English

English Overview

DESCRIPTION OF EXCELLENCE

Teachers of English seek to inspire students to delve enthusiastically into great literature and encourage analysis through the lens of God’s truth. Through cultivating critical thinking in students, teachers also train them to express their ideas and beliefs in conversation and writing.

The English department offers three different types of courses: college preparatory, honors, and Advanced Placement (AP). In a college preparatory English course, the workload and expectations are designed to prepare students who expect to take the SAT and go on to attend a college or university. Our honors courses are intended for students who are highly skilled and motivated in English and who possess a strong work ethic. AP courses allow students to take a college-level course in a supportive environment; students should expect corresponding rigor and time required. 

Summer reading is required for honors and AP English students at the sophomore, junior, and senior levels.

DISTINCTIVE EXPERIENCE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students are also encouraged to enter creative fiction and nonfiction works in local and national competitions. The most recent and notable accomplishments for Valley Christian student writers include national recognition from the Scholastic Arts & Writing Awards, the Ayn Rand Institute, and the Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization (PLATO).

Valley Christian has also had particular success with multiple publications in Creative Communications.

English Course Map

English 9

English 9, a college preparatory course, introduces vital and foundational concepts that will serve students throughout their high school careers. Students study various literary genres: the short story, the play, the epic poem, poetry, and the novel. The course focuses on grade-level texts in order to strengthen reading comprehension and analysis, which provides the basis for academic writing. Writing centers on paragraph development using specific evidence to support a claim and draw logical conclusions. Using this paragraph structure, students write analysis and argumentative essays. Throughout the year, students deepen and apply their study of grammar and vocabulary.

English 9 Honors*

English 9 Honors introduces students to a variety of literary genres, including epic and conventional poetry, the play, the short story, and the novel. This course stresses literary analysis to more fully engage with literature. Students examine the basics of grammar and the process of writing while improving and expanding their vocabulary. Creative opportunities present themselves throughout the course in forms of self-expression through writing, artwork, and short presentations. In this honors course, individual and group projects, reading comprehension quizzes, written assignments, and course discussions require a high level of critical thinking skills.

*Though internal honors credit is given, the UC does not calculate an honors grade point for this course. Other colleges may assign honors credit.

English 10

English 10, a college preparatory course, builds upon the foundations set in English 9. Students study a variety of literary genres and learn to analyze and respond from a biblical worldview. The course stresses the development and application of literary analysis to improve close reading skills. Students enhance their composition skills with a focus on fine-tuning argumentation and integrating evidence within their persuasive research papers.

English 10 Honors*

English 10 Honors is an accelerated, challenging course that builds on the skills learned in English 9 Honors. Throughout the year, students read diverse selections of literature and examine each author’s cultural and personal value systems, comparing them to biblical teachings and their own worldview. Students learn the best ways to communicate to the world around them by practicing the craft of writing— specifically, how to engage various audiences, support ideas with evidence, and write effectively in a variety of genres, such as literary analysis and persuasive essays. This course also stresses the development and application of grammar and vocabulary skills. A summer reading assignment is required.

 *Though internal honors credit is given, the UC system does not calculate an honors grade point for this course. Other colleges may assign honors credit. 

American Literature

American Literature, a college preparatory course for 11th and 12th grade students, explores the development of American literature from 1607 to the present, examining philosophical trends that shaped the authors and their works. Students study these trends by analyzing essays, personal narratives, short stories, poetry, and novels. The term paper requires independent, compare-and-contrast research on American literary works. Other writing includes argumentative essays and poetry. Special attention is given to advanced grammar and vocabulary enrichment.

Additional Expectations: This is an upper-level high school English course. The work load and expectations are intended to prepare students for the approaching SAT and college application essays.

Note: Juniors and seniors may choose between this course, African American Literature, British Literature, Hebrew Poetry, Screenwriting, and Philosophy in Literature. The courses are equal in work and requirements. If juniors wish to join the AP track, they select AP Language & Composition, followed by AP Literature & Composition their senior year if they remain in Advanced Placement classes.

