English DepartmentMary Ellen Phelan, Acting Supervisor

A book is a gift you can open again and again. – Garrison Keillor

How to Read and Why

We read deeply for varied reasons, most of them familiar: that we cannot know enough people profoundly enough; that we need to know ourselves better; that we require knowledge, not just of self and others, but of the way things are.

Yet, the strongest, most authentic motive for deep reading . . . is the search for difficult pleasure.”

-- Harold Bloom English Professor,

Yale University

“The Red Wheelbarrow”

so much dependsupon

a red wheelbarrow

glazed with rainwater

beside the whitechickens.

-- William Carlos Williams, MD

Focus on theSkills for the 21st Century

InnovationMedia Fluency

Problem Solving

Adaptability Analytical SkillsCollaborationCreativityCritical ThinkingEffective WritingInformation Literacy

Focus on the Common Core Standards

• Reading: Literature

• Reading: Informational Text

• Writing

• Visual Literacy

• Speaking & Listening

• Language

• Reading -- How does literature connect to our everyday life? -- In a world of information overload, where are the answers?

• Writing -- How does the Internet influence how we write? -- What tools and tactics will help me “ace” standardized tests?

• Critical Thinking -- What do morality, truth, and aesthetics mean in the 21st century?

• Listening and Presentation Skills -- What communication skills do students need in a multi-media, on-line- all-the-time world?

Essential Questions

College Prep for students who have a passing average in English; to advance, students need a passing average in a College Prep course.

Accelerated for students who have at least an 80 average in English and a seventh-grade NJ ASK score of Proficient; to advance to the next Accelerated class, students need a 75 average in an Accelerated course, or a minimum of 85 in a College Prep course.

Honors for students who have at least a 90 average, a seventh-grade NJ ASK score of Advanced Proficient, and a teacher recommendation. To advance to the next Honors/AP course, students need a teacher recommendation and an average of at least 85 in English Honors, or 90 in an Accelerated course.

Academic Placement and Criteria

English Sequence

All students take four years of English. Students are assessed annually for placement in the next appropriate level. All students are

encouraged to enroll in electives.

9th Grade: College Prep, Accelerated, Honors

• 10th Grade: College Prep, Accelerated, Honors

• 11th Grade: College Prep, Accelerated, AP Language and Composition

• 12th Grade: College Prep, Accelerated, AP Literature and Composition

Fiction, Nonfiction, Drama, Short Stories, and Poetry

Five Core Texts: The Odyssey, Romeo and Juliet, Animal Farm, The Kite Runner, and Speak.

Ninth-Grade Syllabus

English Department Electives

American HumanitiesCreative Writing Fantasy/Science FictionMulticultural Literature

JournalismGraphic NovelsPhilosophyVisual Image

Clubs and Events Outside the Classroom

• National English Honor Society

• School Newspaper: The Arrowhead

• Literary Magazine: Folio

• Fusion Club for the Arts

• Philosophy Club

• Yearbook Club

• Trip to the Dodge Poetry Festival

• Summer Reading

Closing Thoughts: “the drum”

daddy says the worldis a drum tightand hardand i told himi’m gonna beat outmy own rhythm

-- nikki giovanni

My office is always open.

Feel free to contact me at 908-647-4800

or at mphelan@whrhs.org.

Questions / Comments