Honors Literature I is a course in which students will embark on an epic adventure accompanied by some of the greatest authors, characters, and creatures of literature. Students will meet these men and women, gods and goddesses, saints and devils through readings of the Great Books. Additionally, while it is important to discover the True, the Good, and the Beautiful, it is equally important to be able to engage in critical analysis of one’s findings. To help students engage in critical analysis, Honors Literature I will be expected to read the entirety of the Great Books, and longer excerpts. Honors students are expected to engage with supplemental texts and critical essays, in addition to reading the Great Books themselves. Therefore, students in Honors Literature I should expect to have a significant amount of reading homework. Honors students will compose multiple developed essays, both formally and in-class. Honors students will also learn about the grammar and mechanics of the English Language by studying the Masters and closely analyzing the grammatical and mechanical structures present in the Great Books. Finally, students will expand their vocabulary through both their reading of the Great Books, and use of the Sadlier Oxford Vocabulary books. It is necessary, then, that the Honors Literature I students have a love of reading, writing, and of ideas.

Texts include:
Oedipus Rex, Antigone, The Iliad, The Oresteia, The Odyssey

Summer Reading:
Incoming freshmen will read The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis and Man Alive by G.K. Chesterton.

Literature II builds on the analytical reading and essay composition skills introduced in Literature I. Students continue to work on grammar and vocabulary as they closely read short fiction, epics, drama, poetry, and novels from the Great Books curriculum (some of these works will be excerpted). Students expand their understanding of literary terms and techniques and focus on how these techniques enhance the larger meaning and purpose of the text. Ultimately, all analysis of the works will be from a sacramental view of the world—which is to say that the works will be presented and respected as unique reflections of God’s own beauty. In-class essays are composed regularly, while formal critical essays are submitted each quarter.

Texts include:
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Canterbury Tales, Doctor Faustus, Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice, Julius Caesar, Much Ado About Nothing

Summer Reading:
Rising sophomores will read The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Honors Literature II builds on the analytical reading and essay composition skills introduced in Honors Literature I. The grammar studies for the honors level, however, will be based directly on the studied works; that is, we will study specifically the grammatical structure of Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Poe, Hawthorne, and other Great Books authors of the curriculum. While reading all works in their entirety, students will expand their understanding of literary terms and techniques and focus on how these techniques enhance the larger meaning and purpose of the text. Ultimately, all analysis of the works will be from a sacramental view of the world—which is to say that the works will be presented and respected as unique reflections of God’s own beauty. To that end, in Honors Literature II, at least two formal critical essays are submitted each quarter. It is necessary, then, that the Honors Literature II students have a love of reading, writing, and ideas.

Texts include:
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Canterbury Tales, Doctor Faustus, Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice, Julius Caesar, Much Ado About Nothing

Summer Reading:
Rising sophomores will read The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien, three short stories by Tolkien; “Farmer Giles of Ham”, “Roverrandom”, and “The Smith of Wootton Major”, and one essay by Tolkien, “On Fairy Stories.”

Literature III builds on the analytical reading and essay composition skills introduced in Literature II. Its objective is to provide 11th grade students with experience in close reading, analyzing, and writing about various classical texts and Great Books that have influenced the Western Canon over the centuries and whose influence can still be observed today. This study will include analyzing the full texts of a variety of classical works, along with some excerpts and partial readings of other valuable texts. Students will become familiar with various genres of literature and will be able to analyze them objectively through the culture in which they were written and that of our Christian culture today. Through research assignments and the composition of short essays, students will become more critical of the world around them and will learn to evaluate and use information fairly to support original thinking. Writing instruction will focus on the steps of the writing process, essay organization, and supporting arguments with evidence from a text. This course promotes a deepening of faith by challenging students to make personal connections between themes present in both literature and the Catholic faith, as well as how the two intertwine to shape the wider culture.

Texts include:
Miller, The Crucible, Shakespeare, Othello, Shakespeare, The Tempest

Summer Reading:
Rising juniors will read Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen.

