海角官方首页

Upper School
US Curriculum

English

The Upper School English faculty strives to lead students to embrace a life-long appreciation of literature, analytical thought, and engagement in their world.
Students hone their grammar skills, find their own voices for various audiences, develop their use of diction and syntax, learn to exploit literary/rhetorical devices, refine their logical thought and expression, and grow as successful public speakers. They develop a mastery of on-demand and process-oriented writing so they can dispatch simple writing tasks and tackle complex ones.

Our teachers nurture students through reading and writing assignments, writing workshops, thoughtful feedback, and frequent one-on-one meetings. Students become perceptive readers and fluent, powerful communicators as they gain skills that facilitate self-discovery, critical thinking, self-awareness, originality, intellectual independence, ethical use of evidence and research, and the capacity to construct knowledge for themselves.

English: Major Courses

List of 8 items.

  • English 9

    5 meetings per eight-day cycle/3 credits
    Required for ninth graders

    Ninth grade English is designed to introduce all Upper School students to the foundational reading, writing and thinking skills necessary to become successful English students throughout their high school careers and beyond. Students are exposed to drama, film, creative nonfiction, poetry, short stories and novels, where they learn the conventions associated with these forms and the skills necessary for reading, analyzing and discussing them. Throughout the course of the year, the students learn how to close-read language-based details within a text, determine which of those details have significance and characterize them into a textual pattern (reoccurring language in a text). It is through examining these textual patterns that students learn how to begin the process of argumentation, both verbal and written.

    This course aims to use writing to generate ideas in addition to expressing interpretations and arguments in traditional analytical essays and creative writing pieces. Over the course of the year, students work on key aspects of writing, from composing sentences and paragraphs to multi-stage essays that move from proposals to drafts to final versions.

    Typical works include a summer reading text, poetry, numerous works of short fiction, an episode of a television program, such as the “Nosedive” episode of Black Mirror, the film Moulin Rouge! and such texts as The Shadow Hero and The Catcher in the Rye.
  • English 10

    5 meetings per eight-day cycle/3 credits
    Required for sophomores


    In tenth grade English, students explore works of poetry, drama and fiction in order to develop their reading, writing and speaking skills. In developing these skills, students enhance their ability to explore textual patterns (reoccurring language in a text) and to reflect on the consequences of abstract ideas in the world beyond the text. Classroom discussion supports the development of close-reading and analytical thinking, and students take increasing ownership in discussion over the course of the year.

    In their writing, students continue to develop upon the analytical foundations learned in ninth grade. Their writing throughout the year consists of in-class essays, homework posts, reflective journals, some creative work and formal multi-stage essays that move from generative writing to topic proposals to drafts to final versions. 

    Possible course texts include a summer reading text, a variety of poetry and short fiction, a Shakespearean play and a novel (past works include: The Stranger, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Leave Taking and others).
  • English 11

    5 meetings per eight-day cycle/3 credits
    Required for juniors


    In eleventh grade English, we explore works of fiction, nonfiction and poetry in order to continue to develop students’ reading, writing, thinking and speaking skills. In this curriculum that emphasizes the way stories are told, students will encounter challenging and divergent styles of narrative that will enhance their ability to reflect on the consequences of abstract ideas in the world beyond the text. Classroom discussion and online discussion board posts function as the bedrock of the course, and, as the year progresses, class will be run via student presentations and leaderless discussions.

    In their writing, students continue to develop their analytical skills from tenth grade but with a focus on putting texts in conversation with contemporary articles, pop culture and literary theory. Their writing throughout the year consists of in-class essays, homework posts, reflective journals, some creative work and formal multi-stage essays that move from generative writing to topic proposals to drafts to final versions.

    Possible course texts include a summer reading text, American fiction, nonfiction, poetry and scholarly articles (past works include: Homegoing, Slaughterhouse Five, The Passion, The Great Gatsby, Get Out, and The Bluest Eye).
  • English 12: Overview

    5 meetings per eight-day cycle/3 credits
    Required for seniors
     
    English 12 divides into two parts: a two-trimester literature course and a one-trimester exploration of good writing.

    Trimesters One and Two
    Choosing from American literature, British literature, the literature of Africa, India and the Caribbean in English, and World Literature in English and in translation, each of Hackley’s three twelfth grade literature courses comprises a two-trimester unit introducing students to collegiate-level work in exploring and writing about literature, culture and theory. 

    While each of the courses offers a unique selection of texts, themes and critical perspectives, all courses serve to develop students’ skills as readers of many types of texts, including literature, journalism, film, theater, advertisements and the visual arts. In addition, students develop their skills both as writers and thinkers through class presentations, group projects and writing tasks in a variety of genres.

    Students come to appreciate that the Anglo-American literary tradition is not the only viable tradition; that the Anglo-American tradition has complexities they have not yet encountered; that a historical approach must not look purely at the center of a literary domain but must also look at its borders on the margins of the text; that there are no “theory-free” readings of texts or cultures; that all language is political and that even the “plain style” has an agenda; that the politics of “othering” limits our perceptions; that we must step out of and look critically at the center of society; and that we have much to learn from the range of critical theories open to us, including but not limited to historicism, new criticism, feminism, Marxism, deconstruction, new historicism, cultural materialism, queer theory, post-colonial theory, social-spatial theory, etc.

    Students pursue class presentations, group projects and writing tasks in a variety of genres, with a major written project (but no exam) due in the second trimester.


    The Third-Trimester Exploration of Good Writing 
    The third trimester focuses on students’ writing a longer analytical essay on a topic of their own choosing—either a text or an event of cultural significance. For this essay, texts include novels, graphic novels, webtoons, plays, short stories, films, poems, TV shows, music albums, works of visual art and other works of fiction. An “event of cultural significance” is an occurrence or a set of closely related occurrences that, when analyzed, surface a new, nuanced understanding of the culture in which they occur. Topics may include events in the realms of politics, social justice, technology, environmentalism, sports, etc.

    While the first two trimesters of this year rely on literary and cultural theory, students may choose whether or not to deploy theory in the writing of this essay. One goal of this assignment is for students to produce essays they can enjoy writing and of which they can be proud—essays drawing upon their own intellectual interests and their studies in other disciplines, such as history, science, art, economics, music, etc. Another goal is for students to refine their creative thinking and expression so that they can go forth as creative, intelligent thinkers with something significant to say to the world.
    Students not only read and write, but they also explore models of effective writing, read and write about the writing of their peers, write metacognitively about their own writing and participate in writing workshops on selected pieces of student work.

    English 12 Logistics 
    The English Department offers three course options to seniors: 
    • Panopticon Prime: Privacy, Surveillance & Digital Citizenship 
    • Comedies of Courtship 
    • Listening to Dead Peopl