1. English Course Descriptions

2. Ninth Grade Options LA9 or LA9 Honors Additional Elective Options:
Creative Writing
Debate/Forensics
Multimedia Communications
Oral Communications
Theater 1
Ninth Grade Options

3. This language arts course develops reading, writing, listening, speaking and viewing skills. Reading material covers all genres: novel, short story, poetry, drama and non- fiction.
Major texts may include: I am Legend (film), portions of The Odyssey (poem/film), Speak (novel/film) or Lord of the Flies (novel/film), Romeo and Juliet (novel/film), West Side Story, and To Kill a Mockingbird (novel/film).
Major writing includes: narrative, literary analysis/close reading, argumentation/persuasion (essay or speech), and research.
Grammar skills include: parts of speech, parts of sentences, fragments/run-ons, punctuating dialogue, apostrophes, commas, and semi-colons/colons.
Common assessments follow the The Odyssey unit in the fall and the To Kill a Mockingbird unit in the spring.
LA 9

4. LA 9 Honors Teacher: Mrs. Kuslits
Prerequisites: 8th Grade Advanced Language Arts and/or passing grade on the placement exam
LA9 Honors students should be HIGHLY motivated, excellent readers and writers, and prepared for up to an hour of homework each night.
Differences between LA9 and LA9 Honors:
Summer work: read Into Thin Air, The Count of Monte Cristo, and Jane Eyre, answer guided questions and take a test at the beginning of the school year
Addition of We’ve Always Lived in the Castle, several short stories, independent reading, and nonfiction pieces
Addition of four five-paragraph essays and several shorter writing pieces throughout the year
Focus is on creating more sophisticated written responses
LA 9 Honors Teacher: Mrs. Kuslits

5. Tenth Grade Options LA10 or LA10 Honors Additional Elective Options:
Creative Writing
Debate/Forensics
Multimedia Communications
Advanced Multimedia Communications (i.e. Talon)
Oral Communications
Theater 1
Tenth Grade Options

6. This language arts course develops reading, writing, listening, speaking and viewing skills. Reading material covers all genres: novel, short story, poetry, drama and non-fiction.
Major texts may include: several non-fiction, historical documents by the Founding Fathers, short stories and poetry with the Romantics Unit, Transcendentalism, The Crucible (play/film), The House on Mango Street (collection of vignettes), Of Mice and Men (novel/film), Harlem Renaissance, A Raisin in the Sun (play/film), The Truman Show (film) with Fahrenheit 451 (novel).
Major writing includes: narrative, literary analysis/close reading, argumentation/persuasion (essay or speech), and research with formal outline, works cited, and presentation components.
Grammar skills include: parts of speech review, commas, apostrophes, semi- colons/colons/hyphens, quotation marks, fragments/run-ons, independent/dependent clauses, sentence types, subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement, and sentence variety.
Common assessments are part of the semester exams.
LA 10

7. LA 10 Honors Teachers: Mrs. Painter and Mrs. Cusmano
Prerequisite: LA9 Honors OR LA9 Teacher’s signature on your scheduling card.
LA10 Honors students should be HIGHLY motivated, excellent readers and writers, and prepared for up to an hour of homework each night.
Differences between LA10 and LA10 Honors:
Summer Work: read The Scarlet Letter, The House on Mango Street, and a memoir of your choice over the summer. Students also have a nonfiction reading requirement over the summer.
Addition of modernism, realism and regionalism, nonfiction pieces, close-reading assignments, and analysis of rhetorical devices and how they are used.
AP practice and reading and writing to prepare for coursework in AP Language and/or AP Literature
LA 10 Honors Teachers: Mrs. Painter and Mrs. Cusmano

8. Eleventh Grade Options
AP Language (yearlong), Elements (yearlong), or Applications (semester)
Note: If you take AP Language or Elements, you do not need to select an additional literature course; if you select Applications, you will need to rank your top three literature elective choices.
Literature Courses
Additional Electives
British Literature
Exploring Literature (meant for struggling readers)
Introduction to Film/ Screenwriting
Literature of the Strange and Mysterious
Mythology
Poetry
Shakespeare
20th Century Literature
Creative Writing
Debate/Forensics
Multimedia Communications OR Advanced Multimedia Communications
Oral Communications
Theater 1 OR Theater 2
Eleventh Grade Options

