Credits: 1

This is the first course in a four-year program designed to ensure that students will develop the high degree of personal literacy necessary to succeed in college. Each student is expected to build an extensive portfolio of self-initiated as well as teacher-assigned reading and writing. The study of assigned literature will be primarily by genre, but students will have ample opportunity for self-selected reading as well. Personal management skills are essential to success in this course as in college.This course also consists of basic aspects of grammar, usage, and diction; interest-creating literature, including mythology, short stories, and contemporary young adult novels; composition; and an introduction to public speaking.

Objectives

The student will:

•  understand and appreciate some of the literature of our culture
• explore the varied kinds of literature and the value of each
• understand that through literature one can explore his own growth, his relationship to his family and peer groups, and his search for values to live by
• expand one's vocabulary
• understand the structure of the language
• use English effectively in communication
• express oneself and in effect gain insight into one's own feelings and beliefs

Reading List

• Pharaoh's Daughter: A Novel of Ancient Egypt (Paperback) by Julius Lester
• The Scribes from Alexandria by Caroline Lawrence
• The Golden Goblet (Newbery Library, Puffin) (Paperback) by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
• Inside the Walls of Troy (Laurel-Leaf Books) (Mass Market Paperback) by Clemence Mclaren
• Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
• Non-Fiction Book of Student's Choice
• The Odyssey
• Self-Selected novels for reading workshop