Literary Analysis and Composition I

In this course, students improve their written and oral communication skills, and strengthen their ability to understand and analyze literature. 

Literature
Students read short stories, poetry, drama, novels, autobiographies, essays, and famous speeches. The course guides students in close reading and critical analysis of classic works of literature, and helps them appreciate both the texts and the context in which they were written. Literary selections range from the Greek tragedy Antigone to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to contemporary pieces by authors such as Annie Dillard and Maya Angelou.

Language Skills
In Composition lessons, students examine model essays in various genres by both student writers and published authors. Students go through a process of planning, organizing, drafting, revising, and proofreading, in which they use feedback to improve. In Grammar, Usage and Mechanics (GUM) lessons, students practice sentence analysis, sentence structure, agreement, and punctuation. Online activities (Skills Updates) provide practice and reinforcement. In Vocabulary lessons, students define and use words with Greek and Latin roots, and use word origins and derivations to determine the meaning of new words.

Two semesters

• Classics for Young Readers, Volume 8
• Classics for Young Readers, Volume 8: An Audio Companion
• BK English Language Handbook, Level 1
• Vocabulary from Classical Roots, Book C
• The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, by Frederick Douglass
• Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank
• Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare
  

K12 Intermediate English A and B or equivalent