UPPER SCHOOL ENGLISH
A full reading schedule is the hallmark of a good education and Long Trail takes that to heart, including assigning a reading list during the summer. Classmates share ideas about what they have read and writing is emphasized. Students gain valuable experience by writing essays, personal nonfiction, poetry and prose. Students are active participants in local poetry events. English in grades six and seven provides a strong foundation in writing skills and introduces students to a
variety of literatures. Early Literature in grade 8 coordinates with World History with discussions from Homer to Shakespeare. Grade nine surveys styles of writing in Literature by Genre, followed by American Literature and British Literature with advanced and AP levels. Electives include Reading and Writing about Nature, Contemporary American Novels, Science and Technology in Literature, Eastern Literature, Mythology, and Creative Writing.
ENGLISH FACULTY
ENGLISH OFFERINGS
Full year 1 credit, 9th grade
LITERATURE BY GENRE analyzes literature by type: short story, drama, poetry, novel, nonfiction, and journalism. Characterization, theme, plot, setting, and tone of voice receive particular attention. Creative writing includes poetry booklets.
Text: Literature Gold (Prentice Hall, 1991). Drama: Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Gibson's The Miracle Worker. Novels: Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Dickens's Great Expectations.
AP COURSES expand the analytic and writing components of our grade 10-12 curriculum. AP American Literature and AP British Literature prepare students for critical essays and the national AP exam. AP English selection is based on faculty recommendation, previous academic performance, a placement test, and a student's willingness to participate.
Full year 1 credit, 10th grade
AMERICAN LITERATURE 1/ADVANCED AMERICAN LITERATURE 1 parallels the U.S. History 1 course. Students study journal entries, poetry, essays, and short stories in their historical contexts. Selected novels and plays augment this chronological survey course. Creative writing and a research paper support the survey. (See advanced texts added below.)
Texts: Literature: The American Experience (Prentice Hall, 1989), Emsden's Voices
from the West, Emert's Women in the Civil War. Drama: Miller's The Crucible, Wilder's Our Town. Novels: Wharton's Ethan Frome, Crane's The Red Badge of Courage, Cather's My Antonia. Advanced texts added: Literature and Integrated Studies: American Literature (Scott Foresman, 1997) Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Jewett's The Country of the Pointed Firs, Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson.
Full year 1 credit, 11th-12th grade
AP AMERICAN LITERATURE 2 continues students' exploration of literature by American authors, with particular emphasis on ethnic concerns. In addition to poetry, essays and short stories, students focus on selected contemporary drama and novels. Vocabulary study and research papers augment the literature.
Texts: Literature: The American Experience (Prentice Hall, 1989), Braided Lives: An Anthology of Multicultural American Writing (Minnesota Humanities Commission, 1991), Carver's Where I'm Calling From. Drama: Miller's Death of a Salesman, Williams's The Glass Menagerie. Novels: Morrison's Beloved, Faulkner's Intruder in the Dust, Silko's Ceremony, O'Brien's Going After Cacciato, Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany.
Full year 1 credit, 11th-12th grade
AP ENGLISH LITERATURE surveys literature from Anglo-Saxon to contemporary times. Research papers and SAT vocabulary review augment the course.
Text: Language of Literature: British Literature (McDougal Littell, 2000); Drama: Shakespeare's As You Like It, Hamlet, Macbeth, and Taming of the Shrew. Novels: Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, Eliot's Silas Marner, Hardy's Return of the Native, Fowles's The Collector, Phillips's Cambridge.
Full year 1 credit or Semester 1/2 credit
YEARBOOK: THE TRAIL includes taking photographs, scheduling portraits, writing copy, doing layout, overseeing the advertising campaign, and being responsible for the yearbook. Most of the yearbook work is done from September to April.
ELECTIVES OFFERED FOR 11th-12th GRADE
Semester 1/2 credit
CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN NOVELS presents shifting attitudes and concerns in 20th-century America through focus on one genre.
Texts: Crane's Maggie, Girl of the Streets, Sinclair's The Jungle, Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five, O'Brien's The Things They Carried, Capote's In Cold Blood.
Semester 1/2 credit
CREATIVE WRITING 1 offers students an opportunity to explore and expand their creativity and imaginations through extensive writing assignments. Using a variety of exercises, student writers will work on good, clear, creative pieces. Text: Bernays's What If?: Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers (Longman, 1995).
Semester 1/2 credit
CREATIVE WRITING 2 provides students who have already explored writing in a variety of genre the opportunity for extended work on their creative pieces. Students focus on the elements of good writing, including characterization, style, and development. In-house publication and submission for competition are expected.
Semester 1/2 credit
EASTERN LITERATURE introduces the philosophy, literature, and religions of major cultures in the Eastern hemisphere. Vocabulary study, research, and literary criticism augment the course. Texts: Narayen's The Ramayana, Tibetan Book of the Dead, Markandaya's Nectar in a Sieve.
Semester 1/2 credit
WORLD LITERATURE surveys mostly Western literature. Building on previously studied themes and styles, the students will make cross-cultural connections. Vocabulary study, research, and literary criticism augment the course.
Texts: Literature: World Masterpieces (Prentice Hall, 1996); Dostoyevsky's Notes from the Underground, Camus's The Stranger, Tolstoy's The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories.
Semester 1/2 credit
MYTHOLOGY
This course, through primarily western mythologies, will explore myths as they relate to the human condition. Beginning with myths as prehistoric explorations of the world and cultural entertainment, students will also explore how themes, motifs and archetypes have influenced later literature. Texts and readings include The Power of Myth by J. Campbell, Mythology by E. Hamilton and other assorted selections.
Semester 1/2 credit
READING DRAMA explores one genre of literature. In addition to increased exposure to important literary pieces, students improve their ability to read, interpret, and evaluate plays. Vocabulary study, literary criticism, and theater trips augment this course. Text: The McGraw-Hill Book of Drama (McGraw-Hill, 1995).
Semester 1/2 credit
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY IN LITERATURE studies humankind's search for knowledge and capacity for its application from diverse texts of the western canon. Students trace perennial themes and their implications. Vocabulary study and literary criticism augment this course.
Texts: Science Fiction: An Anthology (Oxford UP, 1991), Classics in World Literature (Scott Foresman, 1989). Novels: Huxley's Brave New World, Shelley's Frankenstein.
Semester 1/2 credit
MAJOR BRITISH POETS & PLAYWRIGHTS moves chronologically through major influences in British literature.
Texts include: England in Literature (Scott Foresman, 1982); selected other works by Shakespeare, Chaucer, Shaw, Donne, Arnold.
Semester 1/2 credit
READING & WRITING ABOUT NATURE begins with the establishment of the American National Parks System and examines nature writing up to the present. In addition to this environmental awareness, students reacquaint themselves with nature through art and creative writing. Vocabulary study, community connections, and research projects augment the course.
Texts: Muir's Our National Parks, Leopold's A Sand County Almanac, Abbey's Desert Solitaire, Bryson's A Walk in the Woods, Rezendes's The Wild Within.
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