ENGLISH PHILOSOPHY
At all levels, the program in English incorporates an appreciation for all genres of literature and a working knowledge and appreciation of literary devices, vocabulary, and grammar. Various authors, like Shakespeare, and various bodies of literature, like Greek mythology and the Old Testament that have significantly influenced the western literary tradition are prominent, as is culturally diverse non-western literature including that which is by and about women and minorities. Common to all grade levels is a specific approach to the study of literature that fosters careful analysis and artfully substantiated interpretation in both written and oral discussion. Skills that focus on critical and creative thinking, study and test-taking, the successful communication of ideas, the efficient use of literary resources, and effective public speaking are important not only to enable a student to achieve success in the study of literature and language, but also to facilitate learning over a lifetime. In order to complete the “MacDuffie Diploma” requirement in English, students must successfully complete the study of English in each of their Upper School years.
MIDDLE SCHOOL
1100 – English 6
Students in grade six gain the skills and strategies that are necessary in the careful analysis of literature by examining myths, poetry, short stories, and the novel. These skills and strategies include the identification of the central idea, an appreciation of the methods of characterization, and an understanding of point of view, among other literary devices. The program weaves poetry throughout the year using the works of contemporary poets as well as Dickinson and Shakespeare. The literature in this course encourages students to appreciate the world from a multicultural perspective and to consider the phenomenon of immigration as it relates to the customs, traditions, and literature of a culturally diverse nation. Free choice of materials for personal reading encourages students to become and remain life-long readers. Students have frequent opportunities to express themselves in writing during the year as they learn to discuss and interpret literature. The parts of speech and the parts of a sentence as a means to sharpen writing skills and build an appreciation of the richness of the language receive generous attention throughout the year as students learn to craft sentences and multi-paragraph themes with careful expression and correct grammar and word usage.
1102 – English 7
Seventh-grade English challenges students with a rich and diverse array of literary works and provides them with frequent opportunities to improve their written expression and discussion skills. A review of the parts of speech/sentence and an introduction to the effective use of phrases and adverb clauses comprise the primary grammar units. Students are expected to incorporate what they have learned in the execution of writing assignments. Vocabulary building is literature-based. Writing assignments, both modest and more involved, focus on the development of writing strategies (description, process, narration, and comparison/contrast). Prewriting, peer reviewing, revising, and conferencing are typical activities in the writing process. In addition, students learn the fundamentals of proper documentation. Throughout the year, an appreciation of the western literary tradition is enhanced by representative readings from other cultures. The English 7 program offers learning experiences which integrate content and skills taught in other disciplines. These include units on orienteering, conflict resolution, and developing a sense of identity within the community and the world. Central themes are explored in readings from all genres: poetry, the novel, drama, the short story, and non-fiction. Titles include Romeo and Juliet, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Secret Life of Bees, and The Ryan White Story.
1104 – English 8
As eighth graders prepare to enter the Upper School, they review the fundamentals of grammar and learn new structures such as proper noun case, agreement, and parallel structure, which they apply through frequent critical and creative writing projects. A main goal of eighth-grade English is to produce critical, analytical, and independent thinkers. To that end, students deepen their understanding of the ways writers use language, imagery, and characterization to provide both meaning and pleasure for their readers. In addition, students do extensive work on vocabulary and the application of literary terms such as irony, foreshadowing, conflict, point of view, tone, symbolism, and motif. In writing, they learn how to develop an effective thesis statement supported by documentation. Emphasis is on study skills such as highlighting, note taking, organization, and daily preparedness for class. Because it is important for students to recognize the interconnectedness of learning, English 8 collaborates with other disciplines. In addition to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Ramayana, the course includes a wide range of poetry and short fiction.
