The English program at SIS aims to improve the skills and confidence of students both in writing and orally. The students are required to write in many different formats and for a variety of purposes. They are also required to give oral speeches, debates, and presentations, which develop their public speaking skills. While developing these skills as effective and responsible communicators, students also cultivate their analytical skills and appreciation for world literature as texts from China, Africa, Korea, Japan, Britain, and the United States (among others) are studied.

The English department also offers one-on-one advice to students who seek to improve their writing. The Writing Center is open during lunch period and activity period (12:30 - 1:30) everyday of the week. Students may sign up for an appointment in outside room D331. All forms of writing including essays, stories, lab reports, activity applications, speeches, among others, are welcome!

Communications	General Literature	US Literature
British Literature	World Literature	A.P. Language & Composition
A.P. Literature & Composition	Writing	Intro to Publications
Journalism 2	Yearbook	Newspaper

Prerequisites: None

Credit: 1

Communications is a course that provides freshmen the opportunity to broaden their experience in written and oral communication. The first quarter of the year examines the essentials of communication by looking at conventions and fluency in expository writing, along with an introduction to the fundamentals of oral communication. Critical thinking is the guiding concept of the second quarter as students focus on the ideas and organization of their writing, how to give effective speeches, and how to solve problems. Word choice is the guiding writing trait of the third quarter as students work on their speaking ability, impromptu and persuasive speaking, while a unit on media literacy enables student to better understand the media around them and craft their own multimedia ad campaigns. Finally, the fourth quarter is a time to look at the importance of voice in writing and speaking as students map out their plans for the further and debate one another on a variety of topics.

Textbook:

Writers Inc/Sebranek, Kemper, Meyer

Speech for Effective Communication/Holt, Rinehart, Winston

Summer Reading:

Still Life With Rice by Helie Lee

Prerequisites: None

Credit: 1

This course provides an overview of literary genres - the novel, drama, short stories, and poetry - and the elements of literature (point of view, character, setting, and figurative language). Students will be encouraged to read analytically and interpretively. Students will learn 1) how to write clearly, precisely, and thoughtfully and (2) how to express ideas orally with clarity and coherence.

Textbooks:

The Language of Literature. McDougal Littell. 2006.

Novels and other texts may include:

• Of Mice and Men
• Catcher in the Rye
• A Midsummer Night's Dream or Romeo and Juliet
• Lord of the Flies

Summer Reading:

The summer reading book for the 2009-2010 school year was "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros.

Prerequisites: General Literature & Communications

Credit: 1

American Literature is a survey course designed to introduce 10th grade students to the breadth of US literature. In the first semester, students examine literature from colonial times up to the Twentieth Century and will include an examination of revolutionary literature, Romanticism, Realism, and Naturalism. The second semester focuses on American literature of the past 100 years, by looking at Modernism and Postmodernism. Throughout the year students will advance their skills in analysis from multiple perspectives, discussion in both large and small groups, and critical thinking in regards to reading, writing, and speaking.

Textbook:

The Language of Literature (American)/McDougal Littell/2006

Writers INC 2001

Novels include (but are not limited to):

• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
• Fahrenheit 451—Illustrated Version
• Native Son
• On the Road
• Grapes of Wrath

Summer Reading:

The summer reading book for the 2009-2010 school year was "Dreams From My Father" by Barack Obama.

Prerequisites: None

Credit: 1

The students in English Literature survey literature of the British Isles from the medieval period through to modern times. The emphasis is on several canonical texts/authors which include Beowulf, Shakespeare, and Milton. As a literature course it also focuses on developing student's ability to analysis literature and poetry and appreciate the literature influence with its own culture as well as beyond its culture.

Textbook:

English Literature with World Masterpieces by MacMillan Literature Series 1991 (textbook is currently under review)

Beowulf

Grendel (selected readings)

Selected Medieval texts and ballads

Canterbury Tales

Macbeth and/or Hamlet

Frankenstein

An Ideal Husband and/or The Importance of Being Earnest

1984

Selected poetry

Selected non-fiction readings to augment text and provide historical context

Prerequisites: British Literature and Writing 11

Credit: 1

The course includes an overview of some of the major themes relevant to World Literature such as questions of context, the nature of justice, fate and free will, and especially the question of identity. Contemporary 20th Century writers are emphasized throughout the course.

Students should approach this course with the understanding that they will be expected to synthesize many of the skills learned during previous years. Writing, reading, speaking, presentation, and technology skills will be assessed. Web 2.0 applications such as wikis, blogs, and social bookmarking utilities are tools used by students throughout the year. There is a midterm exam in the winter and a final exam in the spring.

Textbook:

• The Language of Literature: World Literature, McDougal Littell
• Writer’s Inc. Daily Language Level 12
• The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
• The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
• The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
• One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Summer Novel:

• Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Winter Novel:

A novel relevant to World Literature of the student’s choosing

Recommended Supplemental Text *:

• The Little Brown Handbook 10th Edition (H. Ramsey Fowler and Jane E. Aaron)
• A Writer’s Reference 6th Edition (Diana Hacker)

* Either of the supplemental texts above will help students with writing skill development

Prerequisites: US Literature, Written Assessment, and Teacher Recommendation

Credit:1

The AP Language and Composition Exam places strong emphasis on the students’ ability to analyze texts rhetorically and to use rhetoric effectively as they compose essay responses. It’s an important question for teachers, therefore, to consider what students need to know about this often misunderstood term in order to write confidently and skillfully.

