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Students in graduation

English Department

Philosophy


The English department provides a structured curriculum consisting of required level-year courses and numerous electives. The department’s purpose is to ready St. Benedict’s students to do college level work by developing in them productive habits of reading, precise writing, critical analysis, and open-minded discussion.

St. Benedict’s English teachers maintain clear learning objectives and high standards; by graduation, their students demonstrate the ability to do:

Comprehensive literary analysis, both spoken and written;
Critical thinking in response to a spectrum of literary and visual texts from traditional and non-traditional sources;
Reading across the disciplines, engaged with a range of nonfiction and information texts;
Discriminating research in both primary and secondary sources, in print and on the internet.

While maintaining college preparatory standards, all St. Benedict’s English teachers work with students of varying skill levels and abilities. As needed, we modify teaching approaches to meet the learning styles and needs of all of our students. We teach our students the literacy skills that will serve them as writers and thinkers, at work and in leisure, throughout their adult lives.

English Department Courses