English Language Arts 11

Course Description

What does it mean to be an American?' This question will guide many of the units of study in English 11 at Boston Latin Academy. With the exception of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, the eleventh grade curriculum will focus solely on American authors of fiction, poetry, drama, and non-fiction. Students will discuss layers of meaning in texts, as well as the meaning of the work as a whole, examine its literary devices, and will learn to "talk to the text." In preparation for the SAT and college-level composition, students will engage in a rigorous study of rhetoric-how texts 'work' based on their diction, tone, sentence structures, and style; all of these concepts should move students towards a mastery of persuasion and argumentation. Literary theory and how these ideas funcition in more sophisticated analysis of literature will be introduced. Students are required to write a 5-7 page research-based, analytical paper using an American text. In addition, students will learn and practice a survey of many different types of expository, narrative, argumentative, and analytical writing. Reading experiences may include Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Crucible, The Scarlet Letter, Malcolm X, The Grapes of Wrath, The Great Gatsby, and various short stories, poems, and non-ficiton pieces by American authors. There are also opportunitites for book clubs and other types of independent reading.