auto/biography. Formal essays, discussions, and projects will be assigned on topics such as
media icons, reality television, popular music, and online media.
154 PUBLIC SPEAKING 1/2 Credit ♦ One Semester ♦ Level 2 ♦ Grades 9-12
How does a coach get her athletes to perform? How does a president speak to a nation in times of
turmoil? How does the character in a movie win back his love interest? The answer: by
delivering an effective speech. Indeed, a well written and intentionally delivered speech has the
power to inform, persuade, entertain, inspire, challenge and even anger its listeners. In this
course, students will closely examine real speeches delivered over the last 50 years, as well as
those performed in film and drama. Students will analyze the methods used and judge how - or
even if- the speech was effective. Students will also deliver speeches, both those that have been
written by someone else, and those that the students craft on their own. This cross-curricular
elective values creativity and individuality and will prove useful in other courses as well as in
preparation for the new SAT exam.
162 YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE 1/2 Credit ♦ One Semester ♦ Level 2 ♦ Grades 9-12
Young Adult Literature is a course for 9-12 graders that offers students a chance to read and study
fictional literature written for adolescent audiences (ages 12-18) with the understanding that
mature topics will be addressed and discussed. Students will learn about the characteristics of
young adult fiction as they read a variety of texts across multiple genres. Though students will
come to understand the structural differences between the young adult and adult fictional genres,
the course texts will be critically examined for their individual literary and artistic merits.
Serious young adult fiction, though written for adolescents, not only reflects the social concerns
of burgeoning adults, but also reveals truths of the universal human experience, and thus students
will read course literature with serious academic intent and purpose. This course provides an
opportunity for students to develop a love for reading while simultaneously fine-tuning and
improving their skills as critical, analytical readers, writers, and thinkers. Students will write in
a variety of forms, both formal and informal, and they will discuss texts using both oral and
technological formats. In addition to assigned texts, students will engage in outside reading
projects to conduct author studies, make thematic connections, and read multiple works from a
novel series. Course units are organized thematically using essential questions, and reading and
writing activities are aligned with Common Core Standards. Texts address mature themes and
subject matter and include John Greene’s Paper Towns, Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, and
Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor and Park.
156 ADVANCED COMPOSITION (EEP) 1/2 Credit ♦ One Semester ♦ Level 2 ♦ Grades 10-12
Advanced Composition is a college-level writing course taught in conjunction with the
University of Rhode Island. It is designed to prepare students to better meet the rigors and the
variety of writing tasks they will encounter as college freshmen. The course requires students to
write five papers – including multiple drafts, revising, and editing – each designed to meet the
requirements of a distinct mode or purpose for writing. Students begin by writing a personal
essay, appropriate for use in applying to college, then write an informational report,
argumentative essay, rhetorical analysis, and a letter. The course specifically addresses such
aspects of writing as use of appropriate voice, audience awareness, effective phrasing, logical
arrangement of ideas, development by detail, and editing for correction. Revision and peer
review are substantial aspects of the course experience. Assessment includes submission of a
portfolio of selected polished work. Successful completion of the course is recognized by the
University of Rhode Island as completion of Writing 104, Basic Composition, worth three
college credits which are transferable to most colleges and universities.
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