English
The English curriculum at The Fulton School cultivates curious readers, thoughtful writers, and compassionate citizens. Through close reading, discussion, and analytical and creative writing, students learn to think critically, communicate clearly, and engage thoughtfully with their own ideas and others’. Our curriculum balances canonical works with contemporary voices, spans cultures and time periods, and encourages students to approach literature with both intellectual rigor and joyful curiosity. Furthermore, our curriculum gives students meaningful opportunities to make choices about what they read, what they write, and how they pursue deeper inquiry, which fosters the independence and ownership that characterize a Fulton education.
We believe that reading and writing are acts of inquiry. Students return to texts to ground their ideas in evidence, experiment with language and form, and develop increasingly confident voices as readers, writers, speakers, and listeners. Across grades seven through twelve, students encounter literature that challenges them not only to analyze what they read, but also to better understand themselves, others, and the world they share.
Foundational Practices
While each English course has its own themes and texts, several experiences unite the Upper School English program and provide students with a shared foundation in reading, writing, and critical thinking.
While each English course has its own themes and texts, several experiences unite the Upper School English program and provide students with a shared foundation in reading, writing, and critical thinking.
Shakespeare
Every year, students in Grades 7–12 study the same Shakespeare play, selected in partnership with the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival's Education Program. Festival teaching artists work with Fulton students throughout the rehearsal process, culminating in a middle school performance for the school community.
Classical Roots
Students in Grades 7–12 study Latin and Greek roots, developing the vocabulary needed for sophisticated reading, writing, and communication while strengthening their understanding of language across disciplines.
Students in Grades 7–12 study Latin and Greek roots, developing the vocabulary needed for sophisticated reading, writing, and communication while strengthening their understanding of language across disciplines.
Writing and Language
Each English course emphasizes writing as a process of thinking. Students write frequently in analytical, creative, and reflective forms while receiving regular instruction in grammar, mechanics, style, and sentence craft.
Each English course emphasizes writing as a process of thinking. Students write frequently in analytical, creative, and reflective forms while receiving regular instruction in grammar, mechanics, style, and sentence craft.
Fulton Reads Fridays
Each Friday, students dedicate time to independent reading. Guided by their teachers, they choose books that both interest and challenge them, cultivating lifelong reading habits while developing the curiosity and independence that are central to a Fulton education. Throughout the year, students connect their independent reading to classroom discussions, writing, and inquiry.
Each Friday, students dedicate time to independent reading. Guided by their teachers, they choose books that both interest and challenge them, cultivating lifelong reading habits while developing the curiosity and independence that are central to a Fulton education. Throughout the year, students connect their independent reading to classroom discussions, writing, and inquiry.
Middle School English Curriculum (Grades 7 and 8)
Our Middle School English curriculum rotates on an A and B year cycle, complementing the Social Studies curriculum through shared themes and enduring questions. Each year invites students to investigate big ideas through a diverse range of literature, nonfiction, poetry, and writing experiences. Across both years, students build a strong foundation in literary analysis, analytical and creative writing, discussion, research, and independent reading. The curriculum is designed to help students grow as readers, writers, and thinkers while encouraging curiosity, empathy, and intellectual independence.
Our Middle School English curriculum rotates on an A and B year cycle, complementing the Social Studies curriculum through shared themes and enduring questions. Each year invites students to investigate big ideas through a diverse range of literature, nonfiction, poetry, and writing experiences. Across both years, students build a strong foundation in literary analysis, analytical and creative writing, discussion, research, and independent reading. The curriculum is designed to help students grow as readers, writers, and thinkers while encouraging curiosity, empathy, and intellectual independence.
A Year: Identity, Voice, and Belonging
Complementing the Civics curriculum in Social Studies, the A Year invites students to explore the enduring question: Who am I, and how do I become the person I choose to be? Through poetry, fiction, personal narrative, and nonfiction, students examine the many forces that shape identity while discovering and developing their own voices as readers and writers.
Complementing the Civics curriculum in Social Studies, the A Year invites students to explore the enduring question: Who am I, and how do I become the person I choose to be? Through poetry, fiction, personal narrative, and nonfiction, students examine the many forces that shape identity while discovering and developing their own voices as readers and writers.