UPPER SCHOOL ENGLISH COURSE SEQUENCE
In order to receive a MacDuffie Diploma, four years of Upper School English are required culminating in English 12 or possibly English as a Second Language (ESL III) if the student is a non-native speaker of English. Students take the English course that corresponds with their grade level. Students for whom English is not their first language take the English or ESL course they are assigned to based on their grade level, English proficiency, other courses they are taking and their motivation:
NOTE: Students at the junior and senior levels will be placed by the Department in either college preparatory or Advanced Placement (AP) sections. Once students commit to the AP level of study, they must continue in that level for the duration of the year unless requested by the Department to discontinue study.
Electives vary from year to year. For the 2010-2011 school year, the proposed electives are Journalism, and Introduction to Film Studies. Electives are in addition to the regular English curriculum, since they do not count towards the English distributional requirement for graduation and depend on adequate staffing and student enrollment.
Journalism is a semester elective. The course is for the editors and staff of the school newspaper, The Magnet, which the class produces. (Students not in the class, however, may still submit articles for review and publication and, in fact, receive encouragement to do so.)
UPPER SCHOOL
1110 – English 9
By exposing students to great works from the Western literary tradition, like Shakespeare’s As You Like It, and to various rhetorical modes, like the argument, causal analysis, and the comparison/contrast, English 9 furthers the critical reading, writing, and thinking skills first introduced in the Middle School. The course begins with a review of summer reading, which will later be revisited in conjunction with units taught in the ninth grade history course Global Perspectives. A short story unit follows in which students learn how to read for literary devices, like irony, mood, tone, and character. In addition to the traditional stories of writers like Edgar Allan Poe and Shirley Jackson, students also read selected African stories, again, to complement the corresponding unit on Africa in Global Studies. During the year, both history and English classes also emphasize the five-paragraph critical essay and the generation of clear, specific, amplified, and grammatically correct prose. Because of its far-reaching effect on the western literary tradition, the Bible as literature is English 9’s central orientation during the second semester. In addition to developing an appreciation for the themes, imagery, and symbols of both the Old and the New Testament, students become familiar with Biblical representations in art, especially those of the Italian Renaissance. By looking at the stories of Eve, Sarah, Ruth, Susanna, and others, there is special emphasis on the role and image of women in the Bible. Students explore both classical and contemporary literature of the Middle East and selections from the Qur’an, again in conjunction with Global Studies, and read Yusuf Al-Qa’id’s novel War in the Land of Egypt. In keeping with the English Department’s overall objective regarding multiculturalism, students end the course with independent research projects/oral presentations on stories and myths from various cultures around the world that are similar to the Biblical ones they have just studied.
1112 – English 10 – British Literature
English 10 exposes students to the rich and varied forms of written expression that have emerged from the United Kingdom and traces the development of the language and literature of the British people from Beowulf to today. Students learn the characteristics of each genre and the devices (metaphor, foreshadowing) used in the creation of literature. By analyzing selected works that represent the best of British letters, students learn to read critically and to recognize and discuss such themes as love, duty, honor, hypocrisy, despair, redemption, human relationships and alienation.
This course reflects the increasing integration of English and social studies in the Upper School curriculum. The integration illustrates the belief that knowledge is more meaningful in larger contexts and when seen from the viewpoints of different disciplines. Students turn in coordinated unit projects while studying the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and revolutions following it, the Victorian era of worldwide expansion and colonization by European nations, and the twentieth century. The unit on colonialism and imperialism also functions to maintain awareness that the world was a many-cultured one before European domination, and has remained so. By looking at literature of the former British colonies, students can understand the viewpoint of the subjugated peoples as well as that of the dominant culture. Likewise, in addition to the study of traditional authors such as Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, Jonathan Swift, William Wordsworth, and Charles Dickens, students also examine the development of Britain’s women of letters, like Mary Shelley, Virginia Woolf, and Doris Lessing, who speak of the important role women play in shaping British history and culture.
The primary skill objective is twofold: analysis and expository writing. Students are expected to develop analytical ability and to express the results of their analysis in well-crafted expository essays. Stress is on the methods of process writing, taking writing apart so that it becomes a continual effort rather than a final result. Students learn to read and analyze literature with a good critical eye, to form an opinion based on the literature and formulate a substantive thesis expressing that opinion, to substantiate that opinion with appropriate evidence from the literature, to draft an essay about it, and to write and revise that essay into a finished work.