9. AP Language and Composition Teachers: Ms. Burke and Ms. Frisby
Prerequisites: LA10 Honors (highly recommended) or your LA10 Teacher’s signature on your scheduling card.
The AP course, which could count as a college credit, is a yearlong class open to HIGHLY motivated 11th and 12th grade students.
Because this course is audited and approved by the College Board, AP Language shares the rigors and requirements of a college freshman English course.
Students should be prepared for frequent AP practice tests, extensive writing, and up to 1 hour of homework per night or longer amounts of time on larger projects.
Summer Work: read and annotate Into the Wild, A Long Way Gone, The Glass Castle, select 10 important quotations and write detailed explanations for the books, plus write an essay.
The course focuses on nonfiction writing and speaking, in-depth analysis of texts, elements of argumentation, an intensive research paper and presentation, and more.
An agreement form must be signed by both parents and students.
AP Language and Composition Teachers: Ms. Burke and Ms. Frisby

10. Elements uses the same curriculum, novels, and lesson objectives as Applications of Composition and Literature, just spread out over a whole academic year.
This class is for 11th grade students who need a longer time to process and complete the writing process. Students who struggle with grammar concepts and reading comprehension would also be a great fit for this class. We will be breaking down projects, papers and literature into a step by step process, as well as beginning the year with an in depth look into grammatical elements of writing.
Students will focus on: argumentative writing, writing a research paper and a literary analysis, close reading and rhetorical analysis
Elements of Composition & Literature Teachers: Mrs. Cusmano, Mrs. Painter

11. Applications of Composition
Students will learn to master the writing process, and will be writing and revising papers constantly while extending and refining their arguments, thinking, and organizational skills.
Major texts may include: Night (novel), Catcher in the Rye (novel), Life is Beautiful (film), and A Lesson Before Dying (novel).
Major writing includes: literary analysis/close reading, argumentation/persuasion essay, rhetorical analysis and research project.
Grammar skills include: The most common errors in English grammar and mechanics with a focus on preparation for the SAT Writing and Language Test.
A focus of this course is preparing for the SAT Reading, Writing and Language, and Essay portion of the assessment.
The common assessment is the final semester exam.
Applications of Composition

12. If you take Applications of Composition/12th Grade Comp
If you take Applications of Composition/12th Grade Comp., you get to pair it with one of the following elective choices:
British Literature
Exploring Literature
Intro. to Film/Screenwriting
Lit. of the Strange and Mysterious
Mythology
Poetry
Shakespeare
20th Century Literature
Literature Electives

13. This is a semester Elective for 11th and 12th graders.
Explore the literature of the British Isles connecting to their history and culture.
Survey of English literature from 449 A.D/C.E. through modern literature connecting history and literature
Includes various types of readings at various difficulty levels- short stories, poetry, nonfiction, drama, novels of students’ choosing
Requires individual and group presentations, in-class and some formal writing, class discussions, group work
Excellent College bound elective for students who have enjoyed history courses.
British Literature

14. This is a class for developing readers and writers who want an English class that helps them to get better in reading and allows more choice in novels.
Students will be reading at their own level.
Texts may include Downriver by Will Hobbs, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and Monster by Walter Dean Myers.
Exploring Literature

15. Introduction to Film/Screenwriting Teachers: Mr. Guyor, Mr. Kowal
This is an English elective designed to help students appreciate and gain more knowledge about films and screenplay writing. Students will learn of the evolution of the motion picture from the early 1800’s to present day.
Students will do the following:
engage in group and individual activities
review and critique films
present a movie project
take quizzes and tests centered around the history of films and screenplay writing
complete in-class and take home essays
create their own page screenplays
Introduction to Film/Screenwriting Teachers: Mr. Guyor, Mr. Kowal

16. Literature of the Strange and Mysterious
It explores the characteristics of science-fiction, fantasy, horror, suspense, and mystery and examine the similarities and differences among them.
Students will analyze short stories and novels for author’s purpose and understanding of how the literature fits in the genre.
The course is reading intensive; homework can include up to 30 pages of reading per night.
Students do creative projects to show understanding of the texts.
There is an emphasis on reading strategies and how texts fit into a genre.
Studies genre and their impact on texts
Novels can include Kindred, Cat’s Cradle, The Hobbit, Murder on the Orient Express and various short stories are read.
Literature of the Strange and Mysterious

