English

Ninth graders are introduced to a broad range of genres, eras and styles and gradually learn to approach more complex reading — all linked to the unifying theme of “the self in society.” Students analyze language and literary technique and then link these specific observations to broader questions and conflicts in the literature. More creatively, students craft their own poems and short fiction, and they experiment with rhetorical devices and writing speeches. As students develop their sentences and hone their writing voices, their work is supported with attention to the writing process, editing and foundations of vocabulary and grammar. In the spring, ninth graders engage in additional projects, from directing and acting in Shakespearean scenes to studying and writing long-form memoir pieces. 

The curriculum varies widely according to teacher and year, but recent works have included Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, Mark Twain’s Pudd’nhead Wilson, Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, Michelle Zauner’s Crying in H Mart and Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle.

Tenth grade is a formative year in our English program. Students study nineteenth-century classics and Modernist fiction, in addition to continuing with Shakespeare, contemporary drama and poetry. The texts are important and intriguing in their own right but also prepare students for the range and depth of the upper-level elective classes. Tenth graders gain the confidence to approach challenging reading and develop a sense of the ideas, time periods and genres that interest them most. They construct meaningful responses to literature and learn to express their thinking clearly and powerfully — extra attention is given to writing craft and revision so students going into the electives feel ready to write about anything.

Texts vary, but in recent years they have included William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Molière’s The Misanthrope, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson and Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies.

Building on a strong foundation, juniors and seniors select from a range of dynamic semester-long elective courses. Each class allows for immersion into an era, culture, style or theme — a depth of study we believe is essential to a complete education. The freedom to choose motivates students, and when teachers design courses they are passionate about, students benefit from their intellectual enthusiasm as well as their expertise, creating an especially vibrant academic environment in the final four semesters of the Prep School. Students take courses in Pre-1930 Literature, Post-1930 Literature and Diverse Perspectives. These requirements are fulfilled through their elective choices, with guidance from their dean, and allow students to pursue their interests while ensuring a comprehensive curriculum.

Our elective offerings change each semester—below are just some of the courses taught in recent years.

• Crime and Punishment 
• Utopia in Fiction and Philosophy 
• 19th-Century European Masterworks 
• From Hitchcock to Peele: An Introduction to Film Studies 
• Narrative Journalism: The Art of Storytelling 
• Shakespearean Tragedy 
• Literature of the Modern Family 
• Creative Nonfiction: Writing with Style and Power 
• 19th-Century American Literature 
• Modern Drama 
• Jewish Literature 
• Magical Realism 
• American Exiles and Outcasts 
• Philosophical Literature: The Search for Meaning 
• Postcolonial Literature: Voices from the African Diaspora 
• Feminist Sci-Fi and Horror 
• Princesses, Monsters and the Madwoman in the Attic 
• The Iliad and War Literature 
• From Slapstick to Satire: Humor in Literature and Film 
• Greek Tragedy 
• The Art of Poetry 
• Environmental Literature: Discovering Our Place in the Natural World
• Literary Fools and Their Follies
• Holocaust Literature and Film
• Contemporary American Literature in the Wake of Slavery
• Jane Austen: From Regency to Rom-Coms
• The Literary Labyrinths of Borges, Cortázar and Calvino
• The Literature of Food
• Moby Dick and the Literature of the Sea
• The Contemporary Short Story
• Robots!: The Literature of Artificial Intelligence
• Walt Whitman and His Influence 
• Haunted Houses & Literary Horror Stories

The AP English seminar offers the most challenging literature experience available in the Prep School and is designed to enhance the understanding and appreciation of some of the best works ever written. Students read poetry, fiction and drama from the 16th century to the present, take part in vibrant class discussions and write extensively in response to the readings. The work is demanding, and because it is a college-level course, students are expected to meet higher standards. The texts for AP English change frequently, but in addition to extensive poetry from the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Modernism, recent readings have included Charlotte Brontë’s Villette, Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, John Milton’s Paradise Lost and Thomas Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49. 

AP English has always required a course commitment beyond the AP seminar. If accepted, students take AP English as a full class in the fall term. In the spring, they enroll in a regular English elective — which helps prepare for the AP test and college-level work — and continue with the AP seminar in a more independent format that, like a college class, meets fewer times per week.