Courses

E-081 English Grammar and Composition for International Students

Year 1 Unit
In this course, students learn to develop their ideas in logically organized paragraphs and essays according to the patterns of academic writing. The course also focuses on clear, accurate written expression.

Open to: 9/10/11

E-082 Introduction to American History and Literature for International Students

Year 1 unit
In this course, students develop effective reading strategies and discussion skills, expand their academic vocabulary, and gain an overview of U.S. history and culture. In addition, students develop an analytical approach to the study of American literature. Cross listed with H-082. May be taken for English or History credit.

Open to: 9/10/11

E-100 English I

Year 1 unit
“What is the nature of the human journey?” Students in English I study a variety of texts, both ancient and modern, that concern themselves with this question. Organized by literary themes of homecoming and exile, the rewards and risks in knowledge and experience, and finding one’s voice, the reading typically includes novels, biblical stories, Greek myths, short fiction, The Odyssey, and a play by Shakespeare. Students gain an understanding of writing as a process through rigorous drafting and revising of analytical work. Additionally, students are given the opportunity to explore the course’s themes through creative projects and writing assignments. A study of grammar and vocabulary complements the reading and writing assignments.

Open to: 9 (10)

E-200 English II

Year 1 unit
English II focuses on the study of literary genres through the themes of the individual’s journey and women’s lives. Through poetry, drama, the novel, and the short story, students examine how each literary form illuminates in its own way the themes and voices of human experience. Students read an English novel, a Shakespearean tragedy, a modern comedy, and selections of lyric and narrative poetry and short fiction from a variety of periods, gaining familiarity with the literary devices writers use and the voices they create. Oral analysis and creative and analytical writing opportunities foster the development of students’ voices, and an intensive study of grammar and vocabulary complements the reading and writing assignments.

Open to: 10 (11)

E-300 English III

Year 1 unit
English III explores major themes in American literature through works by authors such as Fitzgerald, Miller, Hawthorne, Dickinson, Frost, Hughes, Fuller, and Morrison. The course includes extensive work in close reading and composition, vocabulary building and grammar review, and the study of persuasive speech as a form of rhetoric. With independent thinking as one of the goals of English III, class discussions and writing assignments that occur both inside and outside of class promote the development of independence in oral and written interpretation.

Open to: 11 (12)

E-315 English and History Supplement for International Students

Fall .25 unit
This course is designed to support international students in their initial English and history courses at Emma Willard. Students gain an understanding of U.S. academic expectations and develop and refine the skills required to meet the specific expectations in their courses. Students gain experience with various types of writing assignments, including the analytical essay, research paper, and timed essay. Points of grammar, sentence structure, word choice, and style are covered as they arise in students’ writing. Reading, discussion, and study skills are also addressed.

Placement in this course is determined by a school-administered evaluation.

Co-requisite: Concurrently enrolled in English I (E-100) or English II (E-200).

Grading system: Credit/No Credit
Open to: 9/10/11

E-318 Austen and Woolf

Spring .5 unit

Although Jane Austen and Virginia Woolf lived at the turn of different centuries, their influence on readers, and on other writers, is timeless. Whether characterized by satiric wit or by unconventional narrative structure, the writings of Austen and Woolf offer a fascinating comparison. By examining how each writer reflects and responds to the social, political, and literary climate of her time, students discover the complementary nature of the work of these writers.

Open to: 11/12

E-319 Reading Film

Spring .5 unit
“Film… a well-crafted story that we view in a darkened room, surrounded by strangers…has the power to mesmerize us, to make us think in ways we never thought before” (Steven Miles, film blogger). But how does film do what it does? This course emphasizes the ways in which film tells stories, inspires reactions in its audience, and comments on people’s lives. Class activities include viewing, discussing, and writing about films. By focusing on the connection between film and the literature that often inspires it, students examine elements of plot, setting, character, and point of view; writing, acting, and design; and types of shots, camera angles, and editing—all of which combine to create a visual language and style unique to the medium of film.

Open to: 11/12

E-321 Gender Benders

Fall .5 unit
“The original person was two halves, one male, one female. Then these got separated. That's why everybody's always searching for their other half. Except for us.”--Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex

What does it mean to be female? To be male? What about individuals who do not fit the norms of either group? This course explores literature that reexamines traditional barriers of gender, from Shakespeare’s cross-dressing heroine to Charles Portis’ gun-toting girl-protagonist. Class discussions examine how behavior, bodies, and ideas of self and society help create female identity and, more broadly, human identity. Students learn about gender’s historical contexts and study a variety of genres: the novel, memoir, short story, film, drama, and non-fiction. In addition, students examine the gendered roles played by characters in class texts as well as in their own lives. Possible texts include Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex, Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber, and Margaret Cavendish’s The Convent of Pleasure, Charles Portis’ True Grit, and Jeannette Winterson’s Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit. This course includes summer reading, which is outlined on the school’s Web site.

