2006–2007 Course Catalog
Updated 3/12/06

For their final two years in our English program, students take electives in two different clusters of offerings: Literary Surveys, a set of chronologically and thematically organized courses that include literature from various authors, genres and historical periods, and Critical Groupings Seminars, which are organized by special theme, period/movement, genre, or a major author. The courses in both categories are pedagogically similar: they are seminar-based, discussion-oriented courses designed to invite students into inquiry.

English electives are one semester long, and students are required to take two courses from each category before they graduate, but in no specific order. All juniors will receive AP credit and preparation whether they are enrolled in a Literary Survey or a Critical Groupings Seminar. All students are required to sit for the AP exam in English, which they can do at the end of their junior or senior year. All English courses prepare students for the Literature and Composition AP, but many students find that they are also prepared to take the Language and Composition AP. Many choose to try both tests.

Both Literary Surveys, and Seminars:

• Guide students in critical, close readings of literature
• Reinforce and continue to build students’ understanding of literary terms and technical concepts
• Help students master the drafting process of analytical and personal essays
• Further develop students’ ability to produce the elements of the analytical essay with particular attention to clear, logically developed critical arguments, supported by evidence; formatting; introduction; interpretive thesis; body paragraphs; topic sentences; transitions between ideas, between sentences, and between paragraphs; use of support; quotation method; MLA parenthetical citation method; and conclusions
• Review fundamentals of syntax, usage, and style
• Build vocabulary through reading
• Familiarize students with the components of and testing conditions of the AP English Literature Exam as well as give students practice for the exam.