Students begin the year by studying voice in poetry before experimenting with voice in their own writing. They then explore the relationship between culture and identity through personal essays and memoir, writing personal narratives that reflect on their own experiences. As the year progresses, students consider how communities influence our choices and values, culminating in a research-based inquiry into civic responsibility, media literacy, and source credibility.
Possible texts include: The Outsiders, The Iliad (graphic novel), Patron Saints of Nothing, The House on Mango Street, "Fish Cheeks," "Names/Nombres," and selected poems and short stories.
B Year: Perspective, Empathy, and Justice
While the A Year focuses on identity and belonging, the B Year invites students to look outward, asking how literature helps us understand lives, experiences, and perspectives beyond our own. Through fiction, memoir, drama, and historical nonfiction, students explore the enduring questions: How do our experiences shape the way we see the world? How does perspective shape truth? What responsibilities do we have to one another?
While the A Year focuses on identity and belonging, the B Year invites students to look outward, asking how literature helps us understand lives, experiences, and perspectives beyond our own. Through fiction, memoir, drama, and historical nonfiction, students explore the enduring questions: How do our experiences shape the way we see the world? How does perspective shape truth? What responsibilities do we have to one another?
Students begin by reading literature told through multiple perspectives before experimenting with perspective in their own writing. As the year progresses, they examine how individuals respond to systems of power and injustice, analyze how rhetoric shapes public conversations, and consider the role empathy plays in building stronger communities. Throughout the year, students continue to develop their analytical, argumentative, and creative writing while engaging thoughtfully with complex historical and contemporary issues.
Possible texts include: Salt to the Sea, Born a Crime (Young Readers Adaptation), The Theban Plays, March: Book One, Letter from Birmingham Jail, Lord of the Flies, and selected poems and short stories.
High School English Curriculum (Grades 9 to 12)
The Fulton School's High School English curriculum follows a four-year thematic cycle, allowing students to explore enduring questions through a rich variety of literature, nonfiction, poetry, and writing. Each course uses a central theme as a lens through which students encounter works from across cultures, genres, and time periods. Together, these four courses cultivate thoughtful readers, confident writers, analytical thinkers, and compassionate citizens.
The Fulton School's High School English curriculum follows a four-year thematic cycle, allowing students to explore enduring questions through a rich variety of literature, nonfiction, poetry, and writing. Each course uses a central theme as a lens through which students encounter works from across cultures, genres, and time periods. Together, these four courses cultivate thoughtful readers, confident writers, analytical thinkers, and compassionate citizens.
Throughout high school, students participate in a wide range of reading and writing experiences, including literary analysis, research, creative writing, discussion, presentations, and independent reading. While each course centers on a distinct theme, all emphasize close reading, evidence-based discussion, and writing as a process of inquiry, reflection, and revision.
Because of its size and commitment to developing the whole child, Fulton is able to personalize students' English experiences while maintaining a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum. In addition to the standard college-preparatory course, students may choose from the following opportunities:
Honors English (Grades 9 to 12)
Students who wish to engage more deeply with literary study may elect to take English for Honors credit. Honors students complete additional readings, participate in seminar-style discussions, and compose advanced analytical and creative writing.
Students who wish to engage more deeply with literary study may elect to take English for Honors credit. Honors students complete additional readings, participate in seminar-style discussions, and compose advanced analytical and creative writing.
Saint Louis University 1818 Dual Credit Program (Grades 11 and 12)
Juniors and seniors with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher may earn three hours of Saint Louis University dual credit each semester through the University's 1818 Program, allowing students to graduate with up to 12 hours of transferable college English or elective credit. Read more about the program here.
Juniors and seniors with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher may earn three hours of Saint Louis University dual credit each semester through the University's 1818 Program, allowing students to graduate with up to 12 hours of transferable college English or elective credit. Read more about the program here.
