English

Do you have an impulse for storytelling or creative writing? Does reading set your mind free and take you to new places? Are you inspired by the art of writing? Do the titles of senior English electives, such as “Heroes and Villains,” “Irish Literature,” or “Science Fiction,” intrigue you? If any of the above ring true for you, then the English Department at Stevenson is the place to pursue your passion.

If you're really passionate, you may want to tackle our Honors and Advanced Placement curriculum which gives students the chance to earn college credit while they're here at Stevenson.  How do our students fare in this program? Let's just say that 82% of all seniors who took the Advanced Placement Exam over the last 5 years earned a score which made them eligible for college credit.

At Stevenson we delight in the magical possibilities of language and respect the power of self expression. We encourage each student to write with passion and freedom that leads to personal growth as a writer. It is a special advantage our students enjoy to participate in the coffeehouse intimacy of classes numbering fourteen or fifteen orchestrated by teachers gifted at establishing an atmosphere of trust, compassion, candor, and risk taking. Such a setting also provides us with the perfect opportunity to explore the great works such as Huckleberry Finn or Catcher in The Rye or, as is often the case, move beyond the traditional curriculum in senior electives where we craft classes such as “Heroes and Villains,”  "Modern Irish Literature,” and “Science Fiction".

Course Offerings

English I

The ninth-grade English course combines careful analysis of literature with instruction in the basics of composition. The major focus is on writing imaginative essays that stem from personal experience or personal responses to literary texts. Students write weekly in class, keep journals, and learn to brainstorm, to write first drafts, and to revise final drafts. In addition to teaching reading skills and requiring varied writing assignments, the course emphasizes group discussion of literature, competence in grammar, exposure to poetry, and the enrichment of vocabulary. Among the major works that students read are The Odyssey, The Catcher in the Rye, Cannery Row, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Big Fish, Of Mice and Men, and Flowers for Algernon, along with assorted poems and short stories.

Public Speaking

This course aims to equip students with the verbal and presentational tools to convey their ideas and information clearly, confidently, and concisely. Students increase their self-confidence and competence before an audience by practicing various forms of public speech, such as the informative talk, dramatic reading, impromptu address, persuasive speech, and debate. Each student presents a minimum of six speeches per trimester and also benefits from a number of extemporaneous opportunities. Some of the speeches are videotaped for critiquing.

English II

Sophomores gain experience writing descriptive, narrative, explanatory, and argumentative compositions. They use various writing modes to express themselves imaginatively, to arrange their supporting evidence in compelling order, and to argue the validity of their ideas. Instructors continue to emphasize knowledge of grammar as the technical terminology of the writing trade; vocabulary study occurs both in context, from the literature read, and in regularly assigned lessons from a vocabulary workbook. Sophomores study poetry throughout the year from Laurence Perrine?s Sound and Sense. Literary texts read and discussed in this course include such works as The Canterbury Tales, Lord of the Flies, Macbeth, Oedipus Rex, Antigone, A Streetcar Named Desire, Hamlet, Frankenstein, and Introduction to the Short Story, as well as several supplementary works. Students are introduced to the format of the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT), which they take for practice in October.

English II (Honors)

Sophomores gain experience writing descriptive, narrative, explanatory, and argumentative compositions. They use various writing modes to express themselves imaginatively, to arrange their supporting evidence in compelling order, and to argue the validity of their ideas. Assignments ask students to write about themselves and about familiar experiences, to learn literary terminology, and to analyze fiction in critical essays. A formal paper is due every two weeks, and ungraded free-writing sometimes takes place in class. Instructors continue to emphasize knowledge of grammar as the technical terminology of the writing trade; vocabulary study occurs both in context, from the literature read, and in regularly assigned lessons from a vocabulary workbook. Sophomores study poetry throughout the year from Laurence Perrine?s Sound and Sense. Literary texts read and discussed in this course include The Canterbury Tales, Macbeth, Oedipus Rex, Antigone, A Streetcar Named Desire, 1984, and Introduction to the Short Story, as well as several supplementary works. Students are introduced to the format of the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT), which they take for practice in October.

English III

The junior-year English course concentrates on American literature, emphasizing authors? lives as well as literary terms and historical background. Instructors review grammar and continue to build vocabulary, with words chosen from the course reading and also from a vocabulary text. At this level students are expected to have mastered the essential skills of form and correctness in their writing. The primary text for the course is an anthology?either The American Experience or The Elements of Literature (fifth edition)?complemented by such works as The Scarlet Letter, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Huckleberry Finn, The Great Gatsby, Death of a Salesman, One Flew Over the Cuckoo?s Nest, The Bluest Eye, and The Things They Carried. Finally, students begin the college application process by organizing a resume, writing a practice personal essay, and preparing for the PSAT, SAT I, and SAT II writing samples, all of which are junior-year rites of passage.

