English Department

Mission Statement

The Christopher Dock English Department seeks to nurture students' literacy and communication skill in reading, writing, speaking and listening, including the ability to think critically and to interpret and explore the human condition.  As appropriate, these categories are explored through the Christian perspective.
 

Departmental Objectives

Over the span of four years in various English courses, a student will be able to:

Reading

• Articulate meaningful facts and bodies of information ("Cultural Literacy")

• Gain in reading comprehension on a variety of levels

• Recognize and produce literary devices (i.e. allusion, alliteration, metaphor, etc.)

• Identify theme, voice, tone, plot, conflict, symbol, etc., in readings

• Compare/Contrast literary selections on merit, quality, moral implications

• Reflect on self and relate ideas/thoughts/discussions to self

• Transact with a variety of literary genres

• Appreciate literature to the point of becoming a life-long reader

• Transfer vocabulary words from reading into active use

• Expand a personal literary canon

• Move toward identifying a favorite author for multiple readings

• Read and understand professional literary criticism

Writing

• Write a research paper in MLA style

• Write a critical essay using the text to state and support interpretation

• Write a traditional outline

• Write a persuasive essay

• Write in a variety of genres including: short story; poem; dialogue; letter; journal; speech; resume; editorial; five-paragraph theme; biography/autobiography

• Use standard punctuation and sentence skills

• Write a thesis-based research paper

• Write in vivid, lively language

• Increase the vocabulary used when writing

• Assemble a personal portfolio of written work

Speaking

• Apply proper social skills (adjust language to audiences)

• Speak persuasively

• Present ideas clearly and logically

• Gain confidence in front of a group in terms of content and delivery

• Demonstrate appropriate oratory skills

• Reflect on one's own performance

• Prepare sufficiently for the speaking task

• Read interpretively to an audience

Listening

• Provide appropriate evaluations of others' speeches and contributions to class

• Follow directions

• Empathize with/respect another's contributions

• Demonstrate positive listening behaviors

• Distill, synthesize and report on lectures, reports, and discussions

• Listen to a variety of media

Credit Requirements

9th Grade	10th Grade	11th Grade	12th Grade	Total Credits
1 credit Eng Ia Eng Ib	1 credit Eng IIa Eng IIb	1 credit Am Lit a Am Lit b	1 credit Communications Sr Eng Eng Elective	4.00