English 11

“National Perspectives” is the central theme at Grade 11. Core curricular units are designed around enduring understandings and essential questions and align with the SOLs for eleventh grade.

• There is a sustained emphasis on reading comprehension of fiction and nonfiction texts. Students will conduct comparative analyses of multiple texts that address the same topic to determine how authors reach similar or different conclusions. The students will examine and analyze fiction texts by American authors describing the contributions of other cultures and identifying prevalent themes and characterizations, which are reflective of American history and culture.
• The student will continue development of vocabulary, with attention to connotations, idioms, classical allusions, and figurative language.
• The student will continue to use the writing process to write/compose with an emphasis on persuasion and argumentation for multiple purposes and audiences to create focused, organized, and coherent writing.
• Students will create media messages and analyze the cause-and-effect relationships between mass media coverage and public opinion trends. Students will create persuasive multimodal presentations that address alternative perspectives.
• The student will produce a research product synthesizing information from primary and secondary sources while maintaining ethical and legal guidelines for gathering and using information.
• Students will continue to build communication skills working both independently and in collaborative groups. Students will continue to demonstrate the ability to work within collaborative groups while presenting alternate views and working toward common goals.

The following alternative course uses the basic structure and content of English 11 but offers more rigorous study