The distinguishing mark of the educated person is mastery of the English language in reading, writing, and speaking. These multifaceted skills require many years to reach a high level and are greatly enhanced by the study of Latin and Greek.  Students study English grammar and vocabulary in both English and Latin classes, beginning in 2nd Grade.

An essential component in the development of superior language skills is the study of good literature, which provides models of correct English and excellence in writing. The ear and eye are trained by constant exposure to good English usage. Students learn best by imitation.

Our classroom reading selections are carefully chosen to increase in reading difficulty each year.  Books are read slowly and thoroughly in class, accompanied by Literature Guides.

Our English Literature Guides include a selection of poetry. Poetry is intense and requires careful, slow, and repeated reading. Poetry requires thought and is especially effective in developing comprehension and thinking skills. Students who are properly prepared are ready to begin the study of Shakespeare in the 7th Grade.

We choose the very best literature and poetry for each age, works that model heroes, virtues, and high ideals. Our literature program does more than develop reading skills; it inspires students to love what is good and noble in life.

The ability to write with clarity, beauty, and power is further developed by our logic and rhetoric curriculum, which is an extension of English and counts as English credits.

On a more practical side, the development of a legible and attractive cursive hand is a high priority. Serious attention is given to penmanship in every grade and class, lest illegible and careless writing plague students and teachers alike throughout their school years.

“Modern literature is full of allusions to the classics, and one who knows nothing of the great authors of antiquity is cut off from great authors of the modern world as well.” - Dean Roscoe Pound, 
Harvard, 1930

ENGLISH LITERATURE BY YEAR:

• 7th: The Wind and the Willows, Peter Pan, and Shakespeare's As You Like It
• 8th: Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and A Midsummer Night's Dream
• 9th: Romeo & Juliet, Pride & Prejudice, and Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
• 10th: A Tale of Two Cities, Macbeth, Jane Eyre, and Henry V 
• 11th: Hamlet, Frankenstein, and The Great Gatsby
• 12: Moby Dick, Tolstoy's Family Happiness, The Stories of Flannery O'Connor, and selected American short stories and poetry