English Department

Law & Literature

This course is one of two ELA options for 10th graders in the fall. It was designed for students who entered HSPS through the Legal Academy, though anyone who is interested may choose this English class option. Students will be examining how some of the power dynamics in our legal and political systems came to be, exploring legal theories and philosophies of justice. Students will read a variety of short stories, study philosophy and court decisions, and view documentary research as they consider the purpose of law and what measures exist in society that help or hinder justice. 

Over the course of this semester, students will study and apply questions of ethics to real and current legal issues, completing case studies, close-reading and discussing, researching, arguing, and ultimately presenting their position on an issue they have become expert in. 

Medicine & Literature

This course is one of two ELA options for 10th graders in the fall. It was designed for students who entered HSPS through the Medical Academy, though anyone who is interested may choose this English class option. Students will be examining the connections between race, medicine and ethics through careful study of the core text The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. This class will challenge perceptions of what makes a good doctor, what rights patients should have, and what the goals of medicine are in our world.

Over the course of this semester, students will study and apply questions of ethics to real and current medical dilemmas, completing case studies, close-reading and discussing, researching, arguing, and ultimately presenting their position on an issue they have become expert in.

Science Fiction Literature

This is one of several ELA options that 9th & 10th graders can choose to take during the spring semester. This class focuses on questions of intelligence: artificial, human, and alien. Students  will read a variety of short stories, as well as the novels Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes and Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, examining how authors use extreme settings and conflicts to examine important social and moral issues.

Coming of Age Literature

This is one of several ELA options that 9th & 10th graders can choose to take during the spring semester. This course explores the coming of age genre from the perspectives of African American writers. Students will read YA novels like The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon as well as excerpts from memoirs, exploring universal aspects of growing up.

Ancient World Literature

This is one of several ELA options that 9th & 10th graders can choose to take during the spring semester. This class is a comparative study of origin stories and mythology from cultures around the world. Students study the functions of myth in society, learning about the gods & heroes of different ancient cultures, and reading excerpts of three ancient epics: Gilgamesh, The Iliad, and Beowulf.

English 11

This year-long course is aligned with US History, which students also take in 11th grade, supporting deep thought on major questions around what what America is and what it should be; WHO we are and who we should be; the values we come from and the world we are heading towards. 

In the fall, students read two pieces of historical fiction and consider how modern authors are exploring themes that have echoed from our past right up into modern America: a play called The Crucible by Arthur Miller and the novel Kindred by Octavia Butler. Students are also fully prepared to take their ELA Regents exam at the end of the fall semester. 

In the spring, students read and write short fiction to think about the narrative gap in whose stories are told in this country, and examine how the immigrant experience has shaped and continues to shape America. Students will also read Bodega Dreams by Ernesto Quinonez and a modern novel of their choice, completing research and teaching their classmates about how that novel was shaped by the culture and lived experiences of its author. Students are also supported in their preparation for the SAT’s which they take in March. 

AP Literature and Composition

This course is a college-level literature survey course, meaning that it moves at a faster rate and covers significantly more literature than a regular 11th grade ELA course. Students read lots of short stories and poetry, the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, at least one novel by Toni Morrison, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, and an additional modern novel read in small groups. Students will be reading texts that are sometimes challenging in writing style, sometimes challenging in terms of mature topics, and sometimes both. AP Lit  also requires students to become proficient and thoughtful “rough draft” writers, so there is frequent on-demand, in-class analytical writing. Additionally, students are prepared for the ELA Regents exam in January and the AP Exam in May, while supported in their preparation for the SATs in March.

To be successful in this class, students must be able & willing to independently manage a heavy workload with regular reading assignments. The class itself is largely discussion based, analyzing how and why authors make the choices that they do in great literature. 

English 12

This college-preparatory English course will focus upon the guiding question: Why do we, as humans, do what we do?  Within this topic, the sub-questions arise: What determines our concepts of morality?  What motivates us?  How do our actions manifest in terms of power, oppression, and rebellion? To investigate this question, we will be utilizing non-fiction, fiction, documentary film, poetry, and dramatic work.  You will be analyzing others’ work as well as providing your own original insight and writing. Additionally, we will be developing a college-level vocabulary and writing style.

AP Language and Composition

The AP English Language and Composition course aligns to an introductory college-level rhetoric and writing curriculum, which requires students to develop evidence-based analytic and argumentative essays that proceed through several stages or drafts. Students evaluate, synthesize, and cite research to support their arguments. Throughout the course, students develop a personal style by making appropriate grammatical choices. Additionally, students read and analyze the rhetorical elements and their effects in non-fiction texts, including graphic images as forms of text, from many disciplines and historical periods.

Introduction to Literary Theory

In this course students will be exposed to two types of literary criticism: feminist and psychoanalytic theory. The goal is for students to become adept at analyzing literature, film and other media using them. Through feminist criticism students will see the tragic effect history has had on women by silencing their artistic voices. Then students focus on how that harm is being rehabilitated. Through the study of psychoanalytic criticism, students will familiarize themselves with the work of Freud, Lacan and Jung, among others, and use psychoanalysis to better understand the works of some great artists. The plan is to ask “WHY”, the goal is to answer that “WHY” question using our literary criticisms.

Literature and Film Study

This course investigates relationships between two media, film and literature, studying works linked across the two media by genre, topic, and style. It aims to sharpen appreciation of major works of cinema and of literary narrative. Our purpose is to use our five analytics, our “quintessentials”: epiphany, violence causality, coming of age, social responsibility and dealing with loss, to examine our world and try to answer the only question worth asking: “Why?”

The Art of Japanese Storytelling

Art of Japanese Storytelling is a creative writing and presentation class that pushes students to step outside their comfort zones and explore Japanese culture, as well as their own cultures, through various Japanese storytelling methods.  Students create a portfolio of stories including Japanese storytelling formats such as kamishibai storytelling, theater styles (kabuki, noh, bunraku), poetry styles (haiku, karuta), and animation, while learning about the history of storytelling in Japan.  Students become storytellers in their own right and highlight their chosen culture's values to ultimately spread these values through Japanese storytelling methods.  Students gain skills in a variety of disciplines, including ELA, social studies, and the arts, while learning to appreciate and/or understand cultures outside their own. As a bonus, students can learn basic Japanese words, phrases, and letter systems, as well as other aspects of Japanese culture.