Throughout their four years of English studies, H-F students develop their reading, writing, oral communication and critical-thinking skills. As they study a variety of literary genres, students gain insight into the archetypal experiences of people of different cultures and eras, and they ponder critical questions of the human experience. Through researching, writing and speaking for a variety of purposes, students further their abilities to form and support opinions in a clear, coherent manner. Thus, the English program at H-F develops students' academic skills, while allowing them both independent and collaborative experiences to achieve holistic growth and simultaneously prepare for standardized exams.
PROGRAM GOALS
READING & LITERATURE
Students will...
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Understand the role of prior knowledge in comprehension
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Develop a hierarchy of questions to aid comprehension
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Increase their vocabularies
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Engage in literary and rhetorical analysis
WRITING & LANGUAGE
Students will...
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Write for a purpose
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Develop cogency and coherency of thought
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Expand their use of rhetorical strategies
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Improve their sentence structure and styling
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Employ correct grammar, punctuation, idioms and spelling
SPEAKING & LISTENING
Students will...
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Learn and familiarize themselves with common public speaking strategies
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Deliver informative and argumentative speeches and presentations
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Respond analytically to pieces of fiction and non-fiction through verbal communication
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Critique speeches for their use of rhetorical strategies
RESEARCH
Students will...
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Conceptualize a topic for research
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Identify and access databases
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Reference and cite sources properly
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Construct an annotated bibliography
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Compose a Works Cited page
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Evaluate the credibility and quality of a source