Language Arts
The Douglas County High School English Department offers a wide range of courses to help students develop their ability to read and analyze a variety of texts and to write and speak fluently.
All 9th and 10th grade students complete either English I and English II or English I Honors and English II Honors. These required, foundational courses embrace the philosophy of the IB Middle Years Program by developing students who engage in intellectual challenge, make connections between their studies in traditional subjects and the real world, and develop skills for communication, intercultural understanding and global engagement. Students study literary classics and a range of modern writings from an international perspective.
Students focus on writing and speaking with clarity, coherence, and fluency as they explore significant literary works in all genres: short stories, poetry, novels, drama, and nonfiction.
Junior and Senior students have many English courses to choose from including Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme classes. Please see the Language and Literature section of the Academic Planning Guide on the DCHS home page for current offerings and descriptions of each course.
New Novel Approval
Gilead is being proposed as a new novel to add to the American Literature curriculum at DCHS. Gilead is the Pulitzer Prize winner in fiction from 2004. It covers the narrative of three generations of the same American family from the Civil War to the 20th century. The main character, John Ames, struggles to build a collection of memories, ranging from his grandfather, father, and his own childhood, to share with his young son. It takes on the path of a disorganized collection of letters to his seven year-old son as John Ames deals with his own impending mortality. It is a narrative of fathers and sons and the generational development of family in the shifting American landscape.