English Department

From kindergarten through grade 12, students at HPA explore the language arts, acquiring the curiosity and skill necessary to be active members in their global society. At the Lower School, language arts are integrated into the overall curriculum. In Middle School, students take a Core course in the sixth and seventh grades, to which language arts are central, with history and culture providing the context of that skeleton. The eighth grade introduces HPA's first English class and also provides a complementary enrichment course.

At the Upper School, students begin with an emphasis in English essentials with steadily increasing exposure to literature and culture. Sophomores and juniors continue to hone their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills so they can become productive and important members of their community. The department offers interested juniors and seniors advanced placement courses in literature, language, and composition. Seniors and interested underclassmen take electives in courses ranging from creative writing to the modern short story.

The primary goal of the HPA English Department is to have students read, write, speak, and listen in various ways so they can use these skills as a part of society. HPA students represent themselves and the needs of their world through their use of language, the primary tool of our information society.

Students employ their language arts in increasingly demanding projects over the span of their courses at HPA. Teachers model successful skills in their communication with their classes and serve as supporters of students as they write research papers, participate in class discussions, respond to literature (in analytical papers, reaction pieces, and mixed media), and communicate with others in their community.

HPA graduates understand how to tailor their communication to the needs of their audience and how to avoid manipulation by the increasingly sophisticated messages of today's world. HPA graduates, in short, have the rhetorical skill and philosophical approach necessary to be successful citizens and leaders.

Department Philosophy

The goal of HPA English instruction is to involve all students in educative experiences throughout their time inside and outside their English classes. To support this goal, English teachers collaborate with teachers of other disciplines to supply an intellectual context for the teaching of reading, writing, listening, and speaking. All class activities require the interaction of students with students and teachers with students. Such interaction takes place in small group work, seminars, e-mail and blog discussion groups, short creative, personal, and/or analytical papers, and extensive primary and secondary research papers. All students and teachers are expected to make extensive use of our library and its resources as part of these activities. The aim of HPA English students and teachers is mastery of the discipline, not higher grades or more recognition.

Possible careers in the field of English:

• Actor
• Advertising Copywriter
• Business Administrator
• Court Reporter
• Editor (newspaper or magazine)
• Institutional Editor
• Lawyer
• Librarian/Media Specialist
• Minister
• Newscaster
• Public Relations
• Researcher for governmental agencies at national, state, local levels
• Salesperson
• Secretary
• Teacher
• Technical Writer
• Journalist
• Writer (film, radio, or TV)

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American Literature

Term: 2 Semesters
Credit: 1.0
Prerequisites:

Students explore Thomas Jefferson‘s and Benjamin Franklin‘s democratic beliefs and commitment to education through research of their writings and a study of their values based on the contents of their respective libraries. American Literature prepares students to understand and participate in their education and democracy.

AP Literature and Composition

Term: 2 Semesters
Credit: 1.0
Prerequisites:  Teacher recommendation

Open to only juniors and seniors who have a genuine interest in and commitment to the study of literature, this course prepares students for the Advanced Placement examination in English Literature and Composition. All students admitted to the class will sit for the examination. This course includes the study of American, British, and World Literature. Students examine a variety of literary techniques and analyze how and why writers use them. Reading is challenging and, often, extensive. As in college classes, students are expected to submit thorough, well-written papers and be prepared for intense discussions of the literature under consideration.

AP English Language and Composition

Term: 1 Semester
Credit: 1.0

This course acquaints students with—and prepares them for—the Advanced Placement English Exam in Language and Composition. The syllabus is weighted toward non-fiction texts (letters, journals, essays and speeches) and discussion of the readings emphasizes rhetorical strategies. 

Creative Writing I & II

Term: 1 or 2 semesters
Credit: 0.5 or 1.0
Prerequisites: Portfolio

Creative Writing is a process-based class focused on helping students evolve as writers and critics of literature. Readings include a wide range of non-fiction, including Bird by Bird (Ann Lamott) and Me Talk Pretty One Day (David Sedaris). Students focus on the development of characters, landscape, dialogue, and plot in both creative non-fiction and fiction writing. To widen understanding of these concepts, students read a selection of short fiction from prominent and relatively new short fiction authors discussing their technique and form.

English Essentials

Term: 2 Semesters
Credit: 1.0
Prerequisites: None

English Essentials is the yearlong English course for all freshmen and some sophomores. It is a composition course designed to strengthen students’ writing and introduce them to literary analysis. Students write intensively, putting their essays through multiple drafts and reading and commenting on their peers’ work in a supportive, workshop environment.

Senior English Seminars

Term: 1 or 2 Semesters
Credit: 0.5 or 1.0
Prerequisites: None

These electives invite students to continue their literature studies in a seminar setting that often focuses on a single author, genre, period, or theme. While electives change from year to year, recent offerings have included classes in Shakespeare, Contemporary Drama, Creative Writing, Chaucer, Greek and Roman Classics, Arthurian Literature, Ethics, and Research Writing.

World Literature

Term: 2 Semesters
Credit: 1.0
Prerequisites: None

World Literature aims to acquaint students with writers and texts that are essential to cultural literacy and to strengthen their critical reading and analytical writing skills. Several texts are common to all sections. Among these are selections from The Bible, The Odyssey, Candide, and at least one Shakespearean drama. Class study complements that of World History to provide a fuller and richer appreciation of Western culture.