GEHRHSD Curriculum Guide 2026-27

This is a college preparatory course designed for students in grades 11 and 12. This course investigates the relationships between visual media and literature, studying specifically the links between genre, structure, tone and style. The course explores how art challenges cross-cultural, political, and aesthetic boundaries. Here, “reading” involves the analytical deconstruction of film as “text.” Students endeavor to become better academic writers through interpretation, analysis and research. The course also challenges students to write their own film scripts. This course is structured to balance both classic and contemporary literature, allowing students to draw connections among the plays of Shakespeare, Miller, and Shaw with more modern works like The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Road. This course is aligned to the NJ Student Learning Standards in English Language Arts for Grades 11 and 12 and fulfills an English graduation requirement. LITERATURE AND CINEMA: ANALYZING THE ARTS Grades 11-12, 5 Credits This course is designed to blend composition & literature into a cohesive whole as students write critical & comparative analyses of selected literature. Students will receive advanced instruction in writing for a variety of purposes & audiences for the explicit purpose of preparation for higher education reading and writing. The course highlights careful reading and analysis of a variety of literary works drawn from various genres, periods, and cultures. Through the close and active reading of representative texts, students will deepen their understanding of the writer’s style and use of language. Long-form fiction spans Bronte to Ellison, Dickens to Conrad, Morrison and Walker to Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams. HONORS ENGLISH IV Grade 12, 5 Credits Prerequisite: Teacher recommendation and/or a 90 or above in current College Prep English course.