Semester II English Electives
Each year SPA offers various English electives for 11th and 12th graders. Click on a button to explore a Semester II english elective.
creative writing: poetry and poetics
Literature of monstrosity
Gender in literature
topics in literary analysis: visual narrative
literature of the asian diaspora
Creative Writing: Poetry and Poetics
This intensive creative writing course introduces students to the fundamentals of poetry and the study of voice through contemporary authors. Students read widely across time periods, study craft essays and build a critical vocabulary for analyzing poetry. Through a rigorous workshop process, they develop skills in thoughtful critique, discussion and revision, ultimately deepening their understanding of poetry and growing as creative writers.
Image: Gisele Parnell
Gender in Literature
In this course, students will examine representations of gender identities and gendered experiences in literature. They will analyze how gender is constructed and mobilized as a category of difference, both within narrative texts and in readers’ processes of interpretation. The course also explores intersections between gender and embodiment, nationalism, race, class and language. Readings include novels and poetry from a range of genres and historical periods, and assignments consist of graded discussions and short analytical writing.
Image: Eva Johnson
Literature of Monstrosity
This course examines representations of monsters and monstrous bodies in literature, focusing on how these figures are constructed, how their portrayals have evolved over time and the symbolic meanings they carry. Central questions include: Why are monsters so compelling? How have they historically been used to articulate and negotiate social anxieties? What do monsters reveal about Otherness, and what can they teach us about what it means to be human? Readings span several centuries and encompass a wide range of genres, including short stories, novels, plays and poetry. Writing assignments include both critical and creative projects, completed individually and collaboratively.
Image: Eva Johnson
Literature of the Asian Diaspora
This course explores works by Asian world writers who depict cultures and experiences shaped by migration and life in diaspora. Alongside themes such as homeland, displacement and the formation of new communities, the course emphasizes the literary genres each writer employs, or resists and analyzes the techniques these genres demand. Students engage critically with the work of diaspora scholars and theorists and closely examine texts across satire, speculative fiction, short stories and memoir.
Image: SmugMug
Topics in Literary Analysis: Visual Narrative
This analytical writing seminar approaches film as a literary text, focusing on the interpretation of visual rhetoric within the American film tradition. Students analyze the creative forces shaping visual narratives, examine the technological, historical and cultural developments of the medium and study the conventions of film’s narrative modes. The course also introduces theories of literature-to-film adaptation and considers the narrative implications of translating texts across media.
Image: Helen Frost
Semester II English Electives
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Semester II English Electives
Each year SPA offers various English electives for 11th and 12th graders. Click on a button to explore a Semester II english elective.
creative writing: poetry and poetics
Literature of monstrosity
Gender in literature
topics in literary analysis: visual narrative
literature of the asian diaspora
Creative Writing: Poetry and Poetics
This intensive creative writing course introduces students to the fundamentals of poetry and the study of voice through contemporary authors. Students read widely across time periods, study craft essays and build a critical vocabulary for analyzing poetry. Through a rigorous workshop process, they develop skills in thoughtful critique, discussion and revision, ultimately deepening their understanding of poetry and growing as creative writers.
Image: Gisele Parnell
Gender in Literature
In this course, students will examine representations of gender identities and gendered experiences in literature. They will analyze how gender is constructed and mobilized as a category of difference, both within narrative texts and in readers’ processes of interpretation. The course also explores intersections between gender and embodiment, nationalism, race, class and language. Readings include novels and poetry from a range of genres and historical periods, and assignments consist of graded discussions and short analytical writing.
Image: Eva Johnson
Literature of Monstrosity
This course examines representations of monsters and monstrous bodies in literature, focusing on how these figures are constructed, how their portrayals have evolved over time and the symbolic meanings they carry. Central questions include: Why are monsters so compelling? How have they historically been used to articulate and negotiate social anxieties? What do monsters reveal about Otherness, and what can they teach us about what it means to be human? Readings span several centuries and encompass a wide range of genres, including short stories, novels, plays and poetry. Writing assignments include both critical and creative projects, completed individually and collaboratively.
Image: Eva Johnson
Literature of the Asian Diaspora
This course explores works by Asian world writers who depict cultures and experiences shaped by migration and life in diaspora. Alongside themes such as homeland, displacement and the formation of new communities, the course emphasizes the literary genres each writer employs, or resists and analyzes the techniques these genres demand. Students engage critically with the work of diaspora scholars and theorists and closely examine texts across satire, speculative fiction, short stories and memoir.
Image: SmugMug
Topics in Literary Analysis: Visual Narrative
This analytical writing seminar approaches film as a literary text, focusing on the interpretation of visual rhetoric within the American film tradition. Students analyze the creative forces shaping visual narratives, examine the technological, historical and cultural developments of the medium and study the conventions of film’s narrative modes. The course also introduces theories of literature-to-film adaptation and considers the narrative implications of translating texts across media.
Image: Helen Frost