English III (Honors)

Students may qualify for honors with the recommendation of their tenth-grade teacher. American literature remains the emphasis, but course requirements include more sophisticated assignments in reading and writing. Students often work on independent projects and may be called on to lead discussion.

English IV (Advanced Placement English)

AP English, the culmination of the honors program, provides an introductory college-level course for students who are ready for more advanced literary analysis. The course requires that a student take a high degree of responsibility for class participation and independent learning. Emphasis is upon the critical essay, in preparation for the Advanced Placement Examination in May, although each term features a major creative assignment as well. Last year's syllabus included The Aeneid, The Canterbury Tales, Dr. Faustus, Hamlet, Volpone, Paradise Lost, Equus, Candide, Heart of Darkness, The Flies, No Exit, Under Milk Wood, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Love in the Time of Cholera, July?s People, I Am One of You Forever, The Big Sleep, and a rich sampling of poetry.

English IV (Modern Storytelling)

This yearlong course examines the works of writers of the modern age. The syllabus comprises a variety of literary genres?novels, plays, short fiction, poetry, and essays?and features such 20th and 21st-century authors as: William Faulkner, Ralph Ellison, Albert Camus, Franz Kafka, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Margaret Atwood (fiction); George Bernard Shaw and Sam Shepard (theater); William Butler Yeats, e.e. cummings, W.H. Auden, and Billy Collins (verse). Contemporary essays are drawn from The Seagull Reader. Student writing includes critical essays, argumentative pieces, and creative experiments, as well as occasional in-class writing and short reaction papers.

Fall Term English Electives

Short Story

This class is an introduction to the craft of fiction writing. While examining stories by a diverse range of (mostly) contemporary authors, we will try to understand how each author crafted his or her story, what decisions he or she faced, and how other choices might have changed the story, thereby allowing us to better understand what tools and options are available to us when we write our own stories.

Expository Writing

English teachers recommend students for this course at the end of the junior year. In a small workshop environment, students work on strengthening their prose skills and arguing the validity of their ideas. A number of writing tasks are undertaken, including: descriptive and narrative writing, comparison and contrast, analytical essays, opinion papers, and the collegebound personal essay. Though the course entails some reading, emphasis is upon frequent writing, both in and out of class, and peer critiquing.

Winter Term English Electives

Short Story

See Fall Term Electives description.

Modern Irish Literature

This course introduces students to the rich heritage of Irish literature. We will examine the works of major literary figures such as W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, and C.S. Lewis. Study of contemporary fiction, nonfiction/memoir and poetry will include such dynamic figures as Brian Friel, Roddy doyle, Patrick Kavanagh, Semus Henry, and Eavan Boland. Key motifs include: the importance of the artist in the shaping of national identity; issues of gender, myth and cultural memory; and the writer as a social critic and chronicler.

Literature and Film

The adaptation of a novel to film is a complicated business and has met with varying degrees of success. Through this course, students explore why Hollywood has deemed many of our foremost writers unworthy of having their works adapted to the silver screen. In addition, the course provides students with a short history of film and gives them the opportunity to critique several films.

Spring Term English Electives

World Mythology

This course explores the great myths and legends from the world?s major traditions in an attempt to discover the common threads that are woven through them. Some universal topics to be investigated include creation myths, flood myths, tales of love, myths of the hero, morality tales, the journey to the underworld, and visions of the Apocalypse.

Science Fiction

Ray Bradbury once said that "the world is awash in science fiction." As far back as the early part of the 20th century, writers posited future dystopias and utopias - technical feats of wonder and possibilties previously unimagined. The purpose of this elective will be to explore the visions of writers who have throught long and hard about the sociological and cultural changes brought about by our increasing inventiveness and curiosity. Will we be enlightened or destroyed? Science fiction writers represented will include Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Philip Dick, William K. Gibson, and Neil Stephenson. Film excerpts will include Ridley Scott's Bladerunner, Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Andrew Niccol's Gattica.

Heroes and Villains

This elective presents a study of Western culture through consideration of some of its heroes and villains. Readings include The Old Man and the Sea, The Bear, and excerpts from Lonesome Dove and King Lear. The class also views and discusses the films Citizen Kane, Billy Budd, and A Man for All Seasons.