11th-12th+English+III-IV

Dale Dilworth

Tim Holm Spring 2012

Students elected to move into this section from either the other III/IV section or the AP English Language course.

Because of small numbers, the course allowed for significant freedom of choice. Each student selected an author (or genre) and read either two major works or a major work and several smaller works by that author (or within that genre). One work was completed in Q3 and the other in Q4, each with a corresponding analytical paper. Finally, students wrote a longer paper analyzing how an author (or genre) changed through time, referencing stylistic and thematic elements of the works. The objective was to study an author in view of his or her works, rather than the usual model of studying a work in view of its author, and allow students to explore an author or genre of interest to them. Students elected to have the culminating paper count as their semester final.

The rest of the coursework involved my perceived needs of the specific students. As students read their selected works in Q3, the class read //To Kill a Mockingbird// by Harper Lee and focused extensively on purpose and how it reveals itself through such literary elements as tone, characterization, and symbols. Q4 began with a workshop-style focus on writing skills, followed by the Chinquapin Senior essay (or Junior college essay), and ended with a survey of representative types of nonfiction, including selections from popular nonfiction, punditry, and academic journals.