Curriculum Detail

Select a Department

English

The English Department strives to teach our students to become astute readers and effective writers. In each class, English teachers work to create an environment where students can learn to think independently, collaborate with others, and express themselves with clarity and substance. Middle and Upper School classes read classic and contemporary texts in a variety of genres, including fiction, drama, poetry, and nonfiction. The literature we teach provides students a foundation in literary analysis and also challenges them to examine complex ethical dilemmas. In terms of writing, our classes teach fundamental skills of grammar, vocabulary, and composition appropriate to each grade level. In addition to teaching students to write literary analysis and argument, we also assign creative projects that prompt students to discover their unique vision and voice. In the 10th grade, students participate in the Writing Semester, a writing-centered course designed to help students develop and refine their skills in creative writing and essay composition. In the junior year, students create the Junior Writing Portfolio, which reflects their best writing in high school, and submit it for review to a panel of assessors. The department also offers elective courses to juniors and seniors including AP English Language and Composition, AP Literature and Composition, a creative writing seminar, and courses that focus on influential literary movements and genres. Department faculty also collaborate with students to edit and publish student writing. Publications include the literary magazines, Faces and Lit Mag, and The Hamden Hall Review, a collection of exemplary essays and nonfiction writing from the junior class.
  • AP English Language

    The primary focus of this course is rhetoric; it is a course in which students concentrate on non­fiction prose. Students think critically about language as a persuasive tool and the interaction among writer, context, audi­ence, and argument. They refocus from the imagined worlds of literature to the real world of non­fiction; they learn to recognize and utilize techniques such as tone, syntax, diction, and imagery as devices that strengthen an effective argument. Deductive reasoning and formal syllogisms are emphasized as methods of analyzing and formu­lating persuasive discourse. A.P. English Language students become skilled readers of prose written in a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts and become adroit writers who compose for a variety of purposes—narrative, exploratory, expository, and argumentative. Readings in the course will range from Jefferson, Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Orwell, Swift, and Donne to Lopate, McKibben, and Gates. Furthermore, readings are arranged thematically around three rings of intellectual debate: Social Justice, the Environment, and Human Nature. Texts include: Everything’s an Argument, The Art of the Personal Essay, and The Language of Composition. All students are required to take the AP examination, contingent on a pre-examination test in the spring.
     * Department permission required.
  • AP English Literature

    Limited to dedicated students of English and American literature, the reading syllabus for this course includes novels, dramas, and poetry from Shakespeare to the present. Works are selected from a list of authors including Shakespeare, Mary Shelley, Chinua Achebe, Tennessee Williams, and Jesmyn Ward, as well as a comprehensive selection of poetry. Journal writing and collaborative work lead students to develop and elucidate their own opinions towards issues raised in our texts and to write creative adaptations as well. A term paper in the fall semester features additional reading, as well as online research in pursuit of a full critical response. All students are required to take the AP examination, contingent on a pre-examination test in the spring.
    *Department permission required.
  • Creative Writing

     
    This course is designed to introduce students to the craft of writing fiction and poetry. Students will read a variety of works in each genre and will learn to apply different literary techniques to their own writing. We will explore issues such as narration, character development, voice, imagery, and word choice to discover original forms of expression and storytelling. We will also share our writing in a supportive atmosphere and learn to revise our stories and poems to make them more effective.  Students who are interested will be encouraged to submit their work to the school’s literary publications. This class is a great place to discover one’s voice and creativity and to exercise the imagination.  
  • English 10

    English 10 emphasizes the interpretation of literature, development of expository and creative writing skills, and strengthening of vocabulary. Through reading and discussion of three thematically comparable novels, students come to an awareness of the individual in his or her own world. Classes explore the process of maturation, the development of values, the problem of alienation in the modern world, and the effects of change. Students increase their vocabulary with weekly study and quizzes on words from the works of literature. Writing assignments deal directly with the literature. Students write expository essays in order to develop analytical and interpretive sophistication. Through revision, students refine skills in grammar, rhetoric, and logic. Teachers encourage creative writing as an integral part of the course. A summative assessment challenges students to juxtapose and synthesize novels (and themes) from the fall semester. Representative literature: Othello, 1984, and Persepolis. During the second semester, all students concentrate on the craft of composition. They produce a portfolio of original nonfiction prose pieces ranging in style from personal narratives and critical reflections to persuasive arguments and analytical papers. Students will consider carefully such stylistic devices as diction, tone, and syntax. Grammar will be taught in the context of the writing process with a heavy emphasis on revision strategies, sentence variety, and sentence combining. The writing semester is an opportunity for students to practice and refine their composition skills in a constructive workshop atmosphere.
  • English 9

    English 9 examines texts that enhance our understanding of personal and cultural identity, adversity, and notions of heroism. Across a range of classic and contemporary literature, students investigate how individuals react to challenges that shape one's sense of self, community, and world view. As they read, students spend time in class building critical and creative thinking skills by participating in discussions, debates, and keeping personal reading journals. Varied writing assignments familiarize students with the tenets of analytical essay writing as well as encourage individual expression and discovery. Students learn to form strong arguments supported by compelling evidence and analysis, recognize and utilize literary devices, and introduce complexity and precision into their work by mastering grammatical conventions and vocabulary. Representative literature: Odyssey, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Anya's Ghost, and Macbeth.
  • Fiction Writing

