Curriculum Detail

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English


Departmental Requirements
English I-IV are required, yearlong courses.

English Program
Students in Marymount’s English program are invited to think critically about what it means to be human through a study of various literary genres, both classic and contemporary. Using careful analysis and clear argumentation, they develop methods to articulate their ideas in a persuasive manner, and they learn to read with a critical and analytical focus. Through this program, we hope to sharpen the critical mind, develop important reading, writing, and study skills, and clarify the value system of each student we teach.

Honors Program
Exceptional students may apply for admission to the Honors/AP Program of English II, III, and IV. Criteria for placement include previous excellence in English courses and outstanding ability in written assignments. The Honors/AP Program develops thinking and writing skills by requiring more writing and a more detailed treatment of the regular course readings. Students study additional literary texts, background information, and do more extensive research.

Department Policies
Students are placed into Honors/AP classes based on their performance in the first semester of their current English class. If a student does not meet the prerequisites for Honors/AP, they may appeal to be reconsidered at the end of the third quarter. Students who are accepted into Honors/AP classes are expected to maintain that level of performance throughout the second semester. If they do not, they may be rescheduled into a regular English class.

  • English I: Introduction to Literature

    year course
    required for grade 9

    What are your values, and how can you activate them in your day-to-day life? How do you know that you are living with integrity? How can you "walk the talk" of what you say you believe in? In Intro to Literature, students will clarify their personal values while learning to read and write at the high school level. Through daily discussions, students will acquire and hone careful reading, active listening, and respectful discussion techniques. In critical essays and creative writing, students will practice analyzing literary works and clearly articulating their ideas. In each unit, students will also consider their relationship to a specific value or set of values, such as courage, justice, citizenship, faith, truth, love, and self-advocacy. Texts may include William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, and selected essays, short stories, and poetry. By the end of English I, students will have mastered the attentive reading, critical thinking, and arguable writing skills they need to succeed in English II.

  • English II: Global Voices

    year course
    required for grade 10

    The distinctive voices of the world are made loud or soft, often based upon a writer's empowerment or disempowerment. This course seeks to "hear" all of these voices. In it, students will investigate the relationship between literature and power and the ways in which an individual speaks truth to power. Further, students will explore the intersection of disparate global voices and how those voices converse with one another. Students will contextualize and explore how historical and cultural transitions, ideologies, and modes of thought shape an author's portrayal of their world. Through daily discussion and critical writing, students will learn to craft sophisticated arguments about an author’s purpose and a text’s theme. Ultimately, students will develop and voice strong opinions, take risks in their writing and speaking, offer insightful commentary, and construct thought-provoking analysis of the various world literature studied.

  • English II: Global Voices Honors

    year course
    open to grade 10
    • prerequisites:
      • A- English I +
      • A- average for analytical writing
    The distinctive voices of the world are made loud or soft, often based upon a writer's empowerment or disempowerment. This course seeks to "hear" all of these voices. In it, students will investigate the relationship between literature and power and the ways in which an individual speaks truth to power. Further, students will explore the intersection of disparate global voices and how those voices converse with one another. Students will contextualize and explore how historical and cultural transitions, ideologies, and modes of thought shape an author's portrayal of their world. The readings will promote an understanding of classical archetypes and themes and their progression over time. Ultimately, students will develop and voice strong opinions, take risks in their writing and speaking, offer insightful commentary, and construct thought-provoking analysis of the various world literature studied. This course accelerates the pace of English II and focuses more in depth on similar topics.

  • English III: American Literature

    year course
    required for grade 11

    This course introduces students to key authors, poets, and playwrights whose works capture the complexity of American identity. Students begin and end the year grappling with fundamental questions: What does it mean to be "American"? How does literature shape or reflect American society? How can writing be used to understand, evaluate, and reexamine what it means to be "American"? Using careful analysis and clear argumentation, students will develop methods to articulate their ideas in a persuasive manner. They will build on the reading and writing skills learned in grades 9 and 10 to develop confident and insightful voices.

