Prerequisite:
Students must have already completed English 11, IB.
Course Description:
The IB English course is a continuation of the curriculum of English 11, IB, with the framework of two-year curriculum established by the International Baccalaureate council. The class is divided into two parts: the first semester focuses on multiple genres which then culminate in a twenty minute oral commentary, and the second part focuses on one genre leading to the official IB tests in the spring. This test consists of two essays: one requiring the analysis of a passage of unseen literary text, and the other a response to a question based on the works studied. Fall semester begins with an in-depth study of poetry, focusing on the poet Langston Hughes and the impact his work had on the Harlem Renaissance and the Civil Rights movement. Following poetry, students read Zora Neale Hurston’s fictional novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, with special focus the women’s rights movement. Finally, students read speeches by Martin Luther King, Jr., discussing the rhetorical devices that made his works so powerful. Second semester students read five plays: A Doll’s House, Othello, The Glass Menagerie, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and The Importance of Being Earnest. Literary devices unique to drama are stressed, as is continuing discussion of the effects of the importance the playwright’s culture and context had on their works. Throughout the year, students complete several written assignments; some are in the form of in-class timed writing, but students will also write a five to seven page research paper in the form of a literary analysis. The aim of this course, its curriculum, and content develops the IB learner profile traits and encourage students to be communicators, knowledgeable, open-minded, risk-takers, balanced, thinkers, inquirers, principled, caring, and reflective.
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