Havergal's Uncalendar, 2019-20 Academic Year

GRADE 12 ENG4U – English, Grade 12, University Preparation 1 CREDIT

inherent in living a human life, reveals universal truths and allows us to step into other people’s shoes and see the world from another person’s perspective. Current research from the University of Toronto demonstrates that exposure to literature not only helps us to deal with uncertainty, ambiguity and the unknown in our daily lives, but it also opens our minds and improves our creativity. This course is for both people who like discussing literature as well as those who prefer to reflect on it and write about it quietly. It is also suitable for those who love to read as well as those who want to improve their reading skills and knowledge of Western literature. Did you know that some police forces, law departments and medical schools give their students required literary reading lists in order to learn empathy for their clients? If you are looking for a liberal arts course that can be applied to any university program in the arts or sciences, then this is the course for you. The course offers a selection of short stories, novels, poems and plays. Student input in regard to the choice of texts is welcomed. Ready to take the plunge? ENG3U – English, Grade 11, University Preparation EWC4U – The Writer’s Craft, Grade 12, University Preparation 1 CREDIT Do you want to write the great Canadian novel? Does the heart of a poet beat within your breast? Have you always wanted to ink your own superhero? Do you moan every year: Why do we have to write an essay, what about creative writing? If you answered yes to any of these questions, Writer’s Craft may be just the course for you. In this class, you will write microfiction pieces, short stories, poems, reviews, memoirs and other pieces of creative non- fiction. We will also read the most recent, most applauded publications in Canada and the world. We form a writing community together, reading each other’s pieces, laughing over our comedies and crying with our tragic characters. We will try, each one of us, to find a creative writing we love. The highlights of the course are a visit to the AGO to write about visual art; a reading night in May when we come together to do share our best work; and a culminating assessment to write whatever you came to Writer’s Craft hoping to do. Past offerings have included TV pilots, memoir pieces, poetry collections, children’s books and even a few graphic novels. Prerequisite: ENG3U – English, Grade 11, University Preparation

“There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, ‘Morning, boys, how’s the water?’ And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, ‘What the [heck] is water?’”—David Foster Wallace This anecdote from David Foster Wallace captures the essence of ENG4U, a course about learning to see the invisible water in which we swim. Mostly, we’re going to ask the question: “How?” How did that ad for laundry soap leave me in tears? How did Iago convince Othello to kill Desdemona? How can novels written over a hundred years apart share so much in common? How did T.S. Eliot create meaning in a poem that defies logic? How has the media contributed to the impossibility of a female U.S. president? As you can see, ENG4U explores a range of student passions. Not so interested in literature? Well, our first unit focuses not on literary study, but on the art of persuasion. And to study argument, we’ll start close to home, with your personal statement for university. Planning to pursue a career in business? This course will hone your boardroom skills, helping you gain confidence in making presentations and thinking on your feet. Are you a media addict? We’re going to look closely at the social impact of media representations of gender, race and class. Do you enjoy the social sciences? We’ll use the novels, drama and poetry we read to ask a range of big cultural questions. Here’s the bottom line: we know you’ll come because you have to. We hope you’ll stay because you want to. Prerequisite: ENG3U – English, Grade 11, University Preparation ETS4U – Studies In Literature, Grade 12, University Preparation 1 CREDIT “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body” —Joseph Addison The Booker-prize winning author Julian Barnes says: “When you read a great book, you don’t escape from life, you plunge deeper into it.” Are you looking for a course to help you plunge deeper into life whilst also improving your reading, writing and critical thinking skills that are so important for university? Look no further! Great writers and thinkers have always been even greater readers. Writer D. H. Lawrence referred to the novel as “the bright book of life.” Literature puts ideas upside down for argumentation, shows us ways of being, helps us to navigate the big emotional moments

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