  • English III: American Thought and Culture Honors

    year course
    open to grade 11
    • prerequisites:
      • student application +
      • B+ English II AND B+ average for analytical writing
      • B English II Honors AND B average for analytical writing
    American Thought and Culture Honors exposes students to American literature through a lens focused on diversity and human dignity. Students are expected to participate regularly in thoughtful discussion of the texts and other sources — such as film, art, and music — brought in to supplement the readings. Additionally, multiple essays are written, both in and out of class, that explore themes brought up in the texts and their connection to the question of what it means to be American.

  • English: Contemporary Voices and Styles A

    semester courses: may be taken individually or combined as a year course
    open to grades 11 and 12

    Contemporary Voices and Styles A: fall semester - fiction, drama (including screenwriting)

    Through careful analysis of texts in multiple genres, including creative non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and film, this course will provide students an avenue through which they may see the world with greater awareness. Writers read include JoAnn Beard, Joan Didion, Cathy Park Hong, Mary Hood, Joy Williams, Denis Johnson, Michael Cunningham, and myriad contemporary poets, such as W.S. Merwin, Jamaal May, Linh Dinh, and others. The works spring from various cultures and geographies, ages and experiences and act as discussion points for gender roles, family bonds and conflicts, and the nature of existence. In critically analyzing these works, students will be better able to express and discuss how literature affects us as individuals and how we create art based on our economical, political, and physical surroundings. Students will be asked to refine and express their own voices by writing in these genres. In doing so, they will learn the techniques to apply to their own work, including: character, plot, setting, dialogue, structure, and theme. Students will eventually write complete short stories, poems, short plays (films) and essays. Further, they will workshop each others’ writing in an environment primed for the free exchange of constructive commentary. In addition, students will participate in sundry activities outside of school to encourage and inspire their creative works. We will discuss opportunities for publication of those pieces, including Marymount’s own Sunset literary magazine.

  • Honors English: Contemporary Voices and Styles A

    semester courses: may be taken individually or combined as a year course
    open to grades 11 and 12
    • 12th grade students can take Contemporary Voices and Styles A and B as their 4th year English requirement. These students are prioritized over students taking the course as an elective.
    • Honors prerequisites:
      • B+ previous regular English AND B+ average for analytical writing
      • B previous H/AP English AND B average for analytical writing
    Contemporary Voices and Styles A: fall semester - fiction, drama (including screenwriting)

    Through careful analysis of texts in multiple genres, including creative non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and film, this course will provide students an avenue through which they may see the world with greater awareness. Writers read include JoAnn Beard, Joan Didion, Cathy Park Hong, Mary Hood, Joy Williams, Denis Johnson, Michael Cunningham, and myriad contemporary poets, such as W.S. Merwin, Jamaal May, Linh Dinh, and others. The works spring from various cultures and geographies, ages and experiences and act as discussion points for gender roles, family bonds and conflicts, and the nature of existence. In critically analyzing these works, students will be better able to express and discuss how literature affects us as individuals and how we create art based on our economical, political, and physical surroundings. Students will be asked to refine and express their own voices by writing in these genres. In doing so, they will learn the techniques to apply to their own work, including: character, plot, setting, dialogue, structure, and theme. Students will eventually write complete short stories, poems, short plays (films) and essays. Further, they will workshop each others’ writing in an environment primed for the free exchange of constructive commentary. In addition, students will participate in sundry activities outside of school to encourage and inspire their creative works. We will discuss opportunities for publication of those pieces, including Marymount’s own Sunset literary magazine.