1114 – English 11 – American Literature: College Preparatory
English 11 is a survey of American Literature that asks students to examine the nature of America, the American, and the American Dream from the nation’s early beginnings to the present day. The first semester starts with Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, a 19th century text that questions the Puritan ideals of revealed religion and spiritual authority, which form the basis of the utopian sermons of Calvinists like Jonathan Winthrop and William Bradford. The utopian ideal is explored further through the perfectionist philosophies of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose works are studied alongside landscape paintings of the day, like those of the Hudson River Valley School. To make the connection between the Transcendental themes they study in literature and the images of visual art, students learn how to do aesthetic readings and apply their understanding of color, line, and texture during a field trip to the Quadrangle’s Fine Arts Museum. The first semester ends with the literature of the slave era. Narratives by and about slaves like Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs are given special emphasis and are complemented by readings from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In conjunction with the American history class, the unit explores the dehumanizing effects of oppression, the role of education in emancipation, and the legacy of slavery and racism in today’s society. A field trip to the Stowe/Twain Houses at Nook Farm in Hartford, CT concludes the unit.
The second semester begins with literature by and about women. Students trace the concepts of “True Womanhood” versus “New Womanhood” introduced to them in history class in works by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Kate Chopin. Students research and write profiles on a variety of 19th and early 20th century women, revolutionaries in medicine, education, art and related fields, an exercise which requires proper note taking, research and documentation. The final months of the course concentrate exclusively on the 20th century and literature of many genres illustrating such modern events as urbanization, immigration, the Civil Rights movement and such themes as diversity and social justice. Poetry by Robert Frost and Langston Hughes, novels by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Anzia Yezierska, plays by Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller, and short stories by Alice Walker and Leslie Silko are some of the major readings in these final units, which are designed not only to explore the inevitable conflicts that arise in a pluralistic society, but also to celebrate the rich and varied heritage created as a result of it.
Both American Literature and American History emphasize the generation of clear, specific, amplified, and grammatically-correct prose in the form of expository and critical essays. The research paper is a focus for both classes throughout the year, as is vocabulary building, critical thinking, and critical reading. To prepare students for the impromptu, timed writing required by the SAT, both classes emphasize in-class essays as well as take-home essays.
1118 – English 11-AP Language and Composition (offered in 2012-2013)
Department Approval Only
(AP) English Language and Composition is a challenging course for students who are passionate about the art of written communication. The class addresses many different types of texts, authors, and perspectives. Students learn to explore the world of rhetoric, to understand the tools employed by effective writers and speakers, and to employ those tools themselves in a variety of assignments while clarifying their own writing styles.
This class is framed in the context of American Literature. Students examine various rhetorical modes – like the persuasive, the compare/contrast, and the causal; and various elements of authorial style – like word choice and sentence structure. The writing of clear, concise, and focused essays in a timed (often impromptu) format is a central objective.
The course is also designed to “make students aware of the interactions among a writer’s purposes, audience expectations, and subjects as well as the way generic conventions and the resources of language contribute to effectiveness in writing” (The College Board, AP English Course Description, 2006, p.6). In so doing, we examine issues of race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and community in shaping authorial style.
Every student who enrolls in the course is required to sit for the national AP Exam in May.
1120 – English 12B2 – World Literature: CP Reading and Comprehension
While maintaining a focus on literature from around the world, this section of English 12 is designed to provide students with frequent opportunities to practice and master their critical reading and writing skills. The course is based on an extensive unit on expository writing. The effective use of various rhetorical modes like the definition, the causal analysis, the clarification/division, and the argument is the primary focus. Non-fiction essays by such writers as Amy Tan, Martin Luther King, Gordon Allport, and Stephen King serve as models by which students learn the particulars of each mode in addition to the more general aspects of clear, concise, detailed writing. The writing process itself is given generous attention as students are introduced to various prewriting, drafting, and sharing strategies. They are encouraged to adopt those best suited to their particular learning styles and needs.
