Welcome to English 11—a year-long course split into two different semester focuses, the first of which is designed to help you do what all teens do best…question and argue! This semester is designed to reinforce and expand reading, writing, and critical thinking skills through the use of hot topics and universal questions.  You will use technology, literature, videos, and each other to develop your own ideas and arguments for pressing issues in our society.  Students will read a variety of literary works, review composition, and work in groups as well as independently.  This class is designed to help you gain an appreciation for literature, but more importantly, it will help you to develop your own voice through argumentation and persuasion.

In addition, we will also work to prepare for the upcoming ACT with practice writing prompts, along with practice sessions on reading and language.

Quarter 1

Key things to learn:

• How to create a credible voice
• How to incorporate outside sources to effectively and accurately support your thinking
• How to create a strong, reasonable argument
• How to avoid and recognize bad reasoning

Resources:

• Catcher in the Rye
• Fahrenheit 451
• Feed
• Excerpts from The Language of Argument and Thank you for Arguing

Quarter 2

Key things to learn:

• How to pick apart and evaluate someone else’s argument
• How to notice, pick apart and evaluate propaganda
• How to identify and use emotional appeals to be persuasive
• How to present your argument to an audience persuasively

Resources:

• Antigone
• We Wish to Inform You
• Excerpts from Hotel Rwanda
• Excerpts from The Language of Argument and Thank you for Arguing