Upper School English
The Beaver English Department teaches active reading, writing, reflection, and analysis. In our explorations of language and literature, we encourage students to access both their imaginations and their intellects. As they learn, students develop the means of confidently and skillfully expressing their knowledge, observations, and feelings. We believe that engagement with literature leads students to explore human nature, understand multiple perspectives, question the world around them, and appreciate the power and complexity of language.
Requirements
Four years of English courses—40 credits—are required for graduation; two terms each year.
Honors
In grades 10 through 12, students may elect to take their English course at the honors level by signing a contract. Honors students are expected to be leaders in class discussions, to maintain a high level of enthusiasm and intellectual curiosity, and to demonstrate a superior level of critical analysis in all written work and on honors-specific prompts on assessments. Earning Honors credit requires that after electing Honors and signing the contract, that the student continues to live up to these expectations.
English FAQs
Grammar instruction occurs in direct relation to student work; teachers respond to the specific elements that emerge in student writing. Similarly, each student uses a program called Membean that creates an individualized vocabulary curriculum.
Required English Courses
English 9: Power and Perspectives
English 9: Power and Perspectives
Throughout both the Power and Perspectives trimesters, students read, write, act, create, listen, watch, wonder, debate, and present; they work independently and collaboratively, use their questions as starting points for their work, and employ technology to deepen their learning. Ultimately, they find ways to connect the characters and themes to their own lived experiences and to
… the world today. Readings can include fiction, non-fiction, memoir, poetry, and drama, and we read some as a full class and others in small groups; students reflect on and question the texts in a range of writing assignments, anything from scripts for podcasts to analysis of themes to creation of a missing chapter or a PSA. The work stretches their imagination as well as their analytical skills, writing styles, and ability to craft meaningful products.Power
In this trimester course, we question the nature of power and reflect on the ways we ourselves use our power and respond to power. In our readings, we look at the intersection of power and our characters’ gender, age, race, political beliefs, socio-economic reality, or experience; we wonder about the relationship between power and fate; and we ask why some characters let power compromise their beliefs while others use their power for good.
Perspectives
This course is designed to introduce students to the complex nature of perspective and bearing witness in literature. Through the examination of various texts, students will engage in close reading and critical analysis. They will explore the ways in which different characters and narrators shape the story and influence reader engagement. Students will also learn to examine the relationship between form and content, exploring how different writing techniques can influence our understanding of characters and events. In addition to close analysis of texts, students will also engage in discussions, writing assignments, and projects that encourage them to reflect on their own perspectives and experiences. Through these activities, students will explore how perspective is shaped by cultural, historical, and personal factors and understand the importance of witnessing and engaging with these perspectives as they understand their world. By the end of the course, students will have a deeper understanding of the role of perspective in shaping meaning in literature, and will be equipped with the skills necessary to analyze and engage with texts in a critical and thoughtful manner.
[read more]English 10: American Literature
English 10: American Literature
What does it mean to be American? From the perspectives of indigenous people to the revolution that defined our independence to slavery and its legacy to the very cases contended today in the Supreme Court, we address the range of Americanism, the beautiful and the sordid. Students write, read, debate, create, reflect, act, film, craft, and
… present as ways of asking big questions, answering the questions with specific evidence, and acknowledging the complexities of those answers. Readings include fiction, non-fiction, memoir, poetry, and drama, and writings ask students to question the literature, its language and its purpose. Students hone their thesis development skills, practice finding and incorporating meaningful, interesting evidence, and build their analytical reasoning, and they bring these skills to all of their work.Myth and Meaning in American Literature
In this course, we turn to great American writers whose work articulates contemporary America, and we use these writings to ask the questions: What does it really mean to be American? What are the myths about America and how do they show up in literature? How do those myths shape our understanding of characters and their actions? How do these myths evolve? How are they being disrupted? How do authors create characters and narratives who wrestle with America’s past? How do these characters and narratives help us face their futures?
Identity in American Literature
How does love show up in the world? How do self-love and friendship and romantic love and love of place show up in our world and in literature? What happens when love isn’t there? How does love help us understand ourselves better? There are myriad tangible and intangible ways that love helps us define ourselves and our world — from large scale identifiers like nation and religion, to the little things, like choosing what shoes to wear in the morning. In this term, we look at America through a range of lenses, and all of these lenses ultimately help inform our own perspectives of who we are and why we believe the things we do.
