English Department

English 11

English 11 offers an integrated approach to the language arts that includes examination of literature from a variety of genres with emphasis upon comprehension and critical analysis; provides a number of writing and revision experiences coupled with language use, conventions instruction, and review as necessary; and offers instruction in critical listening, guided discussion, speaking and viewing.

English 11 is the curricular application of the academic content standards set by the Ohio Department of Education aligned with their appropriate grade-level indicators and the core practices of the High Schools That Work initiative. We assert that all students benefit from the introduction to and mastery of the practical and higher-order reasoning skills implicit in language arts study. Our goal is to equip students with the skills necessary to succeed in whatever career or higher education avenues they choose to pursue upon graduation from the Washington County Career Center.

English 12

English 12 offers an approach to language arts that includes an examination of literature from various time periods with a particular emphasis on character study to determine the motivations and reactions of literary characters confronting universal conflicts. Students examine the development of the English language and its world-wide influence, and compare the varying characteristics of American, British, world and multi-cultural literature. Students learn to distinguish between valid and invalid inferences, identify fallacies, and evaluate the effectiveness and validity of arguments in public documents. Students research, write and publish reflective compositions, responses to literature, informational reports and functional documents, and deliver persuasive presentations.

Advanced Placement English Language & Compostion

AP English Language and Composition encourages students to become skilled readers of prose written in a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts, and to compose for a variety of purposes and audiences. Reading and writing assignments highlight the interactions among the writer's purpose(s), the audience's expectation(s), and the subject matter.

In this course, students will compose in a variety of forms - narrative, exploratory, expository, argumentative - and on a variety of subjects, moving beyond such programmatic responses as the five-paragraph essay and learning to focus their attention on content, purpose, and audience as they write. Sutdents will read a wide variety of prose styles, the bulk of which will be non-fiction, from many disciplines and historical periods. Sylistic development is nurtured by emphasizing the following:

A wide-ranging vocabulary used appropriately and effectively;
A variety of sentence structures, including appropriate use of subordination and coordination;
A logical organization, enhanced by specific techniques to increase coherence, including repition, transitions, and emphasis;
A balance of generalization and specific illustrative detail;
An effective use of rhetoric, including controlling tone, establishing and maintaining voice, and achieving appropriate emphasis through diction and sentence structure.
Attention to the basic conventions of the English language.
Production of expository and argumentative compositions that introduce a complex central idea and develop it with appropriate, specifc evidence, cogent explanations, and clear transitions;
Effective movement through the stages of the writing process, with careful attention to inquiry and research, drafting, revising, editing, and review.