  • English: Contemporary Voices and Styles B

    semester courses: may be taken individually or combined as a year course
    open to grades 11 and 12

    Contemporary Voices and Styles B: spring semester - poetry, creative nonfiction

    Through careful analysis of texts in multiple genres, including creative non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and film, this course will provide students an avenue through which they may see the world with greater awareness. Writers read include JoAnn Beard, Joan Didion, Cathy Park Hong, Mary Hood, Joy Williams, Denis Johnson, Michael Cunningham, and myriad contemporary poets, such as W.S. Merwin, Jamaal May, Linh Dinh, and others. The works spring from various cultures and geographies, ages and experiences and act as discussion points for gender roles, family bonds and conflicts, and the nature of existence. In critically analyzing these works, students will be better able to express and discuss how literature affects us as individuals and how we create art based on our economical, political, and physical surroundings. Students will be asked to refine and express their own voices by writing in these genres. In doing so, they will learn the techniques to apply to their own work, including: character, plot, setting, dialogue, structure, and theme. Students will eventually write complete short stories, poems, short plays (films) and essays. Further, they will workshop each others’ writing in an environment primed for the free exchange of constructive commentary. In addition, students will participate in sundry activities outside of school to encourage and inspire their creative works. We will discuss opportunities for publication of those pieces, including Marymount’s own Sunset literary magazine.

  • Honors English: Contemporary Voices and Styles B

    semester courses: may be taken individually or combined as a year course
    open to grades 11 and 12
    • 12th grade students can take Contemporary Voices and Styles A and B as their 4th year English requirement. These students are prioritized over students taking the course as an elective.
    • Honors prerequisites:
      • B+ previous regular English AND B+ average for analytical writing
      • B previous H/AP English AND B average for analytical writing
    Contemporary Voices and Styles B: spring semester - poetry, creative nonfiction

    Through careful analysis of texts in multiple genres, including creative non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and film, this course will provide students an avenue through which they may see the world with greater awareness. Writers read include JoAnn Beard, Joan Didion, Cathy Park Hong, Mary Hood, Joy Williams, Denis Johnson, Michael Cunningham, and myriad contemporary poets, such as W.S. Merwin, Jamaal May, Linh Dinh, and others. The works spring from various cultures and geographies, ages and experiences and act as discussion points for gender roles, family bonds and conflicts, and the nature of existence. In critically analyzing these works, students will be better able to express and discuss how literature affects us as individuals and how we create art based on our economical, political, and physical surroundings. Students will be asked to refine and express their own voices by writing in these genres. In doing so, they will learn the techniques to apply to their own work, including: character, plot, setting, dialogue, structure, and theme. Students will eventually write complete short stories, poems, short plays (films) and essays. Further, they will workshop each others’ writing in an environment primed for the free exchange of constructive commentary. In addition, students will participate in sundry activities outside of school to encourage and inspire their creative works. We will discuss opportunities for publication of those pieces, including Marymount’s own Sunset literary magazine.

  • Advanced Placement English Language and Composition

    year course
    open to grade 11
    • prerequisites:
      • student application +
      • A- English II AND A- average for analytical writing
      • B+ English II Honors AND B+ average for analytical writing
    Advanced Placement English Language and Composition is a college-level course that continues the development of the student’s reading and writing skills begun in grades 9 and 10. With a literary focus on American fiction and nonfiction texts and an emphasis on studying and writing analytical, synthesis and argument essays, Advanced Placement English prepares the student for effective reading and writing in college and university courses as well as in personal and professional endeavors. The course explores the writing process and enhances the student’s awareness of the writer’s purpose, rhetorical techniques, and the effects of the author’s use of language.

  • English IV: Contemporary Voices and Styles

    year course
    open to grade 12

    CONTEMPORARY VOICES AND STYLES A: fall semester - fiction, drama (including screenwriting)
    CONTEMPORARY VOICES AND STYLES B: spring semester - poetry, creative nonfiction

    12th grade students can take Contemporary Voices and Styles A and B as their 4th year English requirement. These students are prioritized over students taking the course as an elective.