Open to: 11/12

E-324 Girls Write Here

Fall and Spring .5 unit
Author Carolyn See declared that, “every word a woman writes changes the story of the world, revises the official version.” In this elective course for girl writers, students write, edit and publish their work on a website by the same name. Students work with their instructor and professional editors and writers to learn their craft well, pursuing individual fiction and memoir writing projects at the same time as editing peers’ work. Students also learn to manage all stages of publishing, from accepting content and editing it for an online platform, to creating content categories, blog entries, and interviewing writers about their work. Within their myriad roles of writers and editors, students carefully collect and curate articles from all areas of the Web about female writers and their craft, maintain ongoing online conversations with female writers around the world about their writing, and respond to craft exercises to explore new ways to stretch their writing abilities. Each student additionally completes a cumulative individual "signature" writing project with the writing and editorial support of her instructor. This course includes summer reading, which is outlined on the school’s Web site.

Open to: 11/12

E-357 Shakespearean Tragedy

Fall .5 unit

Students in this course spend time with four of Shakespeare’s great tragedies: Macbeth, Hamlet, Antony and Cleopatra, and Othello. Through these plays we explore what it means to be human, and how, through inwardness, Shakespeare brought issues such as arrogance, jealousy, angst, revenge, and ambition into culture in ways that resonate with us today. As we work through the plays, we inform our conversations with the ideas of literary critics such as Harold Bloom and Janette Dillon, and modern film interpretations with actors such as Branagh, Tennant, and Stewart. This course includes both analytical writing and performance, allowing students to explore the language of the plays through both written and oral modes. This course includes summer reading, which is outlined on the school’s Web site.

Open to: 11/12

E-365 Contemporary Fiction: What Makes a Future Classic?

Spring .5 unit

Each year judges for the Man Booker Prize, Costa, National Book Award, and Pulitzer Prize choose the best works of fiction. What do they look for and how do they decide on what constitutes “achievement in fiction” (Man Booker) or “distinguished fiction…dealing with American life” (Pulitzer)? The novels read in 2012-13 included Tinkers by Paul Harding (Pulitzer), Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (Pulitzer), The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (Man Booker), Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (National), and The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka (PEN / Faulkner). But are these texts classics? How does one predict what will become a classic, “a tale that stays with the reader long after the final page” (Fiammetta Rocco, administrator of the Man Booker Prize)? In this course, students read five notable works of contemporary fiction and decide which one is most likely to become a future classic. While the course involves a significant amount of reading, it also includes traditional academic writing and less familiar journalistic writing, and oral explications.

Open to: 11/12

E-369 Writing for the Stage: Playwriting (cross-listed with A-246)

Fall .5 unit
Writing for the Stage explores the process of playwriting. Students learn a range of playwriting techniques such as conflict, action, characterization, dialogue, monologues and plot to unfold a story for the stage. Students study the works of famous modern playwrights to learn a variety of genres while exploring style, form and content. Playwrights may include Treadwall, Kushner, Williams, Becket, Havel, Pirandello and others. Students “get on their feet” to workshop different scenes as they develop their own one act plays. Students also learn innovative theatre techniques that allow them to each write a scene for a full-length play, developed as a class. This full-length original play is work-shopped and performed by the ensemble theatre class second semester. This course includes summer reading, which is outlined on the school’s Web site.

Students may choose to take this course for either arts or English credit.
Open to: 11/12

E-392 New York Texts: The Literature and History of Manhattan

Fall .5 unit
Throughout its history New York City has embodied qualities that many identify as quintessentially American. This course examines the origin and validity of that perception by studying a variety of historical, literary, visual, and auditory texts. From Alexander Hamilton to Edith Wharton and from the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge to the artistic explosion of the Harlem Renaissance, students in this course come to know and appreciate the richness of Manhattan. This course includes summer reading, which is outlined on the school’s Web site.
Open to: 11/12

E-396 Poetry Workshop

Spring .5 unit
This course is designed for students who wish to explore the reading and writing of poetry. By examining the work of significant poets, by studying poetic structures, by engaging in creative writing efforts, and by exploring poetry with guest artists, students become familiar with poetic language and form. Reading, analyzing, writing, and reciting poetry are the major tasks of this course. This course includes summer reading, which is outlined on the school’s Web site.

Open to: 11/12

E-398 Short Fiction Workshop

Fall .5 unit

In this course students gain an appreciation of the craft of story writing by studying a variety of stories and by writing their own. After studying such elements as conflict, character, and setting in well-known stories, students attempt to mirror in their own work the techniques that established writers have used. Through the revision and peer review process, students can begin to see how the story form, like other art forms, can be crafted, shaped, and refined. By studying several stories by the same author and by imitating the techniques of other writers, students understand the meaning of style as it applies to the work of the writers discussed and to their own creations.

Open to: 11/12

E-400 Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition

Spring .75 unit
In this course students practice close analysis of poems and prose passages and write the particular types of essays that the Advanced Placement examination in English literature demands. Extensive reading includes one short novel, two longer novels, two plays, and a wide range of poems and prose passages. Writers studied may include Miller, Hardy, Moliere, Lahiri, and James. To receive credit for the course, students must sit for the AP exam in May. As with other AP courses, additional assignments should be expected over school vacations.
Prerequisite: Permission of the English department chair
Open to: 12

Emma Willard School

Programs

Event Details

GirlSummer Session 1

Location:

Description:

Event Details

GirlSummer Session 1

Location:

Description:

Event Details

GirlSummer Session 1

Location:

Description:

Ask a parent

Thank you for submitting your question.

Please wait while we load your events