This course will explore the literature of several American women authors who address issues central to female experience and identity including: love and marriage, relationships, motherhood, being a daughter, a sister, a step-mom, a step-daughter, a professional. We will read writers who portray a range of female experience from pre-adolescence to later years. In addition to the core texts, Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” and Amy Tan’s “The Joy Luck Club”, students will read selected short stories by woman authors including: Grace Paley, Joyce Carol Oates, Ann Beattie, Tillie Olsen, Flannery O’Connor, Anne Sexton, Louise Erdrich, and/or Toni Cade Bambara.

This course offers students the opportunity to hone their skills as analytical readers, writers and discussants, while surveying the American literary tradition from c. 1600 to the present. Our texts highlight different points of view about major conflicts in the American tradition, such as the tensions between national and individual identities, the role of religion in society and attitudes towards nature. Class discussions, activities and written work will continue your preparation for the Advanced Placement Exams in English Literature and English Language. Equal emphasis will be placed on crafting longer essays, productively using a revision process and producing creative or reflective writing and projects.

Expect to read about 20 pages a night (less for denser texts and more in the second semester), write response paragraphs for homework 1-2 times per week, and take the occasional quiz. For each major text, you will likely produce: one or two A.P.-style essays; one 3-5-page essay; and a creative piece or project. Drafting and revisions will be encouraged.

This course surveys the trajectory of American thought as revealed in the literary arts, from 1600 to the present. Literary concepts, rhetorical devices and analytic writing skills will be applied to the array of literature we read as we trace the development of American concepts, identities and imagery. AP preparation includes frequent in-class essays evaluated by the standard 9-point rubric; writing in and out of class aims to encourage habits of mind leading to flexible, intelligent, clearly-formed analytic writing.

From Beowulf’s nemesis Grendel to Frankenstein’s monster to the strange noises in Thornfield’s attic, British literature has been fascinated with ghastly incarnations of evil. How do these monsters reveal a deep-seated fear of “the other”? What do they say about internal conflicts and forbidden desires? In AP Brit Lit, we explore these themes in a wonderful sampling of classic texts. Our focus is on close analysis and on writing longer critical papers – all the while building our understanding of literary concepts and terminology in preparation for the AP exam in the spring. Students should be ready to keep up with a considerable amount of reading each night.

British history and literature have long been riddled with anxiety over the idea of the monster or enemy (the "other") from both outside or inside its borders. The anxiety expands more largely into a discussion of whether the enemy is an unstoppable danger to our well-being or closer still, a part of ourselves we don't wish to acknowledge. Perhaps the perceived nemesis is simply a victim of a nation in crisis. Therefore, this course will explore the construction and nature of the monster/enemy within and without, paying close attention to how this enemy plays a role politically as a tool for propaganda and psychologically as a distorted mirror of the conscience and unconscious. Through texts spanning from Beowulf to Jane Eyre and into the twentieth century, we will finally delve into our own fears about the enemy, our desire to lock it away or destroy it, and our construction of self through these impulses. By writing critically about these texts and preparing for the AP exam, we will explore the "other" lurking within all of us that threatens to reveal more of ourselves than we may wish to see. Perhaps we will find that the real danger is in refusing to redefine the enemy and our relation to it, in keeping the enemy out.

Creative Nonfiction Writing is a workshop course designed to help students write the best personal essays they can. Students will first explore what defines this genre, what sets it apart from journalism or fiction writing. Then they will read, discuss, and write about model personal essays taken from the course texts: In Fact: The Best of Creative Nonfiction; Writing Creative Nonfiction; The Art of the Personal Essay. Students will also analyze individual pieces from The New York Times Magazine and The Sun. All students will write and revise two original personal essays and have those essays go through the workshop process.

Fiery purple sunsets over the beach. A fawn tripping stiltedly across a meadow, finding its first legs as its mother looks encouragingly on. Lightening radiating across the sky, illuminating impassable craggy peaks, like a flashbulb – or a grenade – launched from the clouds.

Nature as we know it is by turns romantic, protective, and terrifying; we associate emotions with natural phenomena even when we don’t experience those scenes first hand. In this course we’ll look at the enduring texts of American pop-culture in conjunction with creation myths and classic parables. After analyzing the role of nature on the page, we’ll apply what we’ve read to the great nature films of yesterday and today.

Writings will include weekly response papers and two full-length analyses, as well as our own stabs at nature writing.

English 1 invites students to continue or to develop the habits of self-motivated, creative, critical thinkers. We will consider how the works we study together reveal facets of the human experience. Literature gives us a chance not only to explore characters and their worlds, but also to develop the attentiveness and clarity of thought that will help us examine ourselves and our own worlds. Our texts’ main characters—witty, courageous, troubled—are learning as they make their way in the world. And their journeys help us raise important questions. Through our search for knowledge, community, or love, can we become expressions of something greater than ourselves? How do we deal with threats of chaos, ignorance, indifference, selfishness, alienation? Throughout the course, you will ultimately decide for yourselves what questions drive you. And you will be encouraged to build your strengths as a reader and writer to serve your growth as a thinker. We will discuss how to read for implications, how language conveys meaning, how formal writing can express complex ideas, and how knowing your audience and purpose helps you communicate effectively.

