English 4 is designed to qualify its students for successful performance in upper-level elective college English courses. Our students are expected to share in prepared classroom discussion leadership, and to make effective use of our library’s resources in critical commentary. They will be competent in composition skills, and they will have an understanding of the history of English language and literature.
Materials
In addition to the Materials for English 4, there are the following texts:
- McEwan, Atonement
- Austen, Pride and Prejudice
- Dickens, Great Expectations
- Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
- Woolf, To the Lighthouse
- Greene, The End of the Affair
Methods of Evaluation
Grades reflect all facets of the scholarly performance, including not only the quality of one’s reading, speaking, and writing, but also one’s punctuality, attendance, alertness, engagement in classroom discussion work, courtesy, and thorough, timely preparation of all assigned work. Each course of study is a collaboration involving everyone in the classroom.
Students nominated by the English Department may apply for this highly selective program, which attracts some of the best students from schools across the Washington Metro area. Chosen students meet during the fall semester at the Folger Shakespeare Library for weekly seminars taught by visiting university professors and attend weekend rehearsals and performances of Shakespeare plays at the Lansburgh Theatre. This program fulfills Episcopal's first-semester English requirement. By application to the Folger Shakespeare Library and department permission.