Academics: English
The DeSales English Department brings fresh perspectives to students every day in both the required English courses and several electives, including the only English for Speakers of Others Languages (ESOL) course in the diocese. Faculty members also staff the Writing Lab, open every period of the school day, where students can get help with every writing need, whether it be an American History term paper or a college application essay.
As Freshmen, DeSales students benefit from an introductory English course with a class size no greater than 20. This class focuses on individual attention, intensive writing practice and grammar basics. Beginning in the sophomore year, students are placed according to their strengths and needs as they take a literature journey through short stories, Shakespeare, American literature, British literature and world literature while continuing to hone their own writing and oration skills. Superior English students will have the option of taking AP courses in both English Language and English Literature, and, for those who need additional support in writing and reading, DeSales offers a Language Arts Enhancement Class taught by an on-site reading specialist.
*Unless otherwise stated by an individual teacher, DeSales follows Modern Language Association formatting and style for typed essays and research papers. Please consult the Purdue Online Writing Lab for MLA formatting and style guidelines.
Intro. to Literature and Composition Grade: 9
This is an orientation course for all DeSales students. Students will experience all modes of writing, including narrative, descriptive, expository, and research responses, beginning with the basics of grammar, usage, and MLA format and culminating in a short research paper.
Sophomore English
Sophomore English literature text provides a varied selection of reading material, including short stories, poetry, essays, one contemporary and one Shakespearean play.
Sophomore English AP Track
This challenging course, which focuses on intensive writing and exposing students to several genres of literature, is designed to prepare them for the AP Language and Composition (junior year) and the AP English Literature and Composition (senior year) courses.
Junior English
This is a survey course in American Literature covering the basic literary genres: Fiction, non-fiction, poetry and drama. Students are expected to read selected American novels.
Junior Advanced Placement Language and Composition
Designed for students ready to experience college-level English, this course prepares students for the May AP exam by exposing them to a variety of fiction and non-fiction writing and teaching them how to read critically to learn how writers create meaning. It also provides an intensive writing experience designed to enable students to write with sophistication about meaningful topics.
Senior English
This course surveys British Literature from the Anglo-Saxon era to the present. The course also includes writers from Ireland, Canada, Africa and Asia who write in English.
Senior AP English
AP English Literature and Composition is an intensive examination of British, American and world literatures with the purpose of preparing students for the Advanced Placement examination in May. Students in this course are also eligible to enroll in the Dual Enrollment Program (Project Jump-start) through Ohio Dominican University.
Creative Writing I
Creative Writing will give students practical experience in the writing of poetry (both formal and free verse) and prose (both fictional and autobiographical).
Creative Writing II
In addition to fulfilling all creative writing I requirements, each student must: 1) teach one class using an original assignment piece as a model, 2) critique the work of others and accept their critiques in a workshop setting, and 3) produce and distribute a 16-page chapbook of original work.
College Writing
This course provides a general preparation for theme writing at the college level with emphasis is placed on giving the student a realization that in any valuable expression, both significant subject matter and meaningful form are important.
Language Arts Enhancement I
This course provides practice in the basic skills of reading, composition, vocabulary acquisition, comprehension, critical thinking and study skills.
Language Arts Enhancement II
Providing further practice in reading, writing and comprehension skills, students will also learn strategies to monitor and improve their own reading comprehension.
Photojournalism
The goals of the photojournalism course are to teach students to write clearly and accurately for a large audience and to design photo and text layouts that are engaging, accurate, and clear. This course is
technologically extensive employing PageMaker, Photoshop and digital cameras and the final product of this course is Pride, the DeSales yearbook!
Summer Reading
*Subject to change each year.
Incoming Freshman
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
The Sea Wolf by Jack London
Into the Wild by John Krakauer
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Incoming Sophomores
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Having Our Say: the Delaney Sisters' First Hundred Years by Sarah and Elizabeth Delaney
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines
Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo
Incoming Juniors
A Farewell to Arms by by Earnest Hemmingway
In Country by Bobbie Ann Mason
The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Incoming Seniors
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin
The Inferno by Dante Alighieri
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel spark
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
