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English » Courses

Courses

Overview:

  • Students must take four years (8 credits) of English courses to graduate with a Regents Diploma.
  • Students must also pass English Language Arts regents with at least a 65%
  • Only core English (English 9, 10, 11, 12 [honors included]) courses and AP English courses can award English credits for graduation
 
Writing:
At Newtown High School we expose students to different genres of literature and writing. From the 9th Grade students will learn to develop the Research Essay, learn to write a strong Argumentative Essay, Narrative and Expository writing will also be developed. 
 
Reading:
As students progress throughout their years at Newtown High School, our goal is to foster in each one of them a love for reading and writing. The beauty of any English course is the use of academic discourse to assess our understanding of the assigned literature. We encourage students to be independent thinkers and to share their individual opinions. 
 
Core English Courses:
Below you will find a list of many of the texts that are offered in each grade level in the English Department.
 
  • Short Stories
    • “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves”
    • “Letters to a Young Poet”
    • “Black Swan Green”
  • Novels/Plays:
    • Romeo and Juliet
    • Oedipus
    • How Sugar Changed the World
 
  • Poetry/Short Stories/Non-Fiction
    • The Passionate Shepherd to his Love
    • The Nymph’s Reply
    • “Two Kinds”
    • “Rules of the Game”
    • “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
  • Novels/Plays
    • Julius Caesar
    • Lord of the Flies
    • The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
  • This course cumulates in the Common Core English Language Arts Regents for graduation
 
 
  • Poetry/Short Stories/Non-Fiction
    • “A Room of One’s Own” (excerpt)
    • “My Last Duchess”
    • The Souls of Black Folk (excerpt)
    • “The Atlanta Compromise”
  • Novels/Plays
    • The Great Gatsby
    • The Crucible
    • The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
  • Students are also able to take AP English Language and Composition
 

Books of Study

English 12: 

Novels/Plays
  • The Canterbury Tales
  • Macbeth
  • Song of Solomon
  • The Autobiography of of Malcolm X
  • The Prince (excerpts)
 
English 12 Honors:
  • In this course, students are exposed to different genres of literature with an emphasis on Dystopian and Existential literature. 
  • Through close reading and analysis of each of the texts, students are encouraged to challenge their belief systems, norms, and question the reason why we humans are the way we are. 
Short Stories
      • “The Pedestrian”
      • “Examination Day”
      • “The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas”
      • “The Veldt”
Novels/Plays
      • Fahrenheit 451
      • The Handmaid’s Tale
      • 1984
      • The Stranger
      • “No Exit”
Writing Focus:
      • Extensive pieces of writing for varying audiences and purposes are also part of the course experience. College Essay writing and the Research Essay are two main focuses we will dive into as the academic year progresses and help prepare students for college. 
 
Students are also able to take AP English Literature and Composition
The Advanced Placement program (also known as AP) is provided by the College Board, offering college-level courses and exams that you can take in high school.
 
These courses can award college level credit (if you score a 3, 4, 5 on the AP exam) and high school graduation credit if you pass the class. 
 
Advanced Placement English Language and Composition
  • This course engages students in becoming skilled readers of nonfiction essays and texts from a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts, and in becoming skilled writers for a variety of purposes.  Students are prepared for the AP Language and Composition exam.  The course also incorporates some of the American literature covered in the junior year curriculum.
  • Students master writing an argumentative essay and learn how to write both a synthesis essay and rhetorical analysis. 
  • This course is only open to juniors (11th grade)
 
Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition
  • This course involves close and critical reading of outstanding works of literature from ancient to present times. Students analyze the writers’ craft and use of language to both better appreciate literature and to prepare for the AP examination.  Literature studied includes work by Aristotle, Sophocles, Shakespeare, Byron, Shelley, Joyce, Kafka, Faulkner, and poets like Donne, Keats, Eliot, and Plath.
  • Students also work on their college application essay, write an extensive research paper, and produce a variety of analytic literary essays.
  • This course is only open to seniors (12th grade)
 
College Now is a dual enrollment program that allows students to earn 3 college-credits for free per course. College Now can only be taken by Juniors and Seniors. 
 
Literacy and Propaganda
Course Number: CSE 110
Fall 3 credits
This course introduces students to methods of understanding a highly developed and pervasive discourse: propaganda. Emphasis is placed on reading materials that use the persuasive and argumentative language of politics, advertising, cultural discussions and the media. Political speeches, essays, editorials, and articles are used to enlarge the student's experience with the materials and tools of propaganda. The student will acquire the intellectual framework and advanced level of literacy needed to recognize and respond to the aims of propaganda.
 
Reading the Biography
Course number: CSE 120
Fall 3 credits
Explore the historical and cultural dimensions of life-writing. We will read, respond to and discuss select biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. As biographies offer us insight into the lives of individuals from the past and from contemporary walks of life, we will discover the forces that shaped the individuals whom we encounter through their stories. Writing assignments, projects, and vocabulary study will improve our reading and writing skills.

Public Speaking
Course HUC 106
Spring 3 Credits
In this course, you will be introduced to the basics of communication and public speaking techniques. You will utilize skills to help you develop dynamic verbal skills and confidence in oral presentation. You are expected to participate in class as a speaker and as an audience member. You will deliver a variety of speeches weekly and get more comfortable in front of your peers aka, your audience. Speeches like the introductory speech, informative speech, demonstration speech, persuasive speech, and the special occasion speech will propel you to a new level of comfort. You will also participate in classroom trials, debates, and various impromptu speaking activities. The objective of this course is to learn and practice effective delivery of speeches for a variety of purposes and audiences. So, learn to conquer the fear and speak with confidence.
The English Department also offers electives for students to explore the arts while applying their critical reading and writing skills.
 
Speech and Rhetoric 
  • Only open to ninth graders
 
Heroes Through Film:
  • In this survey course, students will study films “as text” with a focus on analyzing character development through the hero’s journey. Students will complete essays, presentations, and projects as part of their assessment.
  • Only open to seniors