Page 10 - 2018-PVPHS-PROSPECT-BOOK

SCHOLARS AND HONORS

English
Bruce Colin, Department Chair
English is the only class that students
are required to take every year of high
school, and over four years English
teachers help them to develop as
readers, writers, and speakers.
During their freshman year, students are
introduced to timeless literature such as
To Kill a Mockingbird, Romeo and Juliet,
and Of Mice and Men, along with a variety
of other readings including stories from
mythology and Maus, a Pulitzer Prize
winning graphic novel.
When you walk into a sophomore English
class, you might see students conducting
mock trials involving characters from Lord
of the Flies or Catcher in the Rye, or other
students debating the relevance of Mary
Shelley’s Frankenstein to the modern world.
American literature is the focus of the junior
read classics such as Hamlet, and exposure in both Literature and Language, and
year, and students explore familiar writers
to contemporary writers such as Malcolm college readiness measurements such as
such as Twain, Hawthorne, Fitzgerald,
Gladwell and Cormac McCarthy. the University of California’s Academic
Steinbeck, Dickinson, Poe, and Hemingway.
Writing Performance Exam. The
There are also plenty of opportunities Overall, PVPHS students’ success
English Department also continually
to explore nonfiction, from the ideas of in language arts is consistently
seeks to provide a variety of creative
writers such as Thoreau and Emerson to demonstrated by their high performance
opportunities for students through
the compelling story of Chris McCandless on a variety of formal assessments,
the school’s yearbook, newspaper, and
in Into the Wild, and even the timely ideas including the California Assessment
literary magazine, along with Literature
about college put forth by Frank Bruni in of Student Performance and Progress,
Week’s annual celebration of reading.
Where You Go Is Not Who You Will Be. Advanced Placement examinations

With the arrival of senior year, students “My English teachers taught me how to think critically, analyze
effectively, and speak publicly. Through their classes, I found my love
have a range of opportunities, including
for English literature and speech. With their help, I found my voice.”
Advanced Placement courses in both — Lauren Kong, Class of 2019
Literature and Language, the chance to

National English Honor Society - Maria McCloud, Advisor
National English Honor Society (NEHS) NEHS serves to connect writers with each NEHS encourages members to share their
is an exclusive honor society at PVPHS. other and within the community. Activities own literary works with fellow students
Each year, approximately thirty students include book donations, book clubs, poetry through the PVPHS literary magazine.
entering junior year are selected based clubs, scholarship competitions, and Applications are released to sophomores
on their English GPA, writing samples, the opportunity to co-write a novel and every May. In addition, members of the
and passion for the English language. become published authors. In addition, organization publish a book each year.

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