The purpose of freshman English is three-fold: 1) to master certain grammatical material that will aid in the discussion of composition, 2) to begin a systematic approach to writing, and 3) to identify certain literary concepts in a variety of literary genres. To achieve these goals, English 100 presents the incoming students with a course of study that exposes them to the forms of literature: the short story, non-fiction essay, poem, drama, and novel. Freshman English also presents the students with various writing assignments that will start them on the process of building a personal writing style. The subjects for these assignments move from the students’ own experiences to topics related to their reading, and the movement during the course of the year is from narrative and descriptive writing to writing that is more expository in nature. Writing assignments generally will progress from one-page papers at the beginning of the year to longer essays at the end of the year. By the end of the course, the student will have written approximately 10-12 papers in a variety of rhetorical modes including creative, descriptive, narrative, expository, and literary analysis writing. The student will also have completed at least one multi-paragraph expository essay.
English 103 Honors
The major difference between English 100 and English 103H is in the number of books that are read and their inherent difficulty, in the mode of instruction in the classroom, in the student initiative required, and in the number of writing assignments and their increasing and various difficulty.
Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA
English 200
English 200 continues the course of study begun in the freshman year. Skills learned the previous year are refined, expanded, and enhanced. Basic grammar is reviewed and new material introduced throughout the year. The lower division writing sequence continues with a review of paragraph writing, which leads into the year’s emphasis on descriptive, narrative, and expository essay writing. Students will write approximately 10-12 papers in a variety of rhetorical modes. The writing becomes not only more formal, but increased in length as well with students writing multi-paragraph expository essays by the end of the first quarter. The reading of literature includes all the major genres: novel, drama, poetry, short story, and essay; however, the study of literature shifts from an organization by form to an organization by themes that reveal an insight into the human condition.
English 203 Honors
The major difference between this honors course and the regular sophomore course is in the number of books that are read and their inherent difficulty, in the mode of instruction in the classroom, in the student initiative required, and in the number of writing assignments (generally 2-3 additional essays per year) along with their increasing and various difficulty.
Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA
English 300
English 300 covers the literature of the United States from the Puritan Era to the present. All the forms of literature which have been studied specifically in themselves during the first two years are now studied as they emerge historically through the imaginative lives of major U.S. authors. This course complements the study of American History, which is also taken during the junior year. The students’ writing aims at greater and greater control over the expository essay and specifically at developing analytical theses on literature. Students will write at least twelve papers during the year in various rhetorical modes including the personal narrative (at least 1), the expository essay (5-7), the synthesis essay, the timed quick-write, and the creative composition. After consulting with their teachers, students taking this course may opt to take the AP Language and Composition examination. Both this course and the honors course prepare students to pass the Junior Writing Exam taken in the second semester. Students who do not pass this exam with an acceptable score must take Literature and Composition: Non-fiction during the senior year.
English 303 Honors
English 303H fulfills all the goals of English 300 but requires the students to read several more books and to write longer and more (approximately 20) papers. These papers require a good understanding of the forms of literature in order that the students will be able to formulate and support accurate, interpretative theses about the literature under study. At the end of 303H, students usually take the AP English Language and Composition examination.
Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA and UC/CSU GPA calculations.
AP English Literature and Composition
This full-year course is intended for the seniors who qualify in two ways: First, they must have the desire to sustain a high degree of effort throughout their senior year; second, they must have the proven ability to do accelerated work. The course itself has two goals: 1) to prepare the students to pass the AP exam administered in May of the senior year, and 2) to prepare them to take their place in a sophomore English class at whatever college they attend. The content of the course is divided into two major parts. The first is the study of literature required by the AP exam. Here the students become familiar with the novel, short story, poem, drama, and essay, particularly in their historical development. In the second part, the students work at perfecting their writing skills. Here they do two separate kinds of practice: 1) that aimed at proficiency for the exam itself, and 2) that aimed at proficiency in written expression for college level audiences. Admission to this course is by application, recommendation of the junior year teacher, and approval of the Chair. English 403AP is a senior English course in which the 1.00 increment is awarded by the UC system.
Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA and UC/CSU GPA calculations
English 430: Modern American Authors
NOTE: This course will not be offered for the 2024-2025 school year. It may be available the following year.
In this course we will do an in-depth study of modern authors, contextualizing these voices as they fit into our cultural identity. In this one semester course, we will read short stories, creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and song lyrics. We will examine the narrator and the self, analyzing the way American individuality has shifted American literature. We will identify and analyze literary devices and structures in popular texts, and use these as models for our own creative writing. Formal grammar and vocabulary lessons will focus on clarification of voice. In addition to standard 5 paragraph analytical essays, we will write creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and a multi-genre research paper.
English 420: Satire in Literature and Popular Culture
This is a course designed to analyze how art uses satire to question the major social and political challenges of our times. Effective satire often tries to institute a change in thought or behavior either on the part of the subject of the satire, the audience, or the reader. Using a variety of critical lenses, students will explore satire in the essay, short story, novel, film, and in popular representation in the media. Students will be able to differentiate between farce, spoof, parody, irony, and satire, and use those skills in creative projects of their own. Students will also write an analytical research paper to explore the ways that satire can be used to change hearts and minds. Some sample texts include: A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift; Candide, Voltaire; Mister Monkey, Francine Prose; selected articles by Christopher Hitchens, Alessandra Stanley, Nora Ephron; Text from Adbusters, The Onion, & topical, popular memes; and films such as Mean Girls, Shrek, Brazil.
English 435: Women in Literature
This course is designed to investigate various portrayals of women in literature, film, and other media in order to learn how gender roles develop and change in different historical, political, and cultural contexts. Through a study of diverse literary greats – Virginia Woolf, Zora Neale Hurston, Kate Chopin, Rita Dove, William Shakespeare, Barbara Kingsolver, and others — we will examine the myriad images of women in literature. We will explore how women have accepted, struggled against, and transformed traditional roles of daughter, sister, friend, wife, and mother. This course involves critical thinking about contemporary issues and will prepare the student for a college introductory composition class. The writing in the course will be both expository and creative; we will react critically to the works we read, and we will continue to develop our personal literary “voices.” The goal of the course is to broaden our understanding– historically, socially, economically, spiritually — of women, of men and women in relationships, of the cultural forces that make “gender” such a compelling, interesting topic. This course promises to be exciting and valuable to women and men; all are encouraged to join in the adventure of “Women in Literature.”