Havergal's Uncalendar, 2016-2017 Academic Year

GRADE 9

ENG1D

– English, Grade 9, Academic

1 CREDIT

“One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.”

—Friedrich Nietzsche

“The outsider” takes many forms in our society: a freak, a rebel, a joke, a stereotype, a scapegoat, a

sore, a scar, a mirror, a truth, a hero, a film about greasers and socs. Why are people in our society

relegated to the outside? The Grade 9 English course grapples with this question. You will read,

analyse and discuss many genres of literature—short stories, the novel, the essay, poetry, and a

Shakespearean play—through the lens of “the outsider.” In this survey course, you will be introduced

to all the essentials of writing skills in addition to the wide variety of literature offered. You will also

unlock the mystery of the five-paragraph funnel essay, a key skill to see you through your academic

career and beyond. You will learn essential techniques of persuasive writing and speaking that will

allow you to convince your audience of your powerful argument. You will also receive your very own

“poetry toolbox,” chock full of poetic devices; then you will have the opportunity to use the toolbox to

build your own forms of poetry such as the simile poem (you will take to the simile poem like a poet to

imagery), the sonnet (if we had 14 lines, we could tell you more about the sonnet) and the haiku (why

is the number 17 so special?), to name but a few. A variety of media will be used in order to explore

in depth, from many angles, a chosen “outsider” from the literature that you have encountered. In

a student-centred, discussion-based learning environment, you will work in literature circles, small

groups and pairs to investigate why we read stories in all their various forms, and how we connect

personally to literature. After all, it is what’s on the

inside

that counts!

GRADE 10

ENG2D

– English, Grade 10, Academic

1 CREDIT

What is a metaphor? No. Scratch that. Who cares about metaphors? No one. Well, English teachers,

I guess. And, possibly, writers—but only the boring ones. Certainly, though, not the teacher. Is this

how you feel? In this course, get ready to feel engaged, enchanted and enlightened by the power of

metaphor. From blood and guts, fairytale endings to the origins of humanity and what makes a hero,

you will travel through a diverse collection of literature together. Do you realize that films, podcasts,

paintings, TV shows and photographs are also texts? In this course, you will certainly be reading them.

Of course, with incredible reading comes incredible writing. In Grade 10 English, you will discover

the tools to master that all-important form you’re constantly called upon to produce: the persuasive

essay. Alongside this left-brain work, you will indulge your right-brain selves too. For example, in the

Facebook universe we call home, text and image so often work together, producing creative new forms

of expression. You too will have opportunities to think beyond the traditional line separating word and

picture, using both (and so much more) to share your genius with the world. Speaking of which, you

will also get many chances to think, write and talk about what is, for most of us, a favourite subject:

ourselves.

Prerequisite: ENG1D – English, Grade 9, Academic or ENG1P – English, Grade 9, Applied