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 |
Free English Class Novels Available Online
(Please note that not all the above are available free and online)
Honors English 9
English 9
Honors English 10
Honors English 11
AP Literature
- A Farewell to Arms
- Oedipus
- Antigone
- Fences
- A Doll's House
- Hamlet
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
- The Grapes of Wrath
- A Hope in the Unseen
- There Are No Children Here
- Their Eyes Were Watching God
- Othello
- A Lesson Before Dying
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
- Pride and Prejudice
- Great Expectations
- The Inferno
English 12
Language and Composition
Mrs. Carrie Hood, Instructional Leader
Phone: (708) 585-1059
Email: chood@tfd215.org