African American Literature

This college preparatory course surveys African American literature from the 18th to 20th centuries from both a historical and literary perspective. We will study a range of genres, including novels, short stories, poetry, and autobiographies by African Americans. Texts are explored not only from the perspective of race, but from the larger context of cultural themes, social movements, and literary and artistic connections. Students will develop their writing skills through close reading and response, a series of literary analyses and argumentative essays, and by creating their own original poetry. Special attention will be given to vocabulary enrichment and grammatical application.

Additional Expectations: This is an upper-level high school English course. The workload and expectations are intended to prepare students for the approaching SAT and college application essays.

Note: Juniors and seniors may choose between this course, American Literature, British Literature, Hebrew Poetry, Screenwriting, and Philosophy in Literature. The courses are equal in work and requirements. If juniors wish to join the AP track, they select AP Language & Composition, followed by AP Literature & Composition their senior year if they remain in Advanced Placement classes.

Philosophy in Literature

Why is there something rather than nothing? What is a human? What can I know and how? What is right and wrong? Philosophy in Literature will explore several ways of viewing the world--worldviews like Christian Theism, Naturalism, Nihilism, Existentialism, Postmodernism, etc.--and how these worldviews influence and surface within works of literature to answer some of humanity’s basic questions like the ones mentioned earlier. This course will help you develop the skill set to encounter not only various literary texts, but also those expressed through media, advertisements, etc. We will think about the ideologies (i.e., worldviews) that drive their creation and expression. As we engage with works from literary giants like Dostoyevsky, Camus, O’Connor, etc.,  you will also grapple with your own beliefs about the world and will produce a multimodal artifact (e.g., visual art, performance art, poetry, a short story, etc.) that exemplifies your worldview. The goal of this course is that you will not only be an informed examiner of various texts but that you will also understand the assumptions these texts are making about reality, humanity, what we can know and how, and what is right and wrong. Like Sire, “On one issue I remain constant: I am convinced that for any of us to be fully conscious intellectually we should not only be able to detect the worldviews of others but be aware of our own - why it is ours and why, in light of so many options, we think it is true” (Sire, 2000, p. xiv).

Note: Juniors and seniors may choose between African American Literature, American Literature, British Literature, Hebrew Poetry, and Philosophy in Literature. The courses are equal in work and requirements. If juniors wish to join the AP track, they select AP Language & Composition, followed by AP Literature & Composition their senior year if they remain in Advanced Placement classes.

British Literature

British Literature surveys selected authors and works beginning in the Anglo-Saxon period and continuing through contemporary times, emphasizing historical context of literary works as well as their influence on culture. Students read a minimum of four complete major works, such as Shakespeare's Macbeth and Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice. Student will also read excerpts from Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales,  as well as from other classics from the British literary canon. Over the course of the year, students develop their vocabulary and sharpen their writing skills through a series of literary analyses and timed essays. Special attention is paid to the practical application of grammar to help students revise their writing as they prepare for college.

Note: Juniors and seniors may choose between this course, African American Literature, American Literature, Hebrew Poetry, Screenwriting, and Philosophy in Literature. The courses are equal in work and requirements. If juniors wish to join the AP track, they select AP Language & Composition, followed by AP Literature & Composition their senior year if they remain in Advanced Placement classes.

AP English Language and Composition

Words can change and shape the course of history. As students learn in AP English Language and Composition, this intensive course pushes students to extend their critical thinking skills beyond literature to the visual and textual media of today’s culture. Analyzing the sometimes subtle differences between a logical argument and calculated manipulation, students examine a variety of genres, ranging from political cartoons and modern advertisements to American essays, speeches, and novels. Inspired by the organization, style, and grammatical structure of great communicators as guidance for their own writing, students will mature beyond formulaic writing patterns, developing their own unique and persuasive voice. A summer reading assignment is required.

AP English Literature and Composition

AP English Literature and Composition is a challenging course intended for students who love to read, debate, analyze, and write. Sampling literary works from a variety of different genres and eras, the course focuses on answering two questions: “What does the author say?” and “How does he or she say it?” While these questions may seem surprisingly simple, the analysis garnered through course discussions, group work, and activities reveals the subtleties and nuances that make literature richly complex. Students who join AP English Literature should expect rigorous application of critical thinking skills in both their reading and writing assignments.