English Course Offerings

2008-2009



ENGLISH 9 - This course will focus on the development of practical reading and writing skills.  Students will work on writing a variety of sentences and paragraphs with an emphasis on the unity and development of a topic sentence.  Students will also analyze various literary elements and genres.  The individual needs of each learner will be important aspects of the course.  Grammar instruction will be a major focus of this course.
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ENGLISH 9 CP - This course will offer a concentration in the development and application of written and oral communication skills.  Analytical, critical, and logical thinking skills will be a focus of the course.  The interpretive skills needed to become a competent reader will be introduced, and much outside reading will be required.  Students will study The Odyssey and Romeo and Juliet among other classic works.  Grammar instruction will be a major focus of the course.

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ENGLISH 9 HONORS - This class for advanced 9th graders would require summer reading. The student will begin preparation for SAT, ACT, and AP tests at this level through a strenuous World Literature and writing curriculum. The objectives of the CP courses will also be covered in this course.  Prerequisite: Teacher recommendation.

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ENGLISH 10 - This course is a continuation of the skills developed in English 9.  Students will work for a fuller understanding and appreciation of literature.  There will also be an emphasis on the necessary language skills for a career.  Grammar instruction will be a major focus of the course.
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ENGLISH 10 CP - This course will offer a concentration in the development and application of written and oral communication skills, with an emphasis on strengthening analytical, critical, and logical thinking skills.  Students will gain an appreciation and insight into the history, art, music and culture of other countries, as well as the United States, through concentrated literature study.  Grammar instruction will be a major focus of the course.

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ENGLISH 10 HONORS - This class for advanced 10th graders (or advanced 9th graders who complete 9CP in Middle School) would require summer reading. All of the objectives for CP would be covered in addition to a strenuous World Literature and writing curriculum.  This class will lead into Advanced Placement Language and Composition for juniors or 11 Honors for 10th graders. Prerequisite: Teacher Recommendation.

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*SOL test in Reading and Writing is required at the completion of any of the English 11 courses.*


ENGLISH 11 - This course is a survey course of American literature from the Colonial days through the Contemporary period.  Students will study changes in American poetry and prose with a focus on reading, writing, and critical thinking.  Studying a variety of literary forms, the major emphasis will be on effective written and oral communication.  Grammar instruction will be a major focus of this course.

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ENGLISH 11 CP - This course will offer a chronological approach to American literature beginning with the Revolutionary period and continuing through the 20th Century.  Emphasis will be placed on the development of reading and writing skills.  Students will write critical papers on readings in American literature, practice literary analysis, and study vocabulary.  Classic novels and plays from American literature will be read, such as The Scarlet Letter, The Great Gatsby, and The Crucible.  Grammar instruction will be a major focus of the course.

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ENGLISH 11 HONORS - This course will offer a concentrated study of American literature and culture.  Students will read classic American writers from the 19th through the 20th centuries, including novels by Hawthorne, Twain, Chopin, Wharton, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Wright, and Faulkner.  Students will write papers and practice literary analysis and criticism.  This course prepares students for Advanced Placement English or college-level English. Prerequisite: A or B in English 10 CP Summer reading will be required of students who sign up for this course. Teacher recommendation.

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ADVANCED PLACEMENT ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION - Through this course, students will become skilled readers of prose written in a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts, and will become skilled writers who compose for a variety of purposes. Both their reading and writing should make students aware of the interactions among a writer’s purpose, audience expectation, and subjects as well as the way generic conventions and the resources of language contribute to effectiveness in writing. Prerequisite: A or B in English 11 CP or 11 Honors. Summer reading will be required of students who sign up for this course. Teacher recommendation and be a junior.

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ENGLISH 12 - In this class, language study and composition will be emphasized.  Famous works of English literature will be studied.  Students will concentrate on improving their composition skills.  They will learn research skills as well as writing skills that will be useful to them in their future endeavors.  Language study as it pertains to effective writing and speaking will be emphasized.  Grammar instruction will be a major focus of the course.
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ENGLISH 12 CP - In this course, literature and composition will be emphasized.  Students will study English literature using a chronological approach, and classics such as Beowulf and Macbeth will be read.  Students will continue to work on research skills using the MLA. The following literary periods will be included in the course readings: Homer’s Odyssey;  Sophocles’ Oedipus the King; Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream; and works from 19th and 20th century literature.  Edith Hamilton’s Mythology will also be used as a sourcebook for the course.  Students will have an opportunity to do both creative writing and expository writing within the structure of the course.
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ADVANCED PLACEMENT ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION - In this course English literature of the 19th and 20th centuries will be read. Students will do intensive analysis and interpretation of literature in conjunction with frequent critical writing assignment.  Students will read at least eight novels and several Shakespeare plays including Hamlet, MacBeth, King Lear, and Othello.  Students will have frequent writing assignments and reading assignments.  This course is designed to prepare students to take the Advanced Placement test in the spring of the year.  Summer reading will be required of students who sign up for this course.  Prerequisite: A or B  English 11 Honors or English 11 CP and be a senior. This class may be taught as an online course or traditional class. Teacher recommendation

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PVCC ENGLISH COMPOSITION AND LITERATURE - This is a Dual Enrollment course with Piedmont Virginia Community College designed to develop students’ ability to write and read effectively for study for work and in other areas of life.  Students will concentrate on analyzing the strengths and weaknesses in their own papers and developing excellence in writing through revising, editing, and polishing their own work product.  The course will also emphasize library research and the rules of proper acknowledgement and documentation of research papers.  This course carries one
high school credit and 6 college credits which may transfer to other colleges and universities.  Prerequisite: Passage of the PVCC Assessment Test.

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