DEPARTMENT PHILOSOPHY

The English/Language Arts Department exists as a discrete discipline whose purpose lies in the appreciation of the aesthetic and the acquisition of communication skills that cross all learning. The department fosters a vision of the individuality, commonality, and diversity of humanity and highlights the importance of the traditionally marginalized female voice. Believing that this discipline encourages both personal enrichment and social participation, the faculty choose works for study that provide models of moral, ethical, and just behavior.

DEPARTMENT GOALS

Mount Alvernia aims to develop the whole person in concert with others. Reading, writing, listening, and speaking clearly and effectively are essential to that goal. The six-year English/language arts program is designed to foster within our students honest self-reflection, critical thinking, and a sense of empathy.

Students who complete the six-year English/language arts program will understand better the self and others; develop and exhibit a sense of empathy; realize that knowledge results from both acquiring information and constructing meaning; appreciate the power of reading, writing, and image making; recognize the value of reading deeply and broadly; understand the human propensity to explain life in narrative form; appreciate the differences that perspective lends to story; see writing as both an internal process and a public performance; understand that audience is a defining element in communication; read and view critically, write clearly, speak articulately and listen attentively; and value vocabulary, diction, syntax, and grammar as essential tools of communication.

COURSE OF STUDY

• Grade 7 The Power of Stories
• Grade 8 The Power of Voice
• Grade 9 Literary Forms
• Grade 10 American Literature
• 20th Centry Theater (Elective)
• Grade 11 English Literature
• Grade 12 World Literature/Advanced Placement English
  Introduction to Film Criticism (Elective)
  Graduation Requirement Senior Symposium

DEPARTMENT FACULTY

Mrs. Patricia Barletta
Ms. Carrie Schultz
Mrs. Rebecca Brown
Ms. Eileen McLaughlin, chair