    This senior English elective is designed to introduce students to the craft of writing literary fiction.  Students will read and respond to published modern and contemporary short fiction, looking always to the readings as fellow writers, working to learn from and then apply to their own work what is observed.  Seniors taking the course in the fall semester will also write a term paper on a single story writer, looking still more closely at what can be learned from the chosen writer’s approach and craft.   Students will write a range of short stories, including “flash” or “short-short” fiction, epistolary (letter form) stories, prose poetry, as well as longer, more traditional short fiction.  The class will include regular workshops on student writing, in which participants will be required to submit their work to the whole class for peer evaluation and review.  Students will work toward completing a final, extensive portfolio of revised, polished work and presenting their writing in a public reading at the end of the semester.  
    *Department recommendation required
     
     
  • Literature of the Beat Generation

    The Beat Generation remains a mysterious entity in American Literature.  A group of post-WW II writers, artists, and musicians reacted to political and social norms by emphasizing a new lifestyle that continues to influence our culture.  From works such as On the Road and The Dharma Bums, the epitome of the philosophy, to Allen Ginsberg's poetry, and a host of other artists, this class will serve as a great opportunity to understand and explore this free-spirited group.
  • Literature of the Wilderness

    Thoreau went to Walden Woods to “live deliberately.” Chris McCandless sought the wilderness on the Stampede Trail in Alaska, hoping to “kill the false being within.” Cheryl Strayed walked into the wilderness to escape the chaos of her existence. Why do humans so often seek nature as a means of cleansing and/or nurturing the spirit? Why were these writers drawn to simplicity and adversity, and what did their pursuits teach them about the human spirit, and about the relationship between humans and nature? What can their writings, and their adventures, teach us about ourselves and our values? This course explores the relationship between nature, the individual, and culture from a broad range of perspectives and genres including essays, memoirs, fiction, and poetry. Written assignments include analytical essays, autobiographical explorations, poems, and narrative essays.
  • Modern British Fiction

    This course explores iconic works of modern British fiction, including Greene's The Quiet American and McDonagh's The Pillowman. Through class discussions, presentations, and essay writing, students will strive to place each work in its historical and literary context.  Writing assignments will range from journal entries to formal responses to texts, as well as an analytic research paper.
  • Modern Drama

    Modern Drama introduces students to this unique writing genre.  We will begin to see the writing as forces that collide rather than in the dignified traditional sense.  From the ancient Greeks to modern times, drama is regarded as a way to explore ideas by entertaining and creating well-defined characters, plots, and worlds.  We will read and view varied works while working to craft short plays in a workshop styled class.
  • Poetry Writing

    This senior English elective is designed to introduce students to the craft of writing literary poetry.   Students will read and respond to published modern and contemporary poets, looking always to the readings as fellow poets, working to learn from and then apply to their own work what is observed. Students will explore a range of poetic forms, including free verse, haiku, sonnet, villanelle, sestina.  The class will include regular workshops on student writing, in which participants will be required to submit their work to the whole class for peer evaluation and review.  Students will work toward completing a final, extensive portfolio of revised, polished work and presenting their writing in a public reading at the end of the semester.  
     
     
  • Speculative Fiction

    This elective will include literary analysis, literary devices, and composition of an original speculative short story or novella. While the focus will be on developing each writer’s unique voice and style, students will also provide meaningful constructive criticism to their peers in a supportive environment. Emphasis on composition, effective revisions, and, in particular, the art of world-building will be a primary focus. The beautiful (and challenging) part of writing speculative fiction is the ability to build an entirely new world—or a future or alternate world—while also managing to tell a really good story. Character development, plotting with conflict—creating a “so what”—point of view, voice, diction, and syntax will all be pertinent to each student’s mastery of the class.
  • The American Experience

    The American Experience is a year-long American literature course for juniors that will cover major literary movements in the 19th and 20th centuries. The class will consider what writers from different periods have to tell us about our evolving national consciousness and address challenges to the nation’s cultural assumptions, including the birth of modernism and the emergence of multicultural voices. The class will also place significant emphasis on enhancing the craft of writing through a "synthesis project," a unit on creative writing, and the presentation of a portfolio that represents the students' best writing in high school. Representative texts include Walden by Henry David Thoreau, the poetry of Emily Dickinson, In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Round House by Louise Erdrich, Fences by August Wilson, and a selection of short stories.
  • The American Experience (Honors)

    The purpose of the honors program is to allow students to engage more deeply with the authors and themes presented in the American Experience course. In addition to the regular requirements, honors students will be assigned additional readings and more extensive writing assignments. They will also attend monthly meetings throughout the year to discuss the honors texts. 

    *Department permission required.

Faculty

Hamden Hall Country Day School, located less than two miles from Yale University, is one of the best private schools in Connecticut to enroll elementary, middle, and high school students. Our nurturing and inclusive community provides a dynamic learning environment that promotes academic excellence by understanding each child and fostering their individual growth.