Suggested Age

16-17 years

Prerequisites

ENGLISH 3, or consent of the instructor based on student’s writing sample

Purpose

After reviewing the benchmarks of ENGLISH 3, this class will master the following:

• Essay formats that translate to any subject, including the SAT
• An advanced note-taking technique to prepare them for the rigors of college

PROCESS

The first semester emphasizes:
• Five-paragraph compositions
• Informative, persuasive, and timed essays
• Note-taking from a live lecture
• A research paper that aligns with our worldviews of literature study

The second semester includes:
• A worldview tour of American literature, covering the Christians, Deists, Transcendentalists, Realists, and Existentialists
• In-class essay exams over the authors, their philosophies, and their works

ENGLISH 4 marks the culmination of our study of vocabulary through English roots. Having learned to recognize the roots in their lists from ENGLISH 2 and 3, students will now hunt down the roots, prefixes, and suffixes of their new words themselves. The objective is to train them to independently break down any new vocabulary word into discernable parts and use them to figure out the basic meaning of the word. This practice is highly recommended by PSAT and SAT to improve performance on their exams. The weekly vocabulary component features:

• Charts to be filled out on each list, involving definitions, roots, prefixes, suffixes, synonyms, and antonyms
• The students’ own original, descriptive sentences using their new words
• Spelling tests administered by the parent-teacher
• Comprehensive lists of ENGLISH 2 and ENGLISH 3 roots, prefixes, and suffixes provided to aid their study

Curriculum & Texts, available at www.pahlowsenglish.com

• English 4 Course Workbook, by Debra Pahlow
• A Writer’s Guide to Transitional Words & Expressions, by Victor Pelligrino
• MLA Handbook for Writer’s of Research Papers, 7th edition
• A paperback copy of Roget’s Thesaurus, to bring to class