English

English Department

With the rapid and continually accelerating rate of change in the modern world, today's student must be prepared to adapt to many new situations. Among these are changes in technology, society, the work environment, the home, and education. Research indicates that a strong command of the English language is essential to success in all of these areas of endeavor. The English program at Thornton Fractional District 215 is devoted to the development of competency in reading, writing, listening, speaking, vocabulary and critical thinking--intrinsic aspects of any effective English curriculum. In addition, the department emphasizes the development of a sense of civic and social responsibility, as well as fostering a better understanding of self and others. Only by directing conscientious effort toward all of these concerns can a student truly maximize his or her potential, for English is the key to all learning and understanding as well as the instrument which transmits our cultural heritage.

Eight semesters of English are required to graduate. Students must take an English credit each semester. However, students may select additional English courses in their junior and/or senior year as electives. Requirements include:

English 9
English 10
English 11
English 12
or Honors/ AP English courses

English Classes Required Reading Lists

Novels marked with an * are generally read for book reports/essay purposes.

*The Stranger*		Albert Camus	AP Lang & Comp
*There Are No Children Here*		Alex Kotlowitz	AP Lang & Comp
*Their Eyes Were Watching God*		Zora Hurston	AP Lang & Comp
*Thinks Fall Apart*		Chinua Acheve	AP Lang & Comp
*A Hope In The Unseen*		Ron Suskind	AP Language
*Death of a Salesman*		Arthur Miller	AP Language & Comp
*Beowulf*		Trans. By Burton Raffel	AP Language & Comp.
*Glass Castle*		Janette Walls	AP Language & Comp.
*Othello*		Shakespeare	AP Language & Eng 12
*A MidSummers Nights Dream*		Shakespeare	AP Literature
*Fences*		August Wilson	AP Literature
*Great Expectations*		Charles Dickens	AP Literature
*Hamlet*		Shakespeare	AP Literature
*Ibsen - 4 Major Plays*		Henrik Ibsen	AP Literature
*Midsummer Nights Dream*		Shakespeare	AP Literature
*Pride and Prejudice*		Jane Austen	AP Literature
*Sopocles - 3 Theban Plays*		Sophocles	AP Literature
*The Grapes of Wrath*		John Steinbeck	AP Literature
*The Inferno*		Dante	AP Literature
*The Three Theban Plays*		Sophocles	AP Literature
*A Raisin in the Sun*		Lorrain Hansberry	English 10
*Fallen Angels*		Walter Dean Myers	English 10
*Of Mice and Men*		John Steinbeck	English 10
*Native Son*		Richard Wright	English 10 Honors
*The Crucible*		Arthur Milkler	English 10 Honors
*The Great Gatsby*		F. Scott Firzgerald	English 10 Honors
*The Things They Carried*		Tim O'Brien	English 10 Honors
*A Lesson Before Dying*		Ernest Gaines	English 11
*Swallows of Kabul*		Yasmin Khadra	English 11
*The Secret Lives of Bees*		Sue Monk Kidd	English 11
*In the Time of Butterflies*		Julia Alvarez	English 11 (Honors)
*Macbeth*		Shakespeare	English 11 (Honors)
*Brave New World*		Aldous Huxley	English 11 Honors
*Canterbury Tales*		Geoffrey Chaucer	English 11 Honors
*Feed*		M.T. Anderson	English 11 Honors
*The Importance of Being Ernest*		Oscar Wilde	English 11 Honors
*The Tempest*		Shakespeare	English 11 Honors
*The Taming of the Shrew*		Shakespeare	English 11 honors
*Pygmalion*		George B. Shaw	English 12
*The Outliers*		Malcolm Gladwell	English 12
*To Kill A Mockingbird*		Harler Lee	English 9
*All Quiet on The Western Front*		Erich Remarque	English 9 honors
*Kaffir Boy*		Mark Mathabane	English 9 honors
*The Odyssey*		Homer	English 9 Honors
*Night*		Elie Wiesel	English 9 honors, English 9
*Romeo and Juliet*		Shakespeare	English 9, Honors English 9
*Film Genre*		Lester Friedman	Media Analysis
*1984*	*	George Orwell
*A Long Way Gone*	*	Ishmael Beah
*Always Running*	*	Luis Rodriguez
*Beautiful Boy*	*	David Sheff
*Black Boy*	*	Richard wright
*Devil in The White City*	*	Erik Larson
*Escape*	*	Carolyn Jessop
*Emma*	*	Jane Austin
*Frankenstein*	*	Mary Shelley
*Girl In Transition*	*	Jean Kwok
*Into Thin Air*	*	Jon Krakauer
*Of Beetles & Angels*	*	Mawi Asgedom
*Tale of Two Cities*	*	Charles Dickens