English II: Sophomore English

This is a foundational course in literature and composition, focusing primarily on works by British writers. By reading and discussing poems, plays, and novels, students learn an interpretive approach applicable to all great works of literature. This approach calls for the examination of crisis scenes, those carefully crafted episodes in which characters are revealed in identifiable conflicts and are driven to make difficult choices. From such examination, students gain a greater understanding of the essential human struggle to be good in a complex world, a struggle in which they find themselves increasingly engaged as they are required to make ever more aware choices. The composition program is designed to help students develop, articulate, and defend their points of view in clearly written persuasive arguments. In addition, students continue the sequential study of grammar and style begun in the Middle School.