[read more]English 11: The View Within
English 11: The View Within
Carlos Fuentes once commented that writing is a “struggle against silence,” while Anais Nin believed people write “to taste life twice.” There is no question that writing is a fundamental human act, but why do people write? What are the various motives that compel people to put pen to paper? How does a writer’s purpose influence
… the content and style of their writing? These are some of the questions that guide students’ reading and writing of creative non-fiction, including complex non-linear story structures. In the true spirit of the essay, which in the original French means ‘to attempt,’ students are encouraged to experiment with language, probe their beliefs, and incorporate rhetorical devices, in the hopes that they find a voice that resonates with them authentically. [read more]English Electives
Crime Literature
Crime Literature
Starting with the birth of detective fiction, one of the most popular literary genres, and moving to creative nonfiction, we will consider the appeal of stories about grisly murders and trace an arc from a more comfortable belief in the nature of justice to suspicion about police powers. Coinciding with this increased suspicion is a movement
… away from white detectives and white victims, to crimes targeting people of color, who were legally barred from giving testimony (and thus seeking legal redress) for much of the country’s history. Do stories give us cathartic release when a bad guy is punished? Is there some sort of poetic justice in exposing the inequities of the past even if the murderers have gone free? And what does crime fiction’s popularity suggest about our relationship to our criminal justice system, about our perception of its workings, and about the larger American tenet of equality before the law?This class will have a particular focus on the skills of reading and creative writing.
[read more]Great Books
Great Books
When was the last time you were responsible for picking your reading for a course? At the beginning of this class, you will generate a list of books you want to read, and then you will campaign for your favorite; after the campaign season ends, you’ll vote, and several books will win. We’ll spend the term
… reading them, examining them for character, theme, structure, style, and message. How does choosing the text intersect with investment in the reading? Is the text a great book? Ultimately, you decide whether the books deserve spots on the shelf and how you go about choosing your next read. You will respond to the reading in various forms of writing, class discussions, projects, and presentations.Previous winners: 1984, Room, Lolita, Brave New World, Catch 22, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Lord of the Flies, Scarlet Letter, On the Road, The Kite Runner, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Gone Girl, Fight Club.
This class will have a particular focus on the skills of reading and analytical writing.
[read more]Literature of Food
Literature of Food
For millennia, humans have had a unique and ever-shifting relationship with their food. From growing vegetables in the soiled ground to buying a Big Mac at the drive-through, we all relate to and connect with food and tastes in varied ways. Additionally, from Fatima Ali to Rebecca May Johnson to Will Guidara, chefs and authors have
… explored what we eat, how we eat, and how our relationship with food matters. In this class, we will read, write, cook, and eat. Using a range of narratives, we’ll examine the politics of food, food insecurity, and how our relationship to what we eat and how we eat informs, nourishes, and shapes our lives.This class will have a particular focus on the skills of creative writing and project design.
[read more]Literature and Film
Literature and Film
Did you like the movie or the book better? Is this a sensible question, or are we being asked to compare unlike genres? In this course we will investigate these two art forms, comparing the narrative possibilities — and limitations — of each. How do these modes of storytelling differ in terms of their effects? What
… can film achieve that a novel or play cannot, and vice versa? What is lost in the translation of literature into film, and what makes a “good” adaptation? We will read novels and plays, and we will study a film based on each. You will think and write critically about how these stories are told on the printed page and on the screen, analyzing the cultural impact of each medium.This class will have a particular focus on the skills of reading and analytical writing.
[read more]Literature of Lies
Literature of Lies
What are our expectations for truth in memoirs and fake news? And how do we feel about unreliable narrators, lies within the story world, tall-tales, and satire? We will ask how lies are constructed narratively, and what we lose and gain when and if we stop trusting our stories. As we consider various types of narrative
… untruth, we’ll dive into some cognitive psychology to learn about the trustworthiness of memory (and how forgetting creates gaps that false information can fill) as well as our susceptibility to fake news. Together the class will allow us to ask what is “true” in our post-truth world.This class will have a particular focus on the skills of reading, analytical writing, and project design.
[read more]Madness to Mental Health
Madness to Mental Health
Who you callin’ crazy? How do we respond to those whose mental states diverge from the norm, and how do we tell stories about them? Starting with Greek tragedy, working our way through Shakespeare, and ending with student-chosen modern texts, we’ll explore the history of mental illness in Western literature. We’ll examine the language used to
… talk about mental health, how it has evolved, and how depictions differ across time and culture. Projects will involve options ranging from creative writing to psychology research, giving students opportunities to explore topics of interest to them within mental health narratives.This class will have a particular focus on the skills of reading, analytical writing, and creative writing.
[read more]Melville’s Moby Dick or The Whale
Melville’s Moby Dick or The Whale
When Herman Melville published Moby Dick, the novel was a commercial failure, met with critical disdain. Melville did not live to see the 20th century turnaround for what would be considered his greatest work. More modern critics deemed Moby Dick “The Great American Novel.” Come read this big novel, this story of Ahab, the monomaniacal captain
… and his quest to kill the white whale. We’ll also read what the critics wrote and visit the Whaling Museum in New Bedford.This class will have a particular focus on the skills of reading and analytical writing.