The underlying theme of this course is the journey of life and the various ways individuals search for identity. As we journey through the curriculum, students will read about the quests of individuals such as Odysseus, Holden, and Beneatha. Some of the major questions students will grapple with include: How do our own personal experiences shape our identity? What does it mean to be a human being? What are the societal expectations that cross time periods? Freshman English is an introduction to literature and composition, and in the course, students will be introduced to the four basic genres of literature: poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction. The course develops both the analytical and personal essay with the emphasis on thesis and proof, structure and organization, and the elements of style. In conjunction with the reading, the course will provide a foundation of grammar and usage as well as vocabulary development.

English 1 is a journey for students as well as for the characters they will read about throughout the year. This course focuses on the ways the journey informs ideas of self, perception, belief, and choice in literature and in life. Through these works, students will be encouraged to ask questions that truly reflect their intellectual and human interests. What elements construct a person’s identity? Is identity fluid or fated? Such study introduces students to the various genres of literature (the novel, short story, poem, and play) and equips them with the skills to analyze, write about, and cultivate a lasting appreciation of the written word. Students will leave the course with a strong foundation in literary interpretation and the ability to form an opinion artfully and cogently in the essay form.

The Sophomore English curriculum is designed to expose you to various genres of literature from around the world. The texts are thematically clustered in both semesters and address the following central, essential question: What are our individual and collective obligations? Many questions will extend from this central, essential question including: What is an obligation? Where do these obligations come from? What internal and external forces impel us to meet our obligations? What internal and external forces impede us from meeting our obligations? What are the implications of meeting or failing to meet our obligations? How does privilege impact our obligations? Using literature as a springboard, we will formulate our personal answers to these questions as we examine various authors’ approaches to them through close reading.
Texts for the course include: Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle, Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castle, William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Jonathan Knowles’ A Separate Peace, and Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. Refer to the online bookstore to obtain the specific versions of each text.

Welcome to English 2, where you'll bring together your writing, reading and critical thinking skills. We focus on a variety of writing assignments and pay particular attention to the writing process in the production of multiple drafts. As we focus on writing this year, you will continue to build critical reading and interpretive skills as you ask questions, respond to, and think about a number of texts, including Cat's Cradle, A Separate Peace, Macbeth, Things Fall Apart, and The Glass Castle, as well as a number of short stories, personal essays, and poetry. Our emphasis throughout will be on producing clear and compelling writing based on careful, sophisticated thinking.

English 2
Sophomore English exposes students to literature ranging from Latin American “magic realism” to the contemporary American memoir. The teachers have thematically arranged the reading to promote student thinking about humanity’s essential questions, including: How do our individual or collective obligations impact the decisions we make; What is the nature of ambition, betrayal, and responsibility; and What happens when private ambition and social responsibility collide? Sophomores will also receive rigorous and consistent writing instruction throughout the year with an emphasis on both the narrative and the analytical essay.
Texts:
Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (summer reading)
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace, 3rd ed., by Joseph M. Williams

Sophomore English will give you the tools and the practice to become thoughtful, original, effective thinkers and writers. Through close reading and discussion of distinctly “voiced” texts – Vonnegut’ Cat’s Cradle, Knowles’ A Separate Peace, and an array of short stories, poems, and essays, you'll develop an ear for style and tone. And through a variety of essays and exercises – emulations, parodies, tributes, and reversals – you'll find a writerly voice of your own.

Fiction writing is a literature-based workshop course designed to help students write the best stories they can.

Truly great films offer more than passing entertainment; they invite us to think about not only what they show, but also the artfulness of how they show it: a single opening scene introducing elements that will later unfold; a few lines of dialogue that reveal character or the dynamics of social roles; repeated imagery that develops an idea. In this rigorous film studies course, students will build their critical appreciation for cinema from the perspective not just of viewers, but also of directors and film critics.
We will watch and analyze films together in class, spanning genres (comedy, tragedy), eras, and cinematic styles, with a focus on classic films (note: be prepared for black-and-white, for subtitles). We will pair them with other films, with literature, and with critical essays. Close scene analysis will alternate with discussion of the films as a whole and their implications. Students will also delve into films’ structure and meaning through writing (including film reviews), storyboard-making, and presentations of their own detailed scene analyses.

This course will involve a literature-centered curriculum with a strong focus on literary analysis, writing proficiency, vocabulary, study skills, grammar and usage. In our examination of literature, we will explore society’s concept of the ideal as well as the literal and metaphorical journeys of life. An important goal of this class is to make each individual a better thinker and writer, as each of us tries to make sense of this world and to decide where we stand on the issues that affect our lives. I am going to be asking many open-ended questions, questions that will challenge because they have no easy or right answers. I encourage you to take an active role in your learning. I challenge you to get involved in class discussion and to question what you read. I am here to help you learn and hope that you will work with me in this process. Please let me know when I can help; my office is in the Student Center (office phone - ext. 2313; email - clapolla@menloschool.org).

