The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

Seniors react to new English program

The English curriculum for seniors has been expanded this year, receiving appreciation from students.

Students can choose from seven courses to satisfy their English requirement. The revamped program allows them to select from one of the three AP Literature courses, three AP Language courses or a Shakespeare course.

Under the prior program, options for seniors were limited to either AP Literature or Language.

“I appreciate having options in English this year. I think everyone has their own different interests and the English department did a good job of catering to the diversity of interests in the senior class,” said Jaebok Lee ’16, who is taking AP Literature: Good Grief.

Each class under AP Literature and AP Language has a unique reading list. All of the AP Literature classes read Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” whereas the Language classes do not share any of the same books. The AP Literature courses focus on fiction and poetry, and the AP Language courses focus on non-fiction works.

Madeline Schapiro ’16, who is taking AP Literature: Same House Different Worlds believes that the options are beneficial.

“A class where you are reading ‘Hamlet’ and Jane Austen might not interest the same person who would prefer to read excerpts of the Bible or readings from Marx,” Schapiro said.

Haden Modisett ’16, a student in AP Language: The Language of Protest, agrees.

“[My class] allows me to hone in on what I like to read and focus on what I want to write,” Modisett said.

Other students also enjoy the recurring themes.

“It is nice to have a common theme throughout each of the different books,” said Grace Pan ’16. “[The theme] gives us more of a sense of uniformity and allows us to develop a deeper understanding.”

The English department does not intend to make any changes to the program.

“We are excited to keep moving forward with this program,” English teacher Jocelyn Medawar said. “[It] has proven to be successful, so we’ll be continuing with it.”

 

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Seniors react to new English program