Vocabulary growth is stressed through words found in context and from prepared work lists and practice exercises. The Advanced Placement course is offered to the unusually talented and highly motivated senior English student. It prepares the student to take the nation-wide Advanced Placement Exam in May of the current school year. Students who are successful with that exam may be granted college credit by the academic institution they choose to enter after high school. Both the reading and the writing requirements are formidable and demanding.
Instruction focuses on development of mature writing style and effective presentation of ideas.
Close reading is given to an extensive series of the classic great books of such writers as Joyce, Dreiser, Camus, Dostoevsky, Wright, Ibsen, Shakespeare, Sophocles, and others. Recommendation by the English Department and the Guidance Office precedes admission to this course. Seniors with a major concentration in business may elect the Business English course, which stresses the exacting language skills needed by the modern business world. Students develop familiarity with many of the vast array of specialized communications forms used in business today and with the usage and language style appropriate to the market place. Broadening aspects of the course include a study of some important literary works, both classical and recent, and personal writing.