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Modern Fiction
Politics and Protest
Speech/Debate
English III
AP Language
AP Literature
Modern Fiction  As we study the modern American fiction, you might find some useful notes and materials in this folder.
Politics and Protest  As we study the political and protest rhetoric in AP Language, the notes and readings will be posted in this folder.
Speech/Debate Debate is an elective open to students in all grades. My goal is to help you become a more critical consumer of argumentation and someone whose insight is not limited to sound bites, but in-depth understanding. We are going to learn about the foundations of argument, techniques for persuasion, and tools for evaluating the advocacy of others. Speech is an elective open to students in all grades. Class notes are available here.
English III English III is the study of American literature. During the year, we will explore the study of American literature thematically using topics ranging from "The Wilderness in the American Imagination" to "Images of War and Peace." Before you explore more, please consider enjoying Henry David Thoreau's blog.
AP Language AP Language is an elective course open to all juniors and seniors at Helena High School. It does not receive credit for English, but does prepare students for the AP Language and Composition exam, which offers college credit for passing students. The course will be focused on the study of argumentation, rhetoric, and analysis. We’ll spend a great deal of our time analyzing and evaluating interesting non-fiction, though the course will also cover the occasional fiction piece. This will be a very different experience from your normal English class.
AP Literature English IV: AP Literature is a course focused on helping students become a stronger writers and more critical thinkers. We will focus on deep criticism of literature and effective writing strategies for college and for the AP Literature exam. In the words of the critic Northrop Frye, "The skill developed from constant practice in the direct experience of literature is a special skill, like playing the piano, not the expression of a general attitude to life, like singing in the shower.” We'll work on developing that special skill with some great literature by authors like Ellison, Marquez, and Miller.

Major Assignments

What's going on this week in

 

Deep Thoughts

" I think there are only three things America will be known for 2,000 years from now when they study this civilization: the Constitution, jazz music, and baseball. "

George Early


Latest Comments

Wednesday Night Discussion Group Tonight

News - Latest

I moved the link to discussion group down towards the bottom of the page. That will be its more permanent location. You can access the article here.
   

AP Language Satire Exam

AP Language - AP Language News

The materials for the AP Language exam on satire are located in this folder. For the test, you should be familiar with the following readings and materials: 

   

Great Gatsby Exam

English III - English III

Two of these questions will be on the exam over The Great Gatsby tomorrow in  English III. For each, you need to be prepared to write a detailed response, incorporating details from the text and our class discussion.

   

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