Greenhills School Course Guide
Upper School English
Department Philosophy
The department challenges its students to develop vigorously and with pleasure their ability to read, think, speak and write. Students explore works representing a variety of genres, media and cultures. Instruction emphasizes: 1) close reading focused on structure, rhetoric, and figurative language; 2) critical, creative, moral, emotional, and historical thinking; and 3) effective writing. Reading and writing assignments increase in complexity both within a given year and throughout the seven years of instruction. Grammar and usage are taught formally in the Middle School and are reviewed as needed and integrated with writing instruction in the Upper School. A similar approach is used with the study of vocabulary. This thorough study of language and literature reinforces the school's mission of encouraging students to develop their full potential as thoughtful, articulate, creative, curious and responsible citizens whose lives have balance and a capacity for self-renewal.
