English
About Us
The MCHS English Department is committed to challenging and preparing all students for success during and after high school.
Department Highlights:
9th grade integrated English/Social Science Program (Global Perspectives Core)
Senior Selective English classes (thematically-structured course options)
Jack London Award Winner for the Senior Poetry Unit
Books Typically Taught in MCHS English Courses
| 9th Grade Books | Authors |
| Romeo and Juliet | Shakespeare |
| Things Fall Apart | Achebe |
| Nectar in a Sieve | Markandaya |
| Samurai's Garden, The | Tsukiyama |
| Siddhartha | Hesse |
| Bless Me, Ultima | Anaya |
| In The Time of the Butterflies | Alvarez |
| Kite Runner, The | Hosseini |
| 10th Grade Books | Authors |
| Greek Mythology | Various |
| The Odyssey | Homer |
| 1984 | Orwell |
| All Quiet on the Western Front | Remarque |
| Animal Farm | Orwell |
| Antigone | Sophocles |
| Brave New World* | Huxley |
| A Doll's House | Ibsen |
| Ender's Game | Card |
| Fahrenheit 451 | Bradbury |
| Frankenstein | Shelley |
| Jane Eyre* | Bronte |
| Lord of the Flies | Golding |
| Othello | Shakespeare |
| Oedipus | Sophocles |
| A Tale of Two Cities* | Dickens |
| Night | Wiesel |
| 11th Grade Books | Authors |
| The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | Twain |
| Animal Dreams | Kingsolver |
| Beloved* | Morrison |
| Black Boy | Wright |
| The Catcher in the Rye | Salinger |
| Cat's Cradle | Vonnegut |
| The Crucible | Miller |
| Death of A Salesman | Miller |
| East of Eden | Steinbeck |
| Great Gatsby, The | Fitzgerald |
| The House on Mango Street | Cisneros |
| Montana 1948 | Watson |
| Of Mice And Men | Steinbeck |
| The Scarlet Letter* | Hawthorne |
| Their Eyes Were Watching God | Hurston |
| Things They Carried, The | OBrien |
| To Kill A Mockingbird | Lee |
| 12th Grade Books | Authors |
| Candide* | Voltaire |
| Catch-22* | Heller |
| Crime and Punishment* | Dostoevsky |
| Doubt | Shanley |
| Fast Food Nation | Schlosser |
| Into Thin Air | Krakauer |
| Grendel | Gardner |
| Hamlet | Shakespeare |
| Heart of Darkness* | Conrad |
| The Importance of Being Earnest | Wilde |
| Invisible Man* | Ellison |
| King Lear | Shakespeare |
| Long Day's Journey Into Night | ONeill |
| Medea (translated by Jeffers) | Euripedes |
| One Hundred Years of Solitude* | Marquez |
| Picture of Dorian Gray | Wilde |
| Pride and Prejudice | Austen |
| Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead | Stoppard |
| The Secret Life of Bees | Kidd |
| Slaughterhouse Five | Vonnegut |
| Song of Solomon | Morrison |
| The Stranger | Camus |
| Twelfth Night | Shakespeare |
| Waiting for Godot* | Beckett |
| Fast Food Nation | Schlosser |
| Into Thin Air | Krakauer |
| *Denotes Book typically in honors or AP |
Department Members
Department Members
Jacob Boulais, B.A. CSU Sonoma
Natasha Deakins, B.A., UC Los Angeles
Madelyn Doyle, B.A., CSU Sonoma
Laura Hall-Grodrian, B.A., CSU Chico
James Hart, B.A., Stanford
Jordan Henry, M.A.T., University of San Francisco
David Babington, M.A., New York University
Jenna Madsen, B.A. CSU Sonoma
Trish Terrell, M.A., Stanford
Emily Wolper, M.S., Dominican University
Courses Offered
Academic English 1,2,3,4
English 3,4
Honors English 1 and 2
AP Language and Composition (11th)
AP Literature and Composition (12th)
Journalism 1 and 2
Senior Selectives
Resources
Testimonials MCHS Graduates Reflect on Their English Experience
Curriculum Guide By Grade Level
Project Wayfinder
In addition to diverse literature, Wayfinder is research backed, socio-emotional curriculum that guides students to purposeful leadership through various lessons based on essential life skills. These lessons focus on alignment with core values, build upon personal strengths and provide tools for students to to traverse their own personal journeys. Our Wayfinder curriculum fosters a unique connection with peers and teachers alike, to be able to discover deeper personal fulfillment and purposeful direction.