Course Catalog

English

The study of English at Palmer Trinity School seeks a point of balance between the broad, pragmatic use of language as a tool of communication and the humanistic, values-based appreciation of works that are, in Matthew Arnold’s words, “the best that has been thought and said.”
 
Upon graduation, the student of English should be able to:
  • Read with mastery of comprehension and of critical insight across a variety of genres -- and with an eye towards one’s own improvement as a writer (Reading Skills)
  • Write across a range of academic, practical, and creative forms with the understanding the effective writing – as well as speaking and research -- comes out of a process of many stages (Writing Skills)
  • Think with an open mind across an array of cultural frameworks with mastery of the higher thinking skills of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (Thinking Skills)
  • Understand that literacy extends to visual and digital media – particularly with respect to narrative and persuasion – in both the ability to create and evaluate materials (Media Literacy Skills)
  • Cultivate the ability to question; to listen; to communicate clearly, confidently, and aptly; to be sensitive to the importance of language; and to seek connections between classroom learning and the real world (Social Communication Skills)
Members of the English Department are mindful of the ways in which knowledge can be a product of worldview and culture; nevertheless, the student who has completed the department’s curriculum should know:
 
  • A broad range of canonical and emerging texts from a variety of genres and cultural contexts -- selected for quality, for appropriately challenging students, and for keeping with the school’s values and mission (Textual Knowledge)
  • A rich and varied college-ready vocabulary with attention paid to roots and etymology, to pronunciation and degrees of formality, and with concern for fostering an ongoing sophisticated and concise use of language (Vocabulary Knowledge)
  • A practical array of terms related to rhetorical devices and strategies and to literary analysis and periods (Analytical Knowledge)
All courses reflect the recognition of a degree of practical preparation in the study of grammar and vocabulary relevant to the ACT, SAT, and other forms of standardized testing.  With the exception of Advanced Placement courses, however, instruction is primarily focused on reaching departmental learning objectives -- from which such testing skills should emerge.
With regard to placement in the Upper School, for students studying at the college preparatory, honors, and Advanced Placement level, the department considers the level of mastery a student demonstrates in the skills and knowledge domains described above.  In the high school, at the college preparatory level, students will show developing or sufficient performance across the range of learning domains; at the honors level, students will have shown sufficiency or mastery across those domains; Advanced Placement students should show mastery across most domains.  
Outside of the classroom, the Department of English seeks to support students in their pursuit of reading, writing, speaking, and publication through a variety of co-curricular groups, clubs, activities, and courses: the Center for Writing, book clubs, visiting writers, participation in school assemblies, the literary magazine Green Sky Blue Grass, the Raptor yearbook, Broadcasting and Journalism classes, Arts and Literature Night, and entry into a variety of writing contests and selective writing programs.

  • English 9 Foundations

    (1 credit)

    This course is designed to provide the necessary foundation for students to grow as independent and confident readers and writers. Students in English 9 Foundations will cover a similar design as the college preparatory course. Complementary instruction focuses on the awareness of the elements of vocabulary development, reading comprehension, fluency, and effective written expression. Particular attention to the scaffolding of concepts and skills will allow students to progress to the study of increasingly complex texts and both creative and substantial analytical writing. Students will gain necessary preparation for successful transition to English 10.

  • English 9

    (1 credit)

    This course provides the foundation necessary to succeed in the upper school and in the college setting. The course begins with a review of effective study skills and aims to engage students in their growth as learners. Students become skilled at writing through their commitment to process: drafting, outlining, revising, and editing work. Particular attention is paid to formulating clear and compelling thesis statements, to composing arguments that support logical structure to the body of the paragraph, and to maintaining unity of argument. The content — drawn from a wide variety of genres — focuses on developing skills of literary analysis as well as rhetoric and analysis.

  • English 9 Honors

    (1 credit)

    This course expands on the college preparatory course design with more extensive readings, a greater emphasis on figurative interpretation, more thorough in-class discussion, and additional and more varied writing assignments.
    Prerequisite: Departmental approval.

  • English 10: American Literature

    (1 credit)

    The study of individual writers and how their lives reflect American social history form integral parts of this course, and the selections of their works illuminate the themes of faith versus technology, nature and conquest, dream and deferral, race and gender, and consumerism and identity. While the activities and assignments designed to build skills of literary analysis and argumentation form the foundation of this course, assignments are also designed to build vocabulary and enhance grammatical skills. As the year progresses, the assignments focus on the students finding their individual voices as writers and thinkers in a conversation with modern culture and literature.

