Welcome to GCA High School Literature
English Language Courses
Rhetoric and Composition 1
The course focuses exclusively on writing and speech. Vocabulary development and the knowledge and accurate use of grammar in speaking and writing are consistently reinforced. A major emphasis is placed on multi-paragraph expository writing skills. SAT and IELTS preparation are significant in the design of instructional strategies and assessments within the curriculum. A variety of speech types will be delivered on a weekly basis.
Literature 1
The course focuses exclusively on reading literature and vocabulary development. Students will explore a variety of literary genres, including fiction, short story, poetry, novel, drama, and nonfiction. There will be common core texts but individual novel study will also be part of the course to ensure that students have choice in their reading selections. This course will emphasize reading strategies for a variety of purposes, focusing on descriptive and persuasive techniques. It will also afford opportunities to analyze and evaluate information through listening and viewing. The student must keep a vocabulary notebook.
Rhetoric and Composition 2:
The course focuses exclusively on writing and speech. The course builds upon skills developed in R&C 1. A major emphasis is placed on multi-paragraph expository writing skills. SAT and IELTS preparation are significant in the design of instructional strategies and assessments within the curriculum. Speech will enhance the students’ public speaking skills through activities involving debate.
Literature 2
The course focuses exclusively on reading literature and vocabulary development. The literature curriculum for tenth grade is aligned to the American learning standards and complements the tenth grade World History curriculum. The literature readings are designed to advance student reading, listening, viewing, and presenting skills. A variety of genres will reveal how human beings, for all their cultural differences, share similarities. The student must keep a vocabulary notebook.
Rhetoric and Composition 3:
The course focuses exclusively on writing and speech. General principles of good writing, process and structure of essay writing, developmental methods (descriptions, narratives, examples, processes, expository, solution, editorial, persuasive), style and troublesome grammar issues, developmental methods (classifications, definitions, arguments). There will be significant exploration of research techniques with practice in MLA research style. Weekly speeches will
be delivered.
Literature 3:
The course focuses exclusively on reading literature and vocabulary development. With a focus on American literature, students will read and study drama, novels, short stories, poetry, and
non-fiction covering Puritanism, Age of Enlightenment, Romanticism, Realism, Modernism, and Contemporary Literature. Activities will focus on analysis and evaluation through writing, listening, speaking in discussions, tests, projects, research, and other assignments leading to the achievement of the course performance goals. The course will address college readiness. The student must keep a vocabulary notebook.
Rhetoric and Composition 4:
The course focuses exclusively on writing and speech. The course will continue with research techniques developed in R&C 3.
Literature 4
The course focuses exclusively on reading literature and vocabulary development. Reading selections Epics, Shakespearian sonnets and plays, fiction, poetry, and lyrical poetry from Great Britain are studied. Literary devices will be studied in detail with examples. The student must keep a vocabulary notebook.
Honors Literature 1
Prerequisite: 3.5 GPA and B+ in 8th Grade. Honors literature covers all the topics and readings of Literature 1 with additional readings, writing assignments and discussion.
Honors Literature 2:
Prerequisite: 3.5 GPA and B+ in Literature 1. Honors Literature 2 covers all the topics and readings of Literature 2 with additional readings, writing assignments and discussion.
Honors Literature 3:
Prerequisite: 3.5 GPA and B+ in Literature 2. Honors Literature 3 covers all the topics and readings of Literature 3 with additional readings, writing assignments and discussion.
Honors AP English Literature and Composition
Prerequisite: 3.5 GPA and B+ in Literature 3. The AP course in English Language and Composition engages students in becoming skilled readers of prose written in a variety of rhetorical contexts, and in becoming skilled writers who compose for a variety of purposes. Both their writing and their reading should make students aware of the interactions among a writer’s purposes, audience expectations, and subjects, as well as the way genre conventions and the resources of language contribute to effectiveness in writing.
English Language Courses to Add In The Future
AP English Language and Composition
Expository Writing
Literature and Film
