English

The purpose of the English 9 course at Marin Catholic is to orient first-year students to how and why we study literature and writing at MC and to successfully launch students into a four-year experience of literary exploration and growth. Our work in English this year will divide into five major units of study, each with a core text for us to consider, and center around two basic skills: Reading, the close examination of a text to enhance comprehension, critical analysis, and appreciation; and Writing, the sharing of reactions, understandings, and reflections, in formal and informal compositions and oral presentations. The theme of the course stems from Luke 10:25-37, the “Parable of the Good Samaritan.” As we practice active reading and analysis of novels, short stories, essays, and poetry this year, so too will we reflect on the day-to-day as well as lifelong importance of what it means to be a neighbor.

This course explores great works and writers of western literature in prose, poetry, and drama, works which examine the mystery, trials, and triumphs of the human experience. Students will study some of the essential works of the western tradition in a wide-ranging survey which begins in the heroic age of Greek literature. The structure of English grammar, composition, and extensive vocabulary study remain essential aspects of the course, with increased emphasis on grammar for writing and the development of sophisticated and varied style. The expository essay is the focus of most writing assignments, moving generally from response to analysis. Practice continues in the development of skills in analytical and expository writing as well as creative pieces from poems to character journals

AP Language and Composition is a rigorous, college-level course in which students will grow as Truth-seekers as they practice the elements involved in the art of language and communication: argumentation, analysis and synthesis, style, and rhetoric. In order to work toward greater competence in these areas, students will read and carefully analyze nonfiction and fiction in order to deepen their awareness of grammar, logic, and rhetoric; specifically, they will study and write various types of analytical and persuasive essays, developing the ability to decipher language and text with a greater awareness of the author’s purpose and strategy, paying attention to the use of syntax, word choice, and tone, and strengthening their own skills of composition; additionally, they will learn to write with a purpose, addressing and appealing to an audience, creating effective text structures, and effecting an appropriate style, while learning to recognize the same in the writing of others. Course readings and materials include many different genres: essays, letters, speeches, images, films, advertisements, comic strips, music videos, and expository, analytical, personal, and argumentative texts from a variety of authors and historical contexts. The course will also use the “Parable of the Sower” from the Gospel of Matthew as a lens informing the overall purpose of clear, competent, and beautiful communication. Students will be required to take the AP English Language exam at the end of the school year.

 

William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and his influence on our poetic imagination and all of literature is second only to the Bible. Through the reading of a selection of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies, histories, and tragedies—including The Merchant of Venice, Henry IV, Part 1, Macbeth, and Hamlet—this course examines the language, characters, and created worlds that are the basis of the Bard's cultural importance and enduring influence.