  • English 10 Honors: American Literature

    (1 credit)

    The Honors course is similar to the college prep course as far as curriculum and assignments but moves at a faster pace. There is an increased expectation of active classroom participation. While the activities and assignments designed to build skills of literary analysis and argumentation form the foundation of this course, assignments are also designed to build vocabulary and enhance grammatical skills. As the year progresses the assignments focus on the students finding their individual voices as writers and thinkers in a conversation with modern culture and literature.
    Prerequisite: Departmental approval.

  • Grade 10: American Studies Honors

    (two credits; one credit in English and one credit in History)

    This year-long honors program expands on the college preparatory course design with more extensive outside readings, thorough in-class discussion, and additional written assignments using primary sources.
    Prerequisites: English 9 and World History and departmental approval.

  • English 11: Latin American Literature

    (1 credit)                [NOT OFFERED in 2023-2024]

     This course provides a survey of Latin American literature and its interactions with popular-culture as a reflection of our globalization. This course offers various perspectives of Latin America throughout history and today. Course activities are intended to teach and enhance a student’s ability to acquire, identify, understand, discuss, interpret and analyze the form and content of literary works of prose, poetry and drama along with the literary terms and conceptual aspects of art and history of the time. The lessons are created to help students analyze and develop their interpretative and critical thinking skills. This course is offered to juniors and seniors interested in broadening a global knowledge and understanding of literature, offering an introduction to issues and themes that shape contemporary Latin American society, culture and its relationship to the United States and the global community.

  • English 11 Honors: Latin American Literature

    (one credit)

    This honors course expands on the college preparatory course design with more extensive readings, thorough in-class discussion, and additional and more varied writing assignments.

  • English 11: Afroeurasian Literature

    (1 credit)        [NOT OFFERED in 2023-2024]

    This course provides a survey of the literatures of Africa, Asia, and Europe, the development of a system of interacting cultures in Afroeurasia as a reflection of a broader contemporary globalization. This course offers various perspectives of these literatures from the Silk Road period to the present. The two-semester course and its activities are intended to teach and enhance a student’s ability to acquire, identify, understand, discuss, interpret and analyze the form and content of literary works of prose, poetry and drama along with the literary terms and conceptual aspects of art and history of the time. The lessons are created to help students analyze and develop their interpretative and critical thinking skills. This course is offered as a rich experience for the high school student interested in broadening their global knowledge and understanding of literature.

  • English 11 Honors: Afroeurasian Literature

    (1 credit)        [NOT OFFERED in 2023-2024]

     This honors course expands on the college preparatory course design with more extensive readings, thorough in-class discussion, and additional and more varied writing assignments.
    Prerequisite: Departmental approval.

  • World Literature

    (1 credit)

    This course provides an introductory survey of world poetry and prose from sacred origin texts to contemporary voices. Aiming to explore globalization through various perspectives and genres, this course will help students understand the rich and diverse themes presented through world voices. Students will develop their independent interpretative and critical thinking skills through written literary analysis and insightful discussion. This course broadens students' global awareness and understanding of literature and language from a global perspective.

  • World Literature Honors

    (1 credit)

    This honors course expands on the college preparatory course design with more extensive readings, thorough in-class discussion, and additional and more varied writing assignments.
    Prerequisite: Departmental approval.

  • AP English Language and Composition

    (1 credit)

    The chief aims of the course are to help students develop clarity of thought and expression and cultivate authentic and compelling voices as writers.  Students practice close readings of nonfiction texts and write analytical essays that reflect increasingly sophisticated understandings of the rhetorical techniques writers employ to convey ideas and to persuade readers.  Most of the take-home essays, prepared in developmental drafts, take the form of the personal essay; in class, students practice writing timed, analytic and argumentative essays and composing synthetic responses that integrate multiple sources. The weekly schedule includes a substantial component of vocabulary development.
    Students are expected to sit the AP Exam.  Students who do not sit for the AP examination may receive a zero for the end-of-year exam in the AP course.
    Open to eleventh and twelfth grade students.  Prerequisites: English 10 Honors or English 11 Honors and departmental approval.

