Classroom Spotlight | DP English A

HL students familiarize themselves with the psychologically complex short stories of Russian-born Anton Chekhov, while SL students take a theory of knowledge approach to the subtitled versus dubbed version of Squid Game. Year two starts with a canonical classic in Shakespeare’s Hamlet through various literary lenses. Hamlet is followed up with the multi-generational feminist text by Salvador Allende’s cousin Isabel Allende. This text challenges students to look at class hierarchy in Chile as well as how history influenced the writing. Once March/April arrives, the students begin practice for the paper 1 non-literary exam using true crime content to stay relevant and promote interest. The year finishes off with an intertextuality approach to one of Jane’s Austen’s classics and the book/film adaptations that have been created in a more modern space.

Along with learning new mediums for presentation, students are gaining skills for connecting texts and reality. While studying the large bodies of work, they are complemented by recent non-literary works of similar themes or concepts. For example, The House of Spirits was joined together with the history of Chilean leader Pinochet’s military techniques alongside modern American interrogation techniques. Students considered the usage of these techniques inside the book as well. The most difficult skill for English A students is forming global issue statements and supporting their findings using authorial choices. Global issues are not necessarily global problems. It challenges students to look beyond the ills of the world. Grade 11 student Grace Li came up with a great example of a global issue this semester with: “The power of imaginative language can raise political and social awareness.”