17. Students read many myths ranging from classic to contemporary mythologies.
Students will touch on Greek, Roman, Egyptian and other ancient mythologies as well more contemporary myths, such as, Frankenstein, the Loch Ness Monster, ghosts, folk lore, and fairy tales.
Students who succeed in this class are ones who engage in class discussions, and who keep up with the reading, homework, papers, and projects.
In addition to the steady and frequent workload, students are asked to study for tests and quizzes.
Mythology

18. This course gives students the opportunity to explore the genre of poetry through both reading and writing in a way that is personally meaningful.
Students are introduced to traditional forms and contemporary innovations in poetry with texts from around the world.
The structure of the course is partially a workshop in which students develop their own voice and authentic style through individual, group and electronic conferencing and revision and self-directed reading of various authors.
Students can also expect to use the book Literature Craft & Voice (Volume 2: Poetry) to help them gain an understanding of critically reading and writing about poetry. Students should expect to not only write poems, but to write poetry analysis in essay form as well as study authors and take quizzes and tests on terms.
Poetry

19. Shakespeare Teacher: Mr. Kowal
In this college-bound elective, students consider the Shakespearean drama in relation to the Elizabethan age and its theater.
Students study selections from the author's comedies and tragedies.
The focus of this class will be on enriching the experience of reading Shakespeare through classroom discussions, lectures, and the viewing of performances.
Shakespeare Teacher: Mr. Kowal

20. This discussion-based elective is for juniors and seniors who like to read, write, and talk about classical literature of the last century. Sitting quietly in your seat won’t do!
Students read at least four novels including Siddhartha, The Great Gatsby, The Chosen, and The Stranger.
Participation, journals, and tests/projects are part of the course. Creative expression is strongly encouraged.
20th Century Literature

21. Twelfth Grade Options Literature Electives Additional Electives
AP Language (yearlong), AP Literature (yearlong), Composition and Literature (semester), or Composition and Language (semester)
Note: If you take AP Language or AP Literature, you do not need to select an additional literature elective; if you select either of the Composition courses, you will need to rank your top three literature elective choices.
Literature Electives
Additional Electives
British Literature
Exploring Literature (meant for struggling readers)
Introduction to Film/ Screenwriting
Literature of the Strange and Mysterious
Mythology
Poetry
Shakespeare
20th Century Literature
Creative Writing
Debate
Multimedia or Advanced Multimedia Communications
Oral Communications
Theater 1, Theater 2 (for second-year Theater students) or Stagecraft (for third-year Theater students)
Twelfth Grade Options

22. AP Literature and Composition Teacher: Mr. Gollon
Prerequisites: AP Language (highly recommended) or your Applications Teacher’s signature on your scheduling card.
The AP course, which could count as a college credit, is a yearlong class open to HIGHLY motivated 12th grade students who LOVE to read and analyze all forms of challenging literature.
Because this course is audited and approved by the College Board, AP Language shares the rigors and requirements of a college freshman English course.
Students should be prepared for frequent AP practice tests, extensive writing, and up to 1 hour of homework per night or longer amounts of time on larger projects.
Summer Work: How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Catch 22, Crime and Punishment, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, annotations, reader response journals, essay, 10 quotes with explanations
An agreement form must be signed by both parents and students.
AP Literature and Composition Teacher: Mr. Gollon

23. 12th Grade Composition & Literature
Students who like to read longer, traditional texts such Shakespeare and Faulkner might enjoy this class. The focus is on becoming a more sophisticated reader, writer, and thinker before heading off to college.
Comp & Lit. covers the same units as Comp & Lang., including:
logic and rhetorical analysis
literary theory & criticism
multi-media group research project
close reading
satire
Students in Comp. & Lit. will analyze/discuss/write the same number of essays (of the same length), but will rely more heavily on traditional literature than nonfiction texts.
12th Grade Composition & Literature

24. 12th Grade Composition and Language
Students will continue to develop the writing process, and will be writing and revising papers constantly while extending and refining their arguments, thinking, and analytical skills with a non-fiction text focus.
Major texts may include: The Glass Castle (memoir), and Star Wars, Shrek, or The Princess Bride (films), multiple short stories including Ernest Hemingway’s “Indian Camp,” and multiple argumentative non-fiction texts.
Major writing includes: rhetorical analysis, critical literary theory analysis, and full- hour research presentation with a detailed outline and annotated bibliography.
Grammar skills include: Refining style and voice in writing.
Common assessments include the Final Semester Exam, Rhetorical Analysis Essay, and Research Project.
Students in Comp. & Lang. will analyze/discuss/write the same number of essays (of the same length) as Comp. & Lit., but will rely more heavily on nonfiction texts than traditional literature.
12th Grade Composition and Language

