English 2 [Honors] (2nd semester)

Course Description

Throughout English 2 [Honors], students will complete a range of tasks that demonstrate their ability to write in different styles and increase their understanding of the texts they will study throughout the course. Students will study and practice speaking and listening, writing, and presentation skills as they complete their coursework. They will also read a variety of texts, including speeches by prominent figures such as Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, and Animal Farm by George Orwell.

Course Breakdown

• The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
• "Great Serpent and the Great Flood" by an anonymous author
• "Wenebojo and the Wolves" by an anonymous author
• "The Sculptor's Funeral" by Willa Cather
• "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant
• "The Sniper" by Liam O'Flaherty
• "The Rat Trap" by Selma Lagerlöf
• "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas
• "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" by Gabriel García Márquez
• "The Feather Pillow" by Horacio Quiroga
• "Just Lather, That's All" by Hernando Téllez
• "Where Stories Come From" by an anonymous author
• "Why the Cheetah's Cheeks are Stained" by an anonymous author
• "The Birth of Hawaii" by an anonymous author
• Chinese Creation Myths by an anonymous author
• "The Story of the Three Genjias" by an anonymous author
• "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World" by Gabriel García Márquez
• "Rapunzel" by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
• "Babe the Blue Ox" by S. E. Schlosser
• "The Ballad of Casey Jones" by Wallace Saunders
• "The Devil and Daniel Webster" by Stephen Vincent Benét
• "The Circular Ruins" by Jorge Luis Borges
• "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry
• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley
• "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning
• "Go and Catch a Falling Star" by John Donne
• "Sweetest Love, I Do Not Go" by John Donne
• "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne

Course Goals

1. Research a vacation destination by finding a variety of credible resources.
2. Write a research paper on a vacation destination.
3. Read and analyze short stories.
4. Write an original short story.
5. Read and analyze poetry.
6. Write a persuasive essay on a program, service, or policy that you would like to be implemented at your school or local community center.
7. Read and analyze Animal Farm.
8. Write a cause-and-effect essay on a social issue.