    Through careful analysis of texts in multiple genres, including creative non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and film, this course will provide students an avenue through which they may see the world with greater awareness. Writers read include JoAnn Beard, Joan Didion, Cathy Park Hong, Mary Hood, Joy Williams, Denis Johnson, Michael Cunningham, and myriad contemporary poets, such as W.S. Merwin, Jamaal May, Linh Dinh, and others. The works spring from various cultures and geographies, ages and experiences and act as discussion points for gender roles, family bonds and conflicts, and the nature of existence. In critically analyzing these works, students will be better able to express and discuss how literature affects us as individuals and how we create art based on our economical, political, and physical surroundings. Students will be asked to refine and express their own voices by writing in these genres. In doing so, they will learn the techniques to apply to their own work, including: character, plot, setting, dialogue, structure, and theme. Students will eventually write complete short stories, poems, short plays (films) and essays. Further, they will workshop each others’ writing in an environment primed for the free exchange of constructive commentary. In addition, students will participate in sundry activities outside of school to encourage and inspire their creative works. We will discuss opportunities for publication of those pieces, including Marymount’s own Sunset literary magazine.

  • Honors English IV: Contemporary Voices and Styles

    year course
    open to grade 12
    • prerequisites: 
      • student application (if new to Honors/AP English) 
      • A- English III AND A- average for analytical writing
      • B+ English III Honors AND B+ average for analytical writing
      • B AP English Language and Composition AND B average for analytical writing
    CONTEMPORARY VOICES AND STYLES A: fall semester - fiction, drama (including screenwriting)
    CONTEMPORARY VOICES AND STYLES B: spring semester - poetry, creative nonfiction

    12th grade students can take Contemporary Voices and Styles A and B as their 4th year English requirement. These students are prioritized over students taking the course as an elective.

    Through careful analysis of texts in multiple genres, including creative non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and film, this course will provide students an avenue through which they may see the world with greater awareness. Writers read include JoAnn Beard, Joan Didion, Cathy Park Hong, Mary Hood, Joy Williams, Denis Johnson, Michael Cunningham, and myriad contemporary poets, such as W.S. Merwin, Jamaal May, Linh Dinh, and others. The works spring from various cultures and geographies, ages and experiences and act as discussion points for gender roles, family bonds and conflicts, and the nature of existence. In critically analyzing these works, students will be better able to express and discuss how literature affects us as individuals and how we create art based on our economical, political, and physical surroundings. Students will be asked to refine and express their own voices by writing in these genres. In doing so, they will learn the techniques to apply to their own work, including: character, plot, setting, dialogue, structure, and theme. Students will eventually write complete short stories, poems, short plays (films) and essays. Further, they will workshop each others’ writing in an environment primed for the free exchange of constructive commentary. In addition, students will participate in sundry activities outside of school to encourage and inspire their creative works. We will discuss opportunities for publication of those pieces, including Marymount’s own Sunset literary magazine.

  • English IV: Dystopian Societies - Future Worlds / Women in Dramatic Literature

    year course
    open to grade 12                  

    Students need to consider the past through the eyes of the future. Semester 1 of this course studies dystopian novels that explore the question of happiness, the significance of the outsider, the pros and cons of technologies including robots and AI. If young people hope to change the world they will soon enter, this course provides a chance to reflect on what currently exists and what their future could hold. Students will read classic texts such as Brave New World, as well as contemporary works like The Handmaid's Tale, The Parable of the Sower, and The Circle. This course also incorporates the study of various films that complement the themes of the class like Gattaca, The Matrix, and Ex Machina. In Semester 2, students will explore vitally significant human relationships through drama, a genre that depends on dialogue and movement to communicate an author's key themes. Drama offers a unique way to consider the relationships women cultivate in their lives. Exploring the interactions between women and men, mothers and children, women and other women through drama offers a unique consideration of human emotions. Ultimately, through an examination of a wide variety of playwrights such as Shakespeare, Ibsen, Hansberry, Hellman, Williams, Wasserstein, Alvarez, and Parks, students will gain a deeper appreciation for the importance and power of performance. Students will engage with the material through essays, discussion posts, class discussions, presentations, and Socratic Seminars.