  • English 12: College Writing

    (1 credit)

    College Writing focuses primarily on preparing students for composition at college level. The course aims to help students become skilled writers of prose in practical modern contexts who are able to compose for a variety of purposes at the college level and beyond. Students will learn not only about genre conventions, but how their language choices contribute to effective writing and how to master such language skills. Through surveying a variety of predominantly nonfiction texts, students will deepen their understanding of how excellent writers employ various techniques to create meaningful texts. This course encourages students to hone the core skills of active reading, processing author intent and purpose, forming original responses and clearly articulating such ideas for a variety of audiences. Students will learn how to evaluate and respond to both fiction and nonfiction texts. Additionally, this course will explore media outlets’ portrayal of current issues and discuss the way writer’s voices are presented through such mediums. To encourage critical thinking, the students will frequently participate in a variety of complex discussions designed to help them think in about texts greater depth and relate to them to current affairs.

  • English 12 Honors: College Writing

    (1 credit)

    This honors course expands on the college preparatory course design with more extensive readings, thorough in-class discussion, and additional and more varied writing assignments.
    Prerequisites: English 11 and departmental approval.

  • AP English Literature and Composition

    (1 credit)

    This course prepares students to take the AP examination in English Literature and Composition by grounding them thoroughly in the close reading of fiction and poetry and providing them a critical framework for the study of literature.  The chief aims of the course are to help students develop a functional critical lexicon, the confidence to generate novel insights into literary texts, and the capacity to write lucid and unaffected prose.  Students are expected to sit the AP Exam.  Students who do not sit for the AP examination may receive a zero for the end-of-year exam in the AP course.
    Prerequisite: English 11 Honors or AP Language and Composition and departmental approval.

  • Upper School Creative Writing

    (1/2 credit)

    The Creative Writing course is designed to serve as a collaborative creative-writing workshop. Through daily reading and writing exercises, students model techniques in creating dialogue, description, and narrative. Students write several short stories throughout the semester, each developing particular aspects of prose fiction. All participants should expect to read and discuss contemporary short fiction, to write prose exercises and their own original short stories, and to learn about and actively participate in a writer’s workshop.
    Open to students in grades 9-12.

  • Mystery and Detective Fiction

    (1/2 credit)

    Beginning with the genre’s origins in the 19th century, we will study the works of writers from a range of time periods and regions. We will trace the common elements that link some of the most famous writers from Edgar Allan Poe and Arthur Conan Doyle to Henning Mankell. Our studies will provide the opportunity to consider the cultural and universal topics that occupy most detective fiction such as immigration, economics, greed and group and personal identity. We’ll explore what makes this genre so appealing to such a wide ranging audience. Materials for study will include short stories, novels, films and critical writings about mystery, detective, and crime fiction. Assessment activities will include creative and critical writing activities.
    Open to students in grades 10-12.

  • Shakespeare: His Works, Our World

    (1/2 credit)

    Shakespeare’s stories remain relevant as a detailed portrayal of the complexities of human relationships; this course provides an opportunity to get to know the Bard and his works beyond traditional literary analysis. The course requires students to examine Shakespearean plays at its core through a combination of methodologies from traditional class reading to acting out key scenes and interpreting film productions. The course serves as an enriching exploration through cross curricular opportunities with drama, music art and media publications. Students will examine how recent cinematic versions of Shakespeare’s plays add to our understanding of the original works he wrote for the Renaissance stage and the ways in which Shakespeare’s works remain relevant today.
    Open to students in grades 10-12.

  • Oratory and Debate

    (1/2 credit)

    The course is designed to develop the skills of thoughtful and able communication by training students in both the oral and written components of informative and persuasive speaking. The course emphasizes business and professional communication, presentational speaking, oral interpretation of literature, formal and informal speaking etiquette, the development and use of effective vocabulary, the importance of voice and diction, and professional speech writing. In addition to these practical applications, students receive classical grounding in Aristotle’s The Art of Rhetoric.
    Open to students in grades 9-12.

Faculty

Main Entrance: 8001 SW 184th Street, Miami, FL 33157
Mailing Address: 7900 SW 176th Street, Miami, FL 33157
Main:     305.251.2230
Admission:     305.969.4208