COURSE OFFERINGS: ENGLISH

The English department at Manhattan Hunter Science High School addresses the standards of the Common Core through progressively challenging and complex texts and tasks. All students read literature and non-fiction and are challenged by questions that push them to refer back to what they've read. This stresses critical-thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills that are required for success in college, career, and life. English courses build skills in reading, writing, listening, speaking, critical thinking, and vocabulary study.

English 9  (2 crs.; no City/State Exam; taught at the high school campus)
This year in 9th grade English you will:

  • Read and analyze literature such as novels, myths, legends, short stories, poems, essays and more from Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America.

  • Study the terms and devices used by writers and poets in their works.

  • Practice writing in several formats including critical lens, persuasive, personal narrative, journal, self-reflection and thematic.

  • Develop grammar and spelling skills, expand vocabulary, and experiment with new writing styles.

  • Learn and practice techniques for public speaking.

  • Use the writing process (prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading, and editing)

  • Interact with texts. You will “become” characters, interview characters, read aloud, role play, complete stories, change endings, evaluate speakers, use graphic organizers, connect ideas, make predictions, ask questions, and more!

  • Explore big ideas about human behavior and the human condition by analyzing various themes such as identity, societal responsibilities, truth and justice, ambition, power, and the common good, and conformity and non-conformity
    Typically Taken By: 9th grade students

    English 10  (2 crs.; no City/State Exam; taught at the high school campus)
    English 10 continues to develop students reading, writing, listening, speaking, and critical thinking skills. Close reading skills help students analyze specific textual details and grapple with each detail's greater purpose or effect. We move between whole-class study and small-group exploration, with plenty of opportunities for students to independently demonstrate their progress and understanding. Weekly vocabulary assignments are adapted from Sadlier-Oxford's Vocabulary Workshop, Level E. Vocab study culminates in an exam of 300 new terms. The literature of English 10 changes from year to year, but in the past we have studied classics like Voltaire's Candide, Orwell's 1984, Shelley's Frankenstein, and Kafka's The Metamorphosis.  We have also used literature circles to pursue small group study of Huxley'sBrave New World, Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Farmer's The House of the Scorpion, Anderson's Feed, Lowry's Giver Quartet, and Oliver's Delirium. Each spring we apply close reading skills to explore, interpret, and perform a Shakespearean play. In the past, we have studied Macbeth and Othello. Students are taught how to self-assess their developing literacy skills and how to set realistic goals for their own improvement. 
    Typically Taken By: 10th grade students

    Advanced Placement English Language and Composition (2 crs.; English Regents Exam in January of Junior year; taught at the high school campus)
    English 11 is designed to develop your ability to read American Literature from a critical and analytical perspective while strengthening your communication, thinking, and writing skills. During the course of the year, you will read literature from a wide range of authors covering a broad range of topics, oftentimes mirroring the historical periods covered in U.S. History class. In this way, you will gain insightful perspectives into the political, social, economic and geographical issues in the areas that we explore. We will examine the idea of what it means to be an American as well as the notion of the American Dream. As we study varied literature, we will note universal themes that tie works together across genres and time periods. We will also devote time and study to preparing for the English Regents exam, which you will take in January. Students will:

  • Read, interpret, evaluate and analyze American literature

  • Develop well-rounded perspectives on the social, political, economic and geographical issues facing various regions

  • Develop confidence as a writer

  • Develop and improve analytical, critical, creative, persuasive, informative writing techniqueS

  • Understand how literature reflects history while also being a part of it

  • Understand and explore multiple perspectives of the same issue

  • Identify various writing techniques and adopt them into original writing

  • Develop a larger, more sophisticated vocabulary

  • Actively discuss and explore themes and topics presented in literature

Typically Taken By: 11th Grade Students

English 12 (2 crs.; no City/State Exam; taught at the College Campus)
This course asks students to blur the line between reading and writing; students read in order expand their writing toolkits and write in order to expand their reading toolkits. We read and emulate a broad range of genres during senior year: personal narrative, impersonal analysis, literary non-fiction, autobiography & memoir, literary theory, literary fiction, & speculative fiction. We focus on the ‘how?’ and ‘why?’ of sophisticated narrative craftwork—significant detail, precise word choice, prose rhythm, economical dialogue, flow & balance, reflection, and rhetorical structures such as parallelism, extended metaphors, analogies, zeugma, anaphora, and chiasmus.  We practice close-reading to develop literary arguments—stretching, manipulating, bending and categorizing evidence to support these arguments— in order to and present them for discussion. We explore a number of ‘lens perspectives’ through which to view our reading: identity, memory, gender, history, religion, race, and psychology. We regularly engage in collaborative processes that include planning for & leading discussions, group projects, setting pacing calendars for lengthy readings, engaging in peer review sessions, building ideas publicly in online discussion boards, managing online portfolios, participating in writing conferences, and engaging in the drafting & revising process. *This course is writing intensive.
Typically Taken By: 12th grade students

English 120: Expository Writing (3 college crs; taught at College Campus)
Through reading, discussions, writing, and rewriting, English 120 teaches students to generate, explore, and refine their own ideas; to analyze and evaluate intellectual arguments; to take positions, develop thesis statements, and support them persuasively; and to write with standard acceptable grammar, varied sentence structure, logical organization, and coherence.
Typically Taken By: 12th grade students in fall semester

English 220: Introduction to Writing About Literature (3 college crs; taught at the College Campus)
Analytical writing and close reading in British and American fiction, drama, poetry, and literary criticism, with an emphasis on further development of critical writing and research skills. Students gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of literature as well as more extensive experience with academic writing.
Typically Taken By: 12th grade students in spring semester