Throughout the year, students write formal essays about the literature they read, which is arranged thematically. Special attention is given to mixing the traditional with the non-traditional, around such topics as origins and insights, gender and identity, war and violence, race and difference, and individualism and community. In these units, each literary genre is addressed. Some examples include drama by Sophocles, Euripides, and Shakespeare; poetry by Mahwash Shoaib, Yussef Komunyakaa and Li-Young Lee; short stories by Pär Lagerkurst, Elie Wiesel, and Tadeusz Borowski; and essays by Eric Liu, May Sarton, and Virginia Woolf.
1121 – English 12B1 – World Literature: CP
English 12B1 offers seniors the opportunity during their capstone year to examine the literature of diverse cultures by focusing on thematically grouped units. In addition to promoting critical reading and thinking skills, the course emphasizes the process of writing, by means of such vehicles as journals, critical essays, creative writing, and research papers.
In the fall students explore attitudes toward war and interpersonal conflict by reading thematically linked poems, plays, novels, letters, and essays written throughout the centuries. The year begins with a look at the very nature of conflict and aggression, as discussed by such writers as Desmond Morris and Deborah Tannen, and then moves on to specific literary interpretations of war. From the Trojan War to Tiananmen Square and from Li Po to Siegfried Sassoon, Ernst Jünger, Erich Maria Remarque and Tim O’Brien, students seek to identify the historical similarities and differences found in war literature of various historical eras. Several notable films by directors Stanley Kubrick and Francis Ford Coppola (Paths of Glory, Dr. Strangelove, and Apocalypse Now) are also studied and critiqued, as yet another way to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the important issues of the unit.
During the Shakespeare unit students read Macbeth and Othello, as well as several of the sonnets. The third unit of this class focuses on the literature of the American South by first examining its historical, political, and economic antecedents and then moving on to the study of nineteenth and twentieth century literary works that interpret the “Southern” experience. Students examine the relationship between the literature of this unit and the Harlem Renaissance and African and Caribbean literary movements. Through reading works by such authors as Harriet Jacobs, Charles Chesnutt, Jean Toomer, William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Martin Luther King, Richard Wright, Willie Morris, Bobbie Ann Mason, Flannery O’Connor, Alice Walker, Lillian Smith, and Zora Neale Hurston, Southern literature is considered in the context of place, the causes and consequences of the Civil War, the economic hardships of the 1920s and ’30s, and the development of the New South.
1122 – English 12A – Honors World Literature:
Department Approval Only
In their capstone year, seniors examine the literature of diverse cultures by focusing on thematically grouped units. In addition to promoting critical reading and thinking skills, the course emphasizes analysis, research, discussion, composition, and presentation by means of journals, critical essays, creative writing, and research papers.
“Reflections on the Human Experience” features parent/child relationships, family and friends, the establishment of identity, coming of age, and love and commitment. Students read selections from works by Sophocles, Ibsen, Weldon, Shakespeare, Gordimer, Atwood, Olds, Achebe, Head, Donoso, and Jewett, to name but a few.
During the third quarter East Asian literature is the primary focus. By using a variety of critical strategies and exploring a wide range of genres, this overview of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean literature acquaints students with influential writers and ideas, many that have helped to shape national identity and others that transcend national boundaries. Representative authors include Du Fu, Soseki, Pak Wanso, Takako Takahashi, and Lu Hsun.
The final unit is oriented around the study of nineteenth and twentieth century drama. In order to become more familiar with the analysis of the language, characters, plot, point of view, symbolism, and themes found in drama, students will read works by such playwrights as Williams, Soyinka, Hellman, and Hwang.