- CollegeBoard -

What students need to know about rhetoric is in many ways what they know already about the way they interact with others and with the world. Teaching the connections between the words they work with in the classroom and the world outside it can challenge and engage students in powerful ways as they find out how much they can use what they know of the available means of persuasion to learn more.

- Hepzibah Roskelly -

What do students need to know about rhetoric? It is not so much what they need to know about the study of rhetoric as it is about how they are made to feel about the task of learning itself. Students, in my experience, do not learn from what they perceive as alien, inhospitable, or foreboding. Rather, they learn from what they are stimulated to see as familiar, friendly, and accessible. The goal of AP Language and Composition is to “humanize” the face rhetoric for students. In this course, students will learn how to think and to write (in a variety of styles) critically. Students cannot write effectively unless they learn how to think intelligently about the craft of writing. They will accomplish this by learning how to analyze the work of other writers and by understanding how to assess and revise their own work and the work of their peers. Heavy emphasis will be placed on the triangular relationship between the writer, the subject, and the audience. More specifically, a good deal of class time will be devoted to the development of the following aspects of strong, persuasive writing:

• Choice of diction
• Choice of syntax
• Voice (tone)
• Stability of thesis and context
• Use of rhetorical appeals: logos, pathos, ethos
• Structure (emphasis on coherence and unity)
• Balance between generalization and specific detail
• Development of examples

Textbook:

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

The Stranger by Albert Camus

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

essay by George Orwell

The Riverside Reader and Patterns of Exposition (essay anthologies)

Prerequisites: AP Language and teacher recommendation

Credit: 1

Advanced Placement Literature is a challenging course that prepares students for the rigors of university level literature studies as they engage in the careful reading and critical analysis of imaginative literature. Students consider the larger elements of each work's structure, style, and themes as well as the finer elements of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone. The literary theory, historical and cultural context of important works challenge students to think deeply as they cover diverse topics within the genres of poetry, novels, plays, and short stories from a variety of times.

The first semester breaks into units of prose, poetry and drama to allow students to focus on the essentials of each genre. The second semester is more thematically driven and diverse in the selections of literature, while allowing for more time to be devoted to direct preparation for the AP test. Writing about and discussing literature are the norm and climax in three ways: a large literary research project second semester, the AP Literature test in the spring, and the ability to feel comfortable discussing and analyzing literature for years to come.

Textbook:

Understanding Literature/Houghton Mifflin/2003

Write for College/Houghton Mifflin/1997

Novels:

House on Mango Street

Spoon River Anthology

A Gesture Life

The Awakening

Heart of Darkness

Metamorphosis

Gulliver's Travels

Summer Novels:

Kite Runner

Caprices

Three-Inch Golden Lotus

Prerequisites: None

Credit: 1

This course is designed to guide students toward the development of their own writing style. The writing process will be taught and practiced throughout the year as students learn to plan, organize and develop personal and research writing. Prewriting activities, such as journal entries, will aid students in developing writing topics and themes and in expressing their feelings. Students will be led through the same revision and editing professional writers use to obtain their final paper. Sharing and analyzing writing with classmates is a major part of the revision process. This course is required fore students whose PSAT scored indicate a need for more in-depth study of language and its nuances.

Textbook:

Write for College

Supplemental texts:

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers/Gibaldi, Joseph/ISBN 0-87352-565-5

On Writing Well/Zinsser, William/ISBN 0-06-000664-1

Prerequisites: None

Credit: 1

Journalism is a course designed to introduce, develop, reinforce, and further develop various skills needed in order to write news stories and other types of stylized articles. Participants have hands-on experience learning the skills essential to producing a high school newspaper. Writing, page design and photography skills are taught through a series of practical assignments. Reading comprehension, process writing, listening and speaking sills, specialized vocabulary and grammar are emphasized. Social skills and collaborative work are stressed as well.

Textbook:

Journalism Today/NTC/1993

Supplemental Texts:

The Newspaper Designer's Handbook/ISBN 0-07-240761-1

The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law/ISBN 0-465-00488-1

Associated Press Guide to Newswriting/ISBN 0-02-863755-0

Helpful Resources:

Microsoft Publisher 2003

Digital camera with at least 4 megapixels

USB removable storage device

Prerequisites: Journalism 1 and teacher recommendation

Credit: 1

Students entering this course have successfully completed Journalism 1 and are familiar with the style and format of newspaper writing, layout design and photography. Students will apply for positions with the Tiger Times, the school newspaper. While producing a monthly newspaper, students will specialize in one of several departments (layout, photography and graphics, editing, etc.) All staff members work as reporters, in addition to their departmental role. Journalism 2 develops the skills learned in Journalism 1. Journalism 2 may be taken for up to three years.

Textbook:

Journalism Today/NTC/1993

Supplemental Texts:

The Newspaper Designer's Handbook/ISBN 0-07-240761-1

The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law/ISBN 0- 465-00488-1

Associated Press Guide to Newswriting/ISBN 0-02-863755-0

Helpful Resources:

Microsoft Publisher 2003

Digital camera with at least 4 megapixels

USB removable storage device

Prerequisites: Teacher recommendation

Credit: 1

Yearbook is a student-led course that operates under the supervision of a teacher-advisor. Students in the course learn basic design and layout; photography; copywriting; editing; and organizational and leadership skills, with an emphasis in the areas of photography and copywriting.

Students are responsible for all aspects of page layout, as well as the checks and balances necessary for a responsible publication. Bearing in mind the philosophy and values of our school, the ultimate goal of this class is the actual publication of the annual school yearbook near the end of each school year.