25. If you take Comp. /Lit. OR Comp. /Lang
If you take Comp./Lit. OR Comp./Lang., you get to pair it with one of the following elective choices:
British Literature
Exploring Literature
Intro. to Film/Screenwriting
Lit. of the Strange and Mysterious
Mythology
Poetry
Shakespeare
20th Century Literature
Literature Electives

26. The following courses count as English electives or visual/performing arts credit only, NOT English credit:
Creative Writing
Debate/Forensics
Multimedia Communications / Advanced Multimedia Communications (with the exception of Seniors taking the course)
Oral Communications
Theater 1, Theater 2, and Stagecraft
Additional Electives

27. Students explore the elements of creative writing through research, reading and analyzing short stories and poems. Students periodically present their written pieces to the class.
Major texts include: a variety of short stories, memoirs, and poetry. Students identify the characteristics of each type of writing.
Major writing includes: several types of short stories, memoirs, poetry, and more.
Grammar skills include: Strategies for developing voice in writing, and individual and peer editing and revising.
A focus of this course is preparing a portfolio of several different types of Creative Writing to be edited, revised, and reflected upon throughout the semester.
Creative Writing

28. This is a class for students interested in developing their public speaking ability, in addition to working on structuring effective arguments.
This class focuses on the 12 Michigan Interscholastic Forensic Association (MIFA) categories, including:
Dramatic Interpretation
Humorous Interpretation
Sales Speaking
Informative Speaking
Storytelling
Impromptu Speaking
Debate/Forensics

29. Multimedia Communications
Multimedia Communications is a 1 semester course that counts for a .5 Visual/Performing Arts credit, is open to 9-12 grade students, and serves as a pre-requisite for Advanced Multimedia Communications (The Talon & Yearbook). The course will cover all aspects of 21st Century skills including:
The first amendment for the Internet and Social Media
Writing for print, the Web, video and podcast
Photography and videography
Graphic design for print and the Web
Data visualization for infographics
Branding using Social Media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.)
Multimedia Communications

30. Advanced Multimedia Communications
Advanced Communications is a year-long course that counts for 1 Visual/Performing Arts credit or English credit for Seniors. It involves being a part of the award-winning newspaper at RHS: The Talon.
Students will produce the newspaper, write and develop content for the Web (rochestertalon.com), and maintain professional social media accounts including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and more.
Individuals must be HIGHLY motivated and good at time management, as the course runs as a workshop managed by student editors. Students will need to strictly follow a deadline calendar and understand that they will earn a zero if they miss a deadline.
Advanced Multimedia Communications

31. Oral Communications Teachers: Mr. Guyor or Mr. Miesch
This course will empower you with the ability to effectively speak, listen, and improve communication skills in many different settings, and for many different audiences and purposes.
You will learn how to:
Win arguments
Speak with confidence
Tell if someone is lying
Conquer America’s greatest fear
Oral Communications Teachers: Mr. Guyor or Mr. Miesch

32. Theater 1 Teacher: Mr. Gollon
This course will empower you with the ability to effectively speak, listen, and improve communication skills in many different settings, and for many different audiences and purposes.
The course will focus on acting, including:
Physical Expression
Concentration
Voice
Improvisation
Character Development
Scene Study
Theater 1 Teacher: Mr. Gollon

33. Theater 2 Teacher: Mr. Gollon
Prerequisite: Theater I
This is an advanced course recommended for SERIOUS Theater students in grades 11 & 12. It will cover all aspects of theatrical production.
Ten hours of production work is required
Skills covered include:
Auditioning
Acting
Directing
Set Design
Lighting
Costuming
Production
Theater 2 Teacher: Mr. Gollon

34. Stagecraft Teacher: Mr. Gollon
Prerequisites: Theater I and Theater 2
This course provides an intensive study of technical theater, and is recommended only for SERIOUS Theater students.
Students will receive training in all auditorium systems.
See Mr. Gollon for more information about this opportunity.
Stagecraft Teacher: Mr. Gollon