[read more]Philosophy: The Meaning of Life through Ethical Dilemmas
Philosophy: The Meaning of Life through Ethical Dilemmas
Have you ever wondered what the meaning of life is or if a decision you made was the right one? Have you ever played the game, “Would you rather…?” Then you have done philosophy! Philosophy equips us with critical thinking and logic to navigate the world around us. Every day, we are faced with taking a
… stand on difficult moral questions and accept judgment on how we should lead our lives. You want to learn why people think, debate, love, hate, have emotions, and make (sometimes bizarre) decisions; or why people follow religions, search for truth, vote conservative or liberal; or you just want to learn how to make difficult decisions and how we should live our lives. Then this is your class. Be prepared to tackle challenging, real-life situations, consider alternative perspectives, understand how our brain makes decisions, and rethink your notion of morality, right and wrong, and what we ought to do to find the meaning of life. Take a class and discover not just what is, but also what could be!This class counts as English credit.
Honors and standard levels
[read more]Screenwriting
Screenwriting
How do the stories that we write change when we know that they will be interpreted visually and audibly? In this course, students will craft compelling narratives written in the form of scripts. Together, we will view and critique film and brainstorm and workshop ideas With an emphasis on dialogue and indirect characterization, students will learn
… how to use screenwriting programs to develop short films or television episodes. Over the course of the term, students will storyboard, pitch, workshop, iterate, and see their ideas be reinterpreted through the production and acting of fellow collaborators. Think you have the next great idea for a (short) screenplay? Now is your chance to give it life.This class will have a particular focus on the skill of creative writing.
[read more]Short Stories
Short Stories
How does something so small pack such a big punch? Such is the nature of a short story. You’ll hone in on story elements by investigating a variety of stories and writers. Everyone has a story to tell. You’ll experiment with turning your own stories into short fiction, and you will continue to develop analytical essay
… writing skills.This class will have a particular focus on the skills of reading, analytical writing, and creative writing.
[read more]Social Media: Unraveling the Layers of our Digital Realities
Social Media: Unraveling the Layers of our Digital Realities
In this course, we will engage in exploring the profound impact of social media on society. The goal is to empower you to navigate the digital landscape critically and foster a deeper understanding of the broader implications of your online interactions. Using a student-centered approach, you will delve into frameworks for media analysis, equipping yourself with
… critical tools to comprehend the multifaceted nature of various online social platforms. The course goes beyond surface-level understanding, encouraging you to analyze evolving trends in social media through various lenses. Through interactive discussions, case studies, and collaborative projects, you will develop a nuanced perspective on the role of social media and social media influencers. You will emerge from the course with a heightened awareness of your role as an informed contributor to the ongoing discourse surrounding social media’s impact on our lives.This class will have a particular focus on the skills of creative writing and project design.
[read more]Sports Literature
Sports Literature
How can sports’ narratives illuminate human experiences? How have sports been used to establish and connect with shared and individual identity? And how can examining the role of sports-in both fiction and real life-give us greater insight into our society? These are just some of the questions we’ll address through themes of triumph, determination, teamwork, pursuit
… of perfection, sacrifice, defeat, and identity. Digging into works that focus on various team and individual sports-from basketball to figure skating, swimming to soccer, baseball to rugby–we’ll examine the words of athletes, coaches, and fans to explore sports as allegory, how sports history has shaped our contemporary understanding of place and self, and how storytelling in sports contributes to national mythology. From the allegory of the game to the ethical questions raised in our society, this course invites students to critically engage with the myriad ways sports’ narratives illuminate the human experience.This class will have a particular focus on the skills of reading and creative writing.
[read more]Storytelling Workshop
Storytelling Workshop
In this course, students will expand their creative capacity and explore their voice through learning elements of writing craft and engaging in a workshop community. Students will identify what elements of storytelling matter most to them and will produce fiction, poetry, memoir, or oral stories. They’ll learn workshop protocols and engage in revision processes to refine
… their work. We will read writing about writing and mentor texts to inspire and inform our writing. Students will end the term with a social action project, using storytelling to create cultural change within their communities. Learn to own your voice, recognize its power, and use it for impact in your community.This class will have a particular focus on the skill of creative writing.
[read more]Zero to Hero: The Hero’s Journey to Character
Zero to Hero: The Hero’s Journey to Character
Heroes aren’t born—they’re made. What drives individuals to face impossible challenges, push beyond their limits, build themselves up, and confront the unknown? This course explores stories of adventure and growth of fictional and real-life heroes, focusing on how adversity shapes character, values, and moral strength. Using Joseph Campbell’s framework of The Hero’s Journey, students will examine
… how trials of courage, sacrifice, and perseverance cultivate resilience and leadership. Through literature, history, and film, students will analyze the psychological and ethical dimensions of heroism, considering whether true greatness lies in bold action or quiet integrity. By studying a diverse slate of texts students will reflect on how cultural ideals of heroism evolve and what it means to live with purpose. Through literary analysis, creative writing, and research, this course challenges students to not only explore heroic narratives but to consider how they can define and embody these values in their own lives.This class will have a particular focus on the skills of reading, analytical writing, and project design. [read more]
Examples from the US English classroom
Great Books: Students pen letters to fictional characters
