Students read three novels, explore poetry from a variety of authors, read a play and enact a scene, and strengthen grammar and vocabulary. Writing skills are strongly emphasized in the Oak Meadow English curriculum, and this course develops those skills through a variety of writing assignments (expository, interpretive, satirical, and character portraits). Students are encouraged to develop critical reading skills, ask questions, look deeply, and make discoveries. The following books are included with this course:
Oak Meadow Introduction to Literature & Composition Syllabus
The Least You Should Know About English
A Wizard of Earthsea
Animal Farm
To Kill a Mockingbird
Our Town

Literature & Composition II continues the development of writing skills started in Introduction to Literature & Composition, and includes a wide variety of writing assignments, such as compare/contrast, process, analysis, archetypal stories, and vignettes. Grammar and punctuation skills are refined through written work. In addition, students write two research papers following the traditional form. Students also read three novels and explore poetry by a variety of authors. Reading comprehension and critical thinking are emphasized. The following books are included with this course:
Oak Meadow Literature & Composition II Syllabus
A Separate Peace
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Anthem

Students read the thoughts and feelings of American men and women who have helped create and articulate the unique heritage of the American people and the rich fabric of the culture. Active reading and critical evaluation is emphasized. Students refine composition and presentation skills by writing essays (expository, interpretive, contrast/compare), magazine columns, travel guides, interviews, editorials, and speeches. In addition, students explore the works of modern American poets and write a literary research paper. The following books are included with this course:
Oak Meadow American Literature Syllabus
The Great Gatsby
The Red Badge of Courage
To Be a Slave

Open to Eleventh and Twelfth Graders—Enrolled Students Only
This course is a survey of British Literature from Beowulf through the 20th Century. The first semester takes a chronological approach to exploring the various genres: poems, plays, short stories and novels. The work of the second semester integrates assignments that emphasize discovery and allow a student’s learning to unfold through dynamic interactive exchange with the teacher and the material. Selected literary essays will be studied with emphasis on developing the student’s own capacity for reflection and expression.
Elements of Literature, Holt, Sixth Course, Essential of British and World Literature
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Eighth Edition, The Major Authors
The Once and Future King, T.H. White
Macbeth, Shakespeare
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare, The Sourcebooks Shakespeare (with essays and CD’s)
Evoking and Forgetting Shakespeare, Peter Brook
David Copperfield, Dickens
Wives and Daughters, Gaskell
The Secret Sharer and Other Stories, Conrad (Dover Thrift)

Students read the works of international authors, both current and historical, and refine grammar and composition skills through numerous writing assignments. In addition to active reading and critical evaluation of literature, students’ writing instincts are further honed and challenged with a variety of essays (expository, compare/contrast, personal opinion, and interpretive), a biographical research paper, poetry, movie reviews, news articles, an analysis of symbolism and irony, and a one-act play. The following books are included with this course:
Oak Meadow World Literature Syllabus
Don Quixote
The Ramayana
The Metamorphosis
A Doll’s House

The academic objectives of this course adhere to those outlined by the College Board in preparation for the Advanced Placement Exam in Language and Composition. AP English Language explores the relationship between what authors say and how they are trying to say it. The literary component of the course provides a range of genres, including nonfiction, fiction, drama, and poetry, and in the study of these works students are exposed to the analysis of both style (the more language-based approach to exploring meaning) and rhetoric (the examination of author argument and structure). In terms of style, students will explore how elements of language—such as tone, diction, and syntax—influence the overall meaning. In terms of rhetoric, students will examine various appeals, aspects of writers’ credibility, irony, and the overall use of logic to explore how effectively an author presents her/his position.
Selected readings, available online or at your local library.

This is a college-level class that prepares students for the Advanced Placement exam in May. In addition, it provides students with other skills associated with the most advanced classes in high school English, including research skills. When they have completed the class, students will have acquired the reading and critical thinking skills necessary for understanding challenging new material, analyzing that material to interpret meaning, and applying what they have learned to their world. They will have the composition skills needed to communicate their understanding effectively to a variety of audiences.

Students will read and analyze classic works of literature because these works contain literary qualities that merit study and provoke thinking, not because of a requirement to know a particular work or author. They will also look at modern and contemporary works as they examine all genres: plays, short stories, poetry, essays, and novels. Students will learn to apply critical literary terms as tools for learning, understanding, and communication. Learning activities include close reading, paraphrasing, discussions, essays, short answer exams, research papers, reflective journals, web quests, and others.

Students select from several novel choices. They may also choose between the use of text or online versions of Oedipus Rex , Antigone , and Hamlet .