English Electives

◘ 2020 - Creative Writing ◘
Grades 8-9 | Credits: 2.5  

This semester English elective course is designed for students who wish to develop their creative writing abilities through independent practice and frequent individual conferences with the instructor. This course trains students to express themselves through original poems, short stories, and essays, based upon their own experiences and sensory impressions.  Students read and discuss literary models, as well as read and discuss one another's work. Students also have opportunities to publish their work both within and outside of the school context. Ideal candidates for this course are motivated, self- directed learners who are able to complete and submit tasks independently.  

◘ 2013 - Heroes, Villains, and Mythology ◘
Grade 9 | Credits: 2.5

Heroes, Villains, and Mythology is a semester English elective course for all students interested in exploring the social, artistic and philosophical implications of world mythology.   Students will learn about the foundations of Greek and Roman myth and the ways in which these myths inform works such as Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Aeneid.  Ultimately, students will examine myths from a variety of cultures in order to better understand the relevance of mythology to art as well as contemporary issues concerning justice, identity, the family and war.   Students will complete reading and writing assignments on a daily basis as well as engage in spirited class discussions. All ninth graders are eligible to enroll in this elective. [N]

◘ 1021 - Creative Writing ◘
Grades 10-12 | Credits: 2.5

This semester English elective course is designed for students who wish to develop their creative writing abilities through independent practice and frequent individual conferences with the instructor. This course trains students to express themselves through original poems, short stories, and essays, based upon their own experiences and sensory impressions.  Students read and discuss literary models, as well as read and discuss one another's work. Students also have opportunities to publish their work both within and outside of the school context. Ideal candidates for this course are motivated, self- directed learners who are able to complete and submit tasks independently. [N]

◘ 1023 – EBHS Publisher’s Workshop
Grades 10-12 | Credits: 5

In this innovative, workshop-based elective course, students will collaborate with peers and teachers to find, write, photograph, design and publish stories for the Yearbook and EBHS Bear Hub.  The course will have two teachers; one who focuses on photography & graphic design, and one who focuses on journalistic writing.  Students should be self-motivated, self-directed, high integrity multi-taskers ready to contribute to this energetic, tech-oriented newsroom. 

◘ 1023 - EBHS Publisher's Workshop II H
Grades 11-12 | Credits: 5 | Course prerequisite: Publisher's Workshop

In Part II of Publisher’s Workshop, students will continue to collaborate with peers and teachers to find, write, photograph, design & publish stories for the Yearbook & EBHS Bear Hub, with a special emphasis on developing workplace leadership skills.  Students will explore higher level concepts involved in publishing including topics like media/photojournalism law, news literacy, story package planning, and how to grow readership. Students will be required to take on a leadership role and delegate journalistic and publishing assignments while also completing editorial review of peer contributions.  Students will continue to hone their chosen specialties within the course and seek to discover their personal writing, photography, and/or graphic design style by presenting a culminating thesis presentation showcasing the growth and development of their chosen specialty. This course will run concurrently with Publisher's Workshop.

◘ 1025 - Public Speaking H ◘◘
Grades 10-12 | Credits: 2.5

This English elective course is designed to help students become more confident speakers and better speech writers. Students will learn to research, organize, write, and present various types of speeches: informative, persuasive, and demonstrative. They will also read, analyze, and deliver memorable speeches from literature and history. At the end of the course, students will understand how to effectively write speeches and how to deliver them using rhetorical techniques. [D/N]

◘ 1030 - Sports and Literature 
Grades 10-12 | Credits: 2.5

This English elective course will channel the passion that many high school students have for sports and use it to develop them into strong readers (of mainly non-fiction texts) and strong writers (of mainly analytic essays). The broad and complex role of sports in contemporary America provides a common intellectual ground for students of different grades, interests and ability levels. Likewise, they will become better readers through exposure to challenging texts of various lengths and better writers through constant exposure to several of the rhetorical modes (such as narration, definition, comparison and process analysis).

◘ 1028 - Shakespeare H ◘
Grades 10-12 | Credits: 2.5

This English elective course is designed for students who have a love of literature and drama, and are fascinated by the works of Shakespeare. The class offers students of different levels an opportunity to read and to discuss Shakespeare’s comedies, histories and romances. No tragedies! The coursework focuses less on literary analysis, and more on the entertainment value of the plays: the ways the plays have been portrayed in film, the history of Shakespearean theater, and student performances. The course requires students to read critically and creatively, write reactions to the texts, and think deeply. Open discussions and active participation are encouraged. [N]

◘ 1029 - Philosophy for Teenagers H 
Grades 10-12 | Credits: 2.5 

Philosophy for Teenagers Honors is a semester Honors English elective course designed for diligent students interested in reading, writing and thinking about big questions. Students will explore complex topics through units such as Epistemology, Ethics, Free Will and Determinism, and The Meaning of Life. Through readings and class discussions, students will experiment with the basic methods of philosophical inquiry and, ultimately, use these inquiries as a lens through which they examine their own values and assumptions. Students will read selections from the great thinkers as well as selections from other classic and contemporary sources. Students enrolled in this course will be required to complete reading and writing assignments and engage in spirited class discussions on a daily basis.

◘ 1042 - SAT Preparation
Grades 10-12 | Credits: 2.5

This semester elective course is designed to help students better prepare for both the verbal and math portions of the SAT exam. Students will utilize a combination of in-person and electronic approaches, to experience the format, requirements, and scoring of the exam. They will also learn various test-taking strategies for success on the SAT. The verbal portion of the course will focus on evidence-based reading and writing tasks, as well as the optional essay component. The math portion of this course is designed to teach students how to approach each type of problem. The semester will be divided in half where students will focus on either verbal or math for the first quarter and then switch to the other content for the second quarter. Ideal candidates for this course are motivated, self- directed learners who can independently complete and submit tasks.