English II
This required course engages students in an extensive study of the short story form in the first six weeks, helping them to acquire a critical vocabulary and learn specifically about the literary elements of Plot, Character, Setting, Theme, Style, Tone, and Point of View. Weekly Dialectical Journals are required to help the student practice parenthetical citations. In the second and third six weeks, the writing component focuses on literary analysis and interpretation, with an emphasis on organization, structure, and thesis statement development. Regular vocabulary study is required. In the second semester students study multiple or longer works by major authors as well as literary criticism. The writing component focuses on research, with students preparing a major documented research essay over the Holocaust. Regular vocabulary study is once again required.
Objectives:
To acquire a working knowledge of literary terminology and technique.
To develop greater interpretive and analytical skills.
To realize that literature reflects and shapes the value structures of author, society, and reader.
To read and analyze representative selections from the forms of short story, novel, criticism, and drama.