Academic Departments

11th AP Lang Comp

12th AP Lit

Advanced American Lit

Advanced World Lit

 Goals and Objectives

The overarching goal of the Language Arts Department is to support students through their four year high school experience, assuring that students become clear thinking, articulate persons.  This goal entails work with the skills of reading, writing, thinking, and speaking that students employ in their other classes as well as during Language Arts.

To be effective readers, students must learn how to ask questions about the rhetorical strategies employed in a written or spoken text.  Those questions are addressed to the structure of text, to its implied as well as explicit meaning, and to the function of individual words, phrases, and sentences in crafting that meaning.  In turn, as writers, students must ask those questions about the structuring of their own thoughts and their use of language in crafting meaning.

The study of literature—fiction, poetry, and nonfiction — is crucial in becoming an analytical, reflective thinker.  In studying renowned writers, students become familiar with the archetypal experiences of people of all cultures in all eras and with the critical questions that are addressed repeatedly by thoughtful citizens of the world.

Courses

Detailed course descriptions are available in the Course Description Book, linked off the CHS Academics Overview page.