  • Honors English IV: Dystopian Societies - Future Worlds / Women in Dramatic Literature

    year course
    open to grade 12
    • prerequisites: 
      • student application (if new to Honors/AP English) 
      • A- English III AND A- average for analytical writing
      • B+ English III Honors AND B+ average for analytical writing
      • B AP English Language and Composition AND B average for analytical writing
    Students need to consider the past through the eyes of the future. Semester 1 of this course studies dystopian novels that explore the question of happiness, the significance of the outsider, the pros and cons of technologies including robots and AI. If young people hope to change the world they will soon enter, this course provides a chance to reflect on what currently exists and what their future could hold. Students will read classic texts such as Brave New World, as well as contemporary works like The Handmaid's Tale, The Parable of the Sower, and The Circle. This course also incorporates the study of various films that complement the themes of the class like Gattaca, The Matrix, and Ex Machina. In Semester 2, students will explore vitally significant human relationships through drama, a genre that depends on dialogue and movement to communicate an author's key themes. Drama offers a unique way to consider the relationships women cultivate in their lives. Exploring the interactions between women and men, mothers and children, women and other women through drama offers a unique consideration of human emotions. Ultimately, through an examination of a wide variety of playwrights such as Shakespeare, Ibsen, Hansberry, Hellman, Williams, Wasserstein, Alvarez, and Parks, students will gain a deeper appreciation for the importance and power of performance. Students will engage with the material through essays, discussion posts, class discussions, presentations, and Socratic Seminars.

  • English IV: Murder, Magic, and Mayhem - Shakespeare and Us

    year course
    open to grade 12                  

    What can Shakespeare teach us about the world and our place in it? What impact does Shakespeare’s enormous influence over our culture have on us? How do his plays, characters, language, and themes impact our imaginations, whether we know it or not? Shakespeare and Us will provide students with a lens to look at contemporary texts through the world that Shakespeare created, as well as learn to read his plays through a contemporary framework. Students will critically read and analyze five of Shakespeare’s most iconic plays and explore their adaptations over the years, which will include a wide array of movies, TV shows, novels, songs, visual art, and drama from around the world. Supplementing these readings, students will research and utilize literary criticism to produce college level synthesis and develop sophisticated and nuanced commentary of the plays and other texts, and what they have to teach us about the human condition.

  • Honors English IV: Murder, Magic, and Mayhem - Shakespeare and Us

    year course
    open to grade 12
    • prerequisites: 
      • student application (if new to Honors/AP English) 
      • A- English III AND A- average for analytical writing
      • B+ English III Honors AND B+ average for analytical writing
      • B AP English Language and Composition AND B average for analytical writing
    What can Shakespeare teach us about the world and our place in it? What impact does Shakespeare’s enormous influence over our culture have on us? How do his plays, characters, language, and themes impact our imaginations, whether we know it or not? Shakespeare and Us will provide students with a lens to look at contemporary texts through the world that Shakespeare created, as well as learn to read his plays through a contemporary framework. Students will critically read and analyze five of Shakespeare’s most iconic plays and explore their adaptations over the years, which will include a wide array of movies, TV shows, novels, songs, visual art, and drama from around the world. Supplementing these readings, students will research and utilize literary criticism to produce college level synthesis and develop sophisticated and nuanced commentary of the plays and other texts, and what they have to teach us about the human condition.

  • Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition

    year course
    open to grade 12
    • prerequisites:
      • student application +
      • A English III AND A average for analytical writing
      • A- English III Honors AND A- average for analytical writing
      • B+ AP English Language and Composition AND B+ average for analytical writing
    The Advanced Placement English Literature course engages students in close reading and analysis of sophisticated literary works including novels, drama, and poetry. Through the study of works such as Hamlet, The Poisonwood Bible, and Beloved, and poets including T.S. Eliot, Elizabeth Bishop, Sylvia Plath, and E. E. Cummings, students sharpen their awareness of language and their understanding of the writer's craft. They develop critical standards for appreciation of any literary work and they increase their sensitivity to literature as a shared experience. Writing assignments focus on the critical analysis of literature and include essays in exposition, argument, and close analysis of text. In addition, students write timed essays on a regular basis and study technical aspects of literary works. Students read more works at an accelerated pace and are expected to handle more difficult material than in other English IV classes.

Marymount High School

10643 Sunset Blvd | Los Angeles, CA 90077
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