IB English Lit. A AP Lit. & Comp.

The curriculum for our IB English A Literature (HL) & AP English Literature & Composition courses are designed to prepare students for the International Baccalaureate examinations. Success in passing these academically challenging tests usually results in college credit. The accelerated pace of the Junior and Senior level of these advanced courses are similar to a college-level freshman analytical English literature course. Students develop skills which allow them to read critically, to write analytically, and to participate actively in daily class discussions, debates, and oral presentations. Objectives of this course are to prepare students for the IB/AP examinations, to promote a greater appreciation of works of literary merit, and to assist students in enriching their writing and communication styles. A strict Honors policy prohibiting the use of another source as one’s own will be enforced. Violation of this policy in the program could result in expulsion from the IB program.

Theory of Knowledge II

Theory of Knowledge II (ToK) provides an opportunity for students to reflect on the nature of knowledge, and on how we know what we claim to know. As a thoughtful and purposeful inquiry into different ways of knowing, and into different kinds of knowledge, ToK is composed almost entirely of questions.

The most central of these is "How do we know?", while other questions include:

• What counts as evidence for X?

• How do we judge which is the best model of Y?

• What does theory Z mean in the real world?

Through discussions of these and other questions, students gain greater awareness of their personal and ideological assumptions, as well as developing an appreciation of the diversity and richness of cultural perspectives.