Ever since Edward Said’s paradigm-shifting Orientalism (1978), postcolonial studies have emerged as the most important critical approach to modern world literature. In this course students will examine colonial and postcolonial literary works on their own terms but also in the context of postcolonial studies and will confront essential questions: In essays, non-fiction, poetry, and fiction, how do colonial and postcolonial writers portray the colonizers and the colonized? How do they depict life under colonization and after independence? How do they characterize the history of empire and colonialization? How do they represent decolonization and struggles for liberation? Paying particular attention to pairings of colonial and postcolonial literary works, students will compare Shakespeare’s The Tempest (1610) and Caribbean writer Aimé Césaire’s A Tempest (1969), a postcolonial revision of Shakespeare’s play. Other pairings include Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1899), E. M. Forster’s A Passage to India (1924), and Albert Camus’ The Stranger (1946) with essays, short stories, and poetry by various contemporary postcolonial writers. In the global, interdependent world in which we live, reading world literature through the lens of postcolonial studies is essential to understanding ourselves, our complex world, and our future together. The prerequisites for AP English 12 are AP English 11 or a B+ grade or better for a final grade in English 10 and a B+ or better for a semester grade in English 11. Students whose grade does not meet these prerequisites may submit a two-part appeal by following the instructions on page 8 and earning a qualifying score on a writing exam administered by the English Department. The rigor of the course and the range of the content will prepare students for the AP English Literature and Composition examination. Students who enroll in AP courses agree to take the AP examination offered in May.

(Year Course - 1 credit)

Open only for Davey Fellows and Anderson Scholars in Humanities in Creative Writing who are seniors and who have completed Art and Craft of Writing 1 and 2, this course provides students the opportunity to refine their writing skills, prepare their portfolios for submission, and assume leadership roles on the editorial board of The Record.  Focusing on the genres of their portfolios, students will advance in studying literature as critical readers and creative, engaged writers as they examine and discuss established writers' work and their classmates' work and compose their own.  Every week or every other week, students will submit their original work.  Classes will be conducted mostly by workshop, and students will revise their writing from the recommendations of classmates and the instructor.  As leaders of the editorial board of The Record, students will lead committees in assessing student writing for publication, in revising, editing, and proofreading accepted works, and in using an online program for digital formatting, layout, and design.  Each student must also keep a writer's notebook and compile his final, revised works in a portfolio that he prepares for submission.  In completing this course’s writing assignments, students will reinforce their knowledge of vocabulary, grammar, usage, mechanics, and punctuation.  Writing instruction will focus on clarity, persuasiveness, correctness, and style.  This course is open to seniors who have already taken Art and Craft of Writing 1 and 2.

(Semester Course - ½ credit)

Everybody's heard of the monsters in Frankenstein, Dracula, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but what do we really know about these monsters?  Why do these monsters horrify us and fascinate us?  In this course students will find themselves face-to-face with monsters from ancient, medieval, and modern literature.  Through close reading and analytical writing, students will come to see how and why literary monsters stir our imagination, challenge our assumptions, and even teach us about our humanity.  Readings for the course will include these monsters, but it will also include close examination of other "monsters" in novels, short stories, and poetry from a wide range of authors including Edgar Allan Poe, Franz Kafka, Albert Camus, Flannery O’Connor, and Stephen King. If you have the courage to stare into the eyes and listen to the ravings of these monsters, then this course is for you.  Will you come out alive?  The study of vocabulary, grammar, usage, mechanics, and punctuation is an important concern of this course and is geared toward preparing students for correctness and style in their own writing.  This course is open to juniors and seniors and fulfills the English requirement for seniors.

(Semester Course - ½ credit)

Is war worth its toll in suffering and death? It is commonly observed that war is meaningless, and yet writers try to find meaning in it. One paradox of war literature is that it captures the horrifying experiences of soldiers in language that can be beautiful, glorious, and inspirational. The ultimate question that war literature poses is whether value and affirmation can be recovered from pain, destruction, and loss of life. This course will focus on answering this perplexing question through the literature of the American Civil War. Students will read Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage, Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels, Civil War short stories, Walt Whitman’s Civil War poetry, and Lincoln’s Civil War speeches. If war is never worth its toll, then why do we still fight wars? Why do so many men and women go so valiantly into battle? What is the value of reading the literature of war? Perhaps the answers can be found in the literature of this course. The study of vocabulary, grammar, usage, mechanics, and punctuation is an important concern of this course, and writing instruction is geared toward preparing students for correctness and style in their own writing. This course is open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

(Semester Course - ½ credit)

Is war worth its toll in suffering and death? It is commonly observed that war is meaningless, and yet writers try to find meaning in it. One paradox of war literature is that it captures the horrifying experiences of soldiers in language that can be beautiful, glorious, and inspirational. The ultimate question war literature poses is whether value and affirmation can be recovered from pain, destruction, and loss of life. In the first semester, this course will focus on answering this perplexing question through the literature of the Vietnam War. Students will read Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, Ron Kovic’s Born on the Fourth of July, Michael Herr’s Dispatches, and Robert Olen Butler’s A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, Vietnam War short stories and films, and antiwar literature and popular music. If war is never worth its toll, then why do we still fight wars? Why do so many men and women go so valiantly into battle? What is the value of reading the literature of war? Perhaps the answers can be found in the literature of this course. The study of vocabulary, grammar, usage, mechanics, and punctuation is an important concern of this course, and writing instruction is geared toward preparing students for correctness and style in their own writing. This course is open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

(Semester Course - ½ credit)