AP Language and Composition builds on the analytical reading and essay composition skills introduced in Honors Literature II. It emphasizes the inherent and important responsibility of students to construct well-developed oral and written perspectives to help make them competent, educated citizens of the 21st century. This college-level course requires students to read extensively and carefully analyze a range of broad and challenging topics through nonfiction textual selections, deepening student awareness of rhetoric, and how language works. Students will use various writing compositions, course activities, and projects to strengthen their own writing abilities. In addition, they will be able to understand sequence and construct complex arguments that will apply to a variety of social, political, and economic viewpoints. Textual selections feature a collection of expository, analytical, personal, and argumentative pieces across centuries that will challenge students to consider current events, built on a faith perspective. Students will examine and work with essays, letters, speeches, and even images, learning to analyze an image as text. Through close reading, rhetorical analyses, and debate, students will come to recognize ambiguities as they discern an author’s intent. Other daily tasks will consist of grammar review, reading fluency practice, vocabulary exercises, text annotations, research, and the use of consistent editing, revision, and review. It is necessary, then, that the AP Language students have a love of reading, writing, and of ideas.

Students who take AP Language and Composition will be prepared to take the National AP Examination in the spring of the year in which they are taking the class.

Summer Reading:
Rising juniors will read Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. AP Language and Composition students will have additional summer reading assignments communicated directly by the teacher.

Literature IV builds on the analytical reading and essay composition skills introduced in Literature III. It is a study of a variety of elements of The Great Books in different literary periods, including excerpts from Ancient, Medieval, Metaphysical, Elizabethan, Romantic, Victorian, and the Modern eras. Students will refine their skills of analysis, synthesis, and judgment in the expression of their ideas in class discussions and writing. Lastly, students will master elements of composition and vocabulary in preparation for standardized testing and college entrance exams. The goal of this course is to improve students’ critical reading, thinking, writing, and speaking skills. Students will be given the chance to engage in discussions upon specific topics derived from primary sources and will be expected to respond to the text and to fellow students through written and oral assignments.

Texts include:
Virgil, The Aeneid, Dante, The Inferno

Summer Reading:
Rising seniors will read Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

William Shakespeare remains one of the most enduring and engaging authors in the Western Tradition. This course explores his life, literature, and legacy. Students will read a selection of sonnets, tragedies, histories, and comedies. Each of his works highlights some part of eternal Truth and exceptional Beauty while also building on past foundations of great literature.

Works read:
As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear

This course will study modern authors as they respond to their times while also maintaining a love of the Eternal Truth in the Greco-Roman, Judeo-Christian Tradition. It will include, but is not limited to, a study of Tolkien, Lewis, Chesterton, Belloc, Eliot, Waugh, and Dostoevsky.

Texts include:
Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilych

Advanced Placement Literature and Composition builds on the analytical reading and essay composition skills introduced in Advanced Placement Language and Composition. It is designed to teach college writing through the fundamentals of rhetorical theory, and follows the curricular requirements described in the AP course description.

This college-level course is an intensive study of The Great Books that challenge the student to deepen their understanding of the ways writers use language to provide both meaning and pleasure. As they read the entirety of these works, students consider a work’s structure, style, and themes as well as such smaller-scale elements as the use of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone. The course will cover different literary genres, including poetry, drama, fiction, and non-fiction. Students will refine their skills of analysis, synthesis, and judgment in the expression of their ideas in class discussions and writing. AP students are expected to engage with supplemental texts and critical essays, in addition to reading the Great Books themselves. Therefore, students in AP Literature should expect to have a significant amount of reading homework. Finally, this course not only endeavors to prepare students to succeed on the AP English Literature and Composition exam, but to foster a greater appreciation and understanding of literature and its ability to help perfect the human person. It is necessary, then, that AP Literature students have a love of reading, writing, and of ideas.

It is a course expectation that all students enrolled in the AP Literature and Composition class will take the National AP Examination in the spring of the year in which they are taking the class.

Texts include:
Virgil, The Aeneid, Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited, Dante, Inferno, Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

Summer Reading:
Rising seniors will read Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Elective

The essential aim of this course is to explore, understand and appreciate the singular way in which the Catholic mind sees time and creation; and, further, to understand the way in which that vision informs and guides the Catholic approach to literature, philosophy, painting, architecture, and science. For the sacramental mind—that is, for one who believes that the kingdom of God is at hand—all of creation becomes a canvas in which to reveal the face of God.