1126 – English 12 – Advanced Placement Literature and Composition
Department Approval Only
Advanced Placement (AP) Literature and Composition prepares students for the type of literary analysis and writing found on the AP exam and in college English courses. The first semester focuses primarily on drama: namely, Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex and Antigone; Euripides’ Medea; Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Othello and Much Ado About Nothing; Beckett’s Waiting for Godot and Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. In addition to learning the defining characteristics of drama in general, and tragedy, comedy, and dark comedy, in particular, students also learn about the social, political, and philosophical contexts of each author’s life and work. The existential precepts of Beckett and Stoppard, for example, are given special emphasis and serve as the backdrop for understanding works with related themes, like Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and Notes from the Underground, two of several novels read throughout the year.
Whenever possible, the course provides opportunities for examining literature in terms of other humanities-based disciplines. When reading Heart of Darkness, for example, students are introduced to the medium of film as they analyze Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, a reworking of Conrad’s novel. When reading Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, they are introduced to the art, music, and social history of the Harlem Renaissance. Many of the novels read during the second semester, like Richard Wright’s Black Boy and James Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist, deal with the coming of age of a protagonist who has to struggle for individual expression in a culture that is, in some way, oppressive, due to factors like race, gender, and class. A multicultural approach to such works is encouraged, as is the use of secondary criticisms, both of which serve to help students achieve critical depth and tension in their analyses.
In keeping with the AP exam’s format, students primarily write timed, impromptu essays on the works being studied in class. In the few weeks before the actual exam in May, students receive concentrated instruction in and practice with the multiple-choice sections of actual past exams, which often include extensive passages on the form, device, and metrics of poetry, as well as on the tone, theme, and narrative techniques of prose. To conclude the class, students work on individual inquiry projects that reflect their particular areas of literary interest and expertise.
Every student who enrolls in the course is required to sit for the national AP Exam in May.
SEMESTER ELECTIVES IN ENGLISH
1160 – Journalism (Year-long – 2 times per week)
Grades 9 – 12
This year-long class is required for all editors and staff of The Magnet, the school’s newspaper, which is produced through a workshop format that supplements academic instruction with hands-on application. The basics of journalistic writing, reporting, layout and editing are the focus of the course, with special emphasis given to news, features, editorial, and sports writing. Students visit local newspaper offices and attend student journalism conferences. The teacher of the course serves as the advisor toThe Magnet.
1164 – Introduction to Film Studies (One semester)
Grades 11 – 12
This semester-long course is designed to give students the tools to comprehend narrative film as a unique, rewarding art form with a language all its own. The course begins with a broad history of motion pictures and aspects of production. From there, students are introduced to a varied selection of movies, filmmakers, and screenplays while developing their own critical and analytical skills. Films addressed range from classics such as Citizen Kane, Casablanca and Rashomon to Raiders of the Lost Ark and Memento. Students explore the ways in which movies define cultural archetypes while addressing shifting mores of gender, family, and politics. As we look at film criticism, students write a polished movie review. Weekly screenings also form an important part of the coursework.
1168 – The Green World: Writing through and about Nature (One semester)
Grades 11 – 12
(Prerequisites: Completion of ESL III)
This course is designed to introduce students to literature across cultures that portray the natural world and man’s relation to it. A variety of genres are studied, with special emphasis being given to poetry and the non-fiction essay. The Japanese haiku of Basho, Issa, and Shiki; the Romantic poetry of Blake, Wordsworth, and Coleridge; the Transcendentalist writings of Emerson and Thoreau; and more recent prose from authors like Rachel Carson and Annie Dillard may be examined. Students reflect on their reading through daily journals and a host of creative writing opportunities whereby they write their own poetry and prose. Frequent field trips into the natural environment serve as a source of reflection and inspiration for both the reading and writing components of the course.
English as a Second Language (ESL)
English as a Second Language Program
MacDuffie is proud of its international student population that adds richness and depth to the life of the school. In order to provide for the needs of international students and those who have recently arrived to make their homes in the greater Springfield area, the school includes “English as a Second Language” (ESL) in its curriculum. MacDuffie begins its ESL program at Level 2 because the level of English needed to fulfill the curriculum is higher than the beginning learners’ level of English. After determining proper placement in Level Two, Level Three or Level Four of the ESL curriculum, students move through the program at a pace determined by the development of their proficiency in English. The objective is to provide students with a level of mastery of English which allows them to move into the mainstream English program.
