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Hi everyone! I am extremely excited to start my 9th year as a Simon Tech Husky! I grew up in Fresno, California and attained my B.A. in English––Education at Fresno State University (Go Bulldogs!). I moved to Los Angeles with my wife 11 years ago, but that hasn't stopped me from cheering for the San Francisco Giants and San Jose Sharks. I (obviously) enjoy reading, watching movies, playing with my 4-year old son (Aiden), and attending as many concerts as possible.
English 11
First off, congratulations on making it to your 11th Grade English course in high school. This course will not only provide you with the opportunity to master the standards required of you to pass this course, but it will also prepare you for your future academic endeavors. Throughout this course, you will have opportunities to close-read literary texts (novels, poems, essays, plays, and short stories), compare and contrast multiple interpretations by viewing their movie/performance counterparts, fruitfully discuss themes, debate currently trending topics, present research, and communicate your thoughts through writing (narrative, informational, and argumentative).
AP English Language and Composition
The AP English Language course provides students with the opportunity to read rigorous texts from various eras and in different genres, analyzing the big ideas of rhetorical situation, claims/evidence, reasoning/organization, and style. Students use given texts to reach the goal of effective writing and analysis: they will read and annotate texts from a critical perspective in order to craft well-reasoned essays and personal reflections in response.
The course is structured both thematically and chronologically, based on district requirements and College Board’s unit guide. The over-arching theme for the course is that of power. We will read both Fahrenheit 451 and The Great Gatsby as fictional works; I then extend and explore the fictional readings by asking students to work with nonfiction titles that expand on the ideas stated or implied in the required texts.
The textbook for the course is Bedford’s Language of Composition (3rd edition), supplying many of the nonfiction readings for the course. Additional readings come from such varied sources as Project Gutenberg, current events, national publications, and any other resources that seems likely to provide for rigor, depth, and high interest.
Schedule and Links to Google Classroom
First Period: English 11
Second Period: AP English Language and Composition
Fifth Period: English 11
Sixth Period: AP English Language and Composition
2024 Committee
The 2024 Committee is hard at work fundraising towards their goal of having an epic Senior Year.
