English

The AP English Language & Composition Course, as stipulated by the College Board, is designed to emulate a first-year college composition course. The course aims to help students become skilled readers and writers through engagement with composition in several forms (e.g., narrative, expository, analytical, and argumentative essays) about a variety of subjects. Through frequent and varied reading and writing assignments, students will become more cognizant of the techniques employed by good writers and become more aware of themselves as writers. Over the whole year, students will have opportunities to identify and explain an author’s use of rhetorical strategies and techniques; to develop research skills and evaluate, use, and cite primary and secondary sources; to develop a greater and deeper understanding of reasoning and logic in support of claims and arguments. Students will complete an 8-10 page research project at the end of the spring semester, and all enrolled students are expected to take the AP English Language & Composition Exam in May.

 

With a score of 3, 4, or 5, on the exam, a student may receive college credit (though a university’s acceptance of AP credit and its criteria will vary by institution).

This course was formerly called EN 211: ETHNICITY IN AMERICAN LITERATURE - 2265

This is a study of American writers of diverse ethnic backgrounds (including, but not limited to, Native, African, Asian, Hispanic, and European Americans) and how ethnicity plays a role in the themes, structures, and genres of literature.  Various historical periods may be considered. Aesthetic, historical, cultural, and gender issues will be explored.

This course was formerly called EN 215: IRISH LITERATURE – 2260 

This course explores how the powerful stories found in Irish mythology and folklore influenced the “Celtic Twilight” of W.B. Yeats and still show up in contemporary literature and art. Ranging from ancient stories of heroes, gods, and sacred sites to cultural beliefs in the supernatural (particularly fairies, the banshee, and ghosts), legends and storytelling traditions will be explored, as well as Irish history and Irish mythology. Students will understand that the mythology and folklore of Ireland influenced and contributed to some of the most important literature of the Western world. We will read folktales, legends, plays, poetry and short stories, study artwork and film, and draw connections from the pre-Christian Celtic myths and beliefs to contemporary literature and current cultural practices and politics.