After successful completion of ESL III, the student’s progress and level of proficiency and fluency are carefully evaluated on an individual basis. He/she may be directed to either ESL IV or an appropriate mainstream English course at the invitation of the English Department and with the approval of the Assistant Head. Students satisfy the English graduation requirement by completing four years of English including ESL IV or English 12. ESL students are also required to complete a course in communications when they are in ESL III or ESL IV.
Note: Other than with permission from the Assistant Head, international students who have been placed in ESL II, ESL III or ESL IV are not allowed to audit or add an English or history course until after the first semester has been completed. At that time the decision to allow a student to add or audit an English or history course is based upon the grades received in ESL and other courses that are predominantly reading, writing, and discussion based. Placement in mainstream English courses is determined on an individual basis, taking into consideration the student’s grade level, skills, and other course selections.
1490 – ESL II
The ESL II course focuses on developing all English language skill areas with a particular emphasis on reading and writing. Students read a variety of fiction and nonfiction works which are used to generate new vocabulary words and topics for class discussion. Students are expected to participate fully in these discussions. In addition, students write creative, persuasive, compare/contrast, expository, and descriptive essays drawing on themes from the reading and from their personal experience. They begin by learning to use topic sentences to write well-constructed paragraphs; by the end of the year, they have learned to write a thesis-based five-paragraph academic essay. English usage and grammar are taught in the context of essay-writing with topics chosen based on recurring errors in student essays. ESL II students also spend time preparing for the TOEFL exam.
1492 – ESL III
This course builds on the speaking, reading and writing skills introduced in ESL II through the study of American literature and preparation for the TOEFL exam. Short stories and poetry by writers like Sherwood Anderson, O. Henry, and Langston Hughes are used to introduce vocabulary, review grammar basics, and generate discussion. The study of two novels, O Pioneers by Willa Cather and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is central to the course and serves as the basis for writing instruction in rhetorical modes, thesis development, and textual support.
1494 – ESL IV
ESL IV is the highest level English language course from which students will enter mainstream English classes. Students read a variety of short stories, poetry, and novels, and they are expected to participate fully in class discussions of these works. Because the course focuses intensively on writing, students write an essay almost every week drawing on themes from the stories and poems and from their personal experience. Through the essays, students polish their skill in developing a thesis in different rhetorical modes and in using text from the reading to support their arguments. Although students are expected to write five-paragraph essays, they also practice the shorter essay that is required for the TOEFL. In the last quarter, students learn how to use appropriate library and internet resources to effectively research and write a research-based paper. English usage and grammar topics are studied as needed based on recurring errors in student essays. Vocabulary study and practice for the other sections of the TOEFL are also covered in ESL IV.
1230 –American Culture
Grades 9 – 12
The American Culture course explores how history and circumstance have shaped the values which define the U. S. today. Students study the effect of major historical events such as colonization, immigration, and the settlement of the West on the development of traditional American values. Then they go on to trace the continuing influence of these values on various aspects of American culture including politics, education, entertainment, the media, and consumerism. In addition, students study the regional geography of the U. S. and explore the people, industry, and natural resources of each region. They also learn about American journalism and discuss events of current importance as they occur. Students are expected to participate fully in daily class discussions.
1740 – Communications
Grades 9 – 12
This is a semester-long course open to students in grades 9 through 12. The primary goal of the course is to acquaint the student with different modes of oral communication including narratives, oral interpretation, informative and persuasive speaking. It will also examine cultural and sub-cultural differences in verbal and non-verbal communication. This course is a graduation requirement for all students whose native language is not English. Any students seeking an exemption from taking the class should petition the Assistant Head. Cases will be reviewed on an individual basis.