In this seminar, students read important examples of modern writing, exploring the literary techniques that developed in answer to the 20th century. At the heart of the course, daily discussion encourages students to delve into various contemporary writers’ craft, as technique meets the world of ideas. Analytic and reflective writing is assigned to provide fertile ground for students’ personal synthesis of writing strategies, tools, passions, and viewpoints, leading to a new personal understanding of modern writing.

CourseDescription

Students in this discussion-based seminar will engage with archetypal imagery which flashes or glooms through fiction, poetry, plays and film, exploring how images mirror the creative intellect and evoke the deepest recesses of the human psyche. Paradoxical relationships between darkness and lightness appear in various novels, poetry and plays. Analytic and reflective writing allows students to explore how literary arts emerge from human situations, engaging the entire being; in-class writing alternates with 3-5 page essays written outside of class. Independent analysis of film forms a vital component of the course at its conclusion, encouraging intellectual initiative and exploration of our present artistic landscape.

Poems are strange, demanding things–and thrilling. Part of why reading and writing poems can be both so frustrating and so rewarding is that they do so very much in a small space.
In this course, we will study primarily American and British poetry, building a familiarity with various styles, traditions and particular poets’ bodies of work that will allow us to notice, analyze and appreciate effects and variations both within and amongst poems. We will become comfortable enough with poetic techniques to effectively re-describe what a poem is doing in a technical sense in order to get at what it accomplishes on other levels. By reading, discussing, and writing about poetry–and also trying their hand at writing their own poems–students will emerge with a rich sense of what a poem is and does.

RHETORIC AND STYLISTICS
Rhetoric is the study and practice of persuasive communication; stylistics is the study and practice of shaping words, sentences, and paragraphs into a purposeful and distinctive form of communication. In this writing course, we will engage in both. To develop a more robust rhetorical toolbox, we will examine and imitate effective writing and speaking techniques from the ancient Greeks to modern advertising campaigns; to discover more compelling topics and stylistic approaches, we will draw upon a variety of prose styles as well as insights from philosophy and psychology . Not only will we study and practice schemes, tropes, and enthymemes, but we will also share, through our arguments, essays, stories, and speeches, our developing clarity and grace.
Texts:
Influence: Science and Practice, 5th edition by Robert B. Cialdini (summer reading)
Thank You For Arguing by Jay Heinrichs
Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace, 3rd Edition by Joseph M. Williams.
Handlist of Rhetorical Terms, 2nd edition by Richard A. Lanham

Why is Shakespeare generally considered the greatest writer of all time? A conspiracy of teachers, critics, Bardolaters? A fact? Are there answers to such questions? Are they worth asking? Let's try to find out, by examining 3 or 4 plays, slowly, detailedly, focusing on the text, and reading them aloud, and acting them out.

In two stories offering dramatically different heroines, we’ll explore the tragic and comedic aspects of the narratives, and ask whether their characters rebel against or are defined by 19th century Victorian ideas about gender and morality. Are these conflicts of love, family and fortune necessarily different from our own? Are we still reacting to and thinking within the bounds of Victorian conventions? How does one era appear to be stamped by such a dominant figure as Victoria, or is it? Both of these novels offer us more complicated social pictures of a 19th century Britain coming to terms with its power, and questions of class, race, and economic parity come head to head with Orientalism and colonialism, issues that have not yet slid from the horizon in the 21st century. We’ll read Charles Dickens’s Little Dorrit serially over the course of the semester (as he published it) and Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles, as well as some shorter selections from and about the period.

“I’ll fight till from my bones my flesh be hacked,” vows the beleaguered Macbeth. Sophomore English demands a similar stout-heartedness and resolve as we tackle works of literature ranging from A Separate Peace to Macbeth to Things Fall Apart – works in which characters grapple with essential questions such as loyalty, honor, and self-knowledge. We will delve into these texts both in class discussion but in written analyses as well, as the primary focus in Sophomore English is on writing – everything from critical and personal essays to poetry, short stories, and memoirs. So bring your intrepid spirit, your imagination as well – “and damned be him that first cries 'Hold! Enough!'”

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS (a.k.a., LOVE AND WAR)
"The enemy," retorted Yossarian with weighted precision, "is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on." Yossarian, the hero of Catch-22, confronts more than just the insanity of war—he confronts the dilemma of conscience and choice. On an entirely different battlefront, Suzanne in Postcards from the Edge and Sally in When Harry Met Sally . . . also confront conscience and choice. Thus we will examine, through three dark but funny works, how men and woman compete and cooperate in the arenas of love and war. Expect to write numerous personal and analytical papers on gender, love, and humor.
Texts:
Postcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher (summer reading)
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
When Harry Met Sally by Nora Ephron

CourseDescription

This courses aims to achieve three major goals.
1. To help sharpen students' writing by helping them write about their own experiences in travel (be it around E. PA or Hillsdale, San Mateo or Santo Domingo).
2. To generate excitement and enthusiasm at the prospect of traveling and exploring the wider world.
3. Most importantly, to help students find the wonder and uniqueness in their own day-to-day journeys by having them reflect and construct their own narratives of travel.