English I: Love and Loss
English I asks what we value, what we grieve, and what ultimately gives life meaning. Through novels, plays, poetry, and nonfiction spanning centuries and cultures, students explore the many forms love can take and consider how loss shapes identity, memory, and hope. Students engage in a wide range of reading and writing experiences, including literary analysis, personal and creative writing, discussion, and independent reading. Along the way, they develop the habits of close reading and thoughtful interpretation while exploring how literature helps us understand both the joys and complexities of being human.
English I asks what we value, what we grieve, and what ultimately gives life meaning. Through novels, plays, poetry, and nonfiction spanning centuries and cultures, students explore the many forms love can take and consider how loss shapes identity, memory, and hope. Students engage in a wide range of reading and writing experiences, including literary analysis, personal and creative writing, discussion, and independent reading. Along the way, they develop the habits of close reading and thoughtful interpretation while exploring how literature helps us understand both the joys and complexities of being human.
Possible texts include: Wuthering Heights, The Great Gatsby, Twelfth Night, A Raisin in the Sun, The Stranger, Shakespeare's sonnets, Station Eleven, and selected poems, essays, and short stories.
English II: Innocence and Experience
English II explores the transition from innocence to experience, asking what we gain, what we lose, and how literature challenges us to see the world with greater honesty and empathy. Through novels, poetry, essays, and nonfiction, students examine the moments that shape individuals and societies while considering how writers use language to persuade, question, and illuminate. Students continue to strengthen their analytical reading and writing while placing increased emphasis on argumentative nonfiction and research. Reading experiences include poetry, literature circles, independent reading, and whole-class novels and plays. Writing experiences include literary analysis, argument, research, creative nonfiction, and poetry.
English II explores the transition from innocence to experience, asking what we gain, what we lose, and how literature challenges us to see the world with greater honesty and empathy. Through novels, poetry, essays, and nonfiction, students examine the moments that shape individuals and societies while considering how writers use language to persuade, question, and illuminate. Students continue to strengthen their analytical reading and writing while placing increased emphasis on argumentative nonfiction and research. Reading experiences include poetry, literature circles, independent reading, and whole-class novels and plays. Writing experiences include literary analysis, argument, research, creative nonfiction, and poetry.
Possible texts include: Songs of Innocence and of Experience, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Don Quixote, The Awakening, Cobalt Red, Accountable, Braiding Sweetgrass, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, The Catcher in the Rye, Song of Solomon, and selected poems and short stories such as "The Flowers," "Araby," "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," "Good Country People," and "The Yellow Wallpaper."
English III: Home and Travel
English III explores what it means to leave home, return to it, or discover it in unexpected places, inviting students to consider the enduring question: To what, or to whom, do we belong? Through literature that spans centuries, cultures, and continents, students examine journeys both literal and metaphorical while exploring how identity is shaped by movement, displacement, and community. Students continue to develop as close readers and versatile writers through literary analysis, creative writing, discussion, independent reading, and literature circles. As they encounter diverse voices and experiences, they consider how literature broadens our understanding of home, travel, and our responsibilities to one another.
English III explores what it means to leave home, return to it, or discover it in unexpected places, inviting students to consider the enduring question: To what, or to whom, do we belong? Through literature that spans centuries, cultures, and continents, students examine journeys both literal and metaphorical while exploring how identity is shaped by movement, displacement, and community. Students continue to develop as close readers and versatile writers through literary analysis, creative writing, discussion, independent reading, and literature circles. As they encounter diverse voices and experiences, they consider how literature broadens our understanding of home, travel, and our responsibilities to one another.
Possible texts include: The Canterbury Tales, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre, Austerlitz, Exit West, The Namesake, Homegoing, Frankenstein, The Odyssey, and selected travel essays such as "A Ticket to the Fair" and "Shooting an Elephant."
English IV: Self and Society
English IV asks students to consider the enduring question: How should we live together? Through literature, history, philosophy, and contemporary nonfiction, students examine the relationship between the individual and society while exploring themes of justice, power, responsibility, and human dignity. Students synthesize the analytical, research, discussion, and writing skills they develop throughout the English program as they engage with increasingly complex texts and ideas. Reading and writing experiences include literary analysis, argument, research, discussion, presentations, and independent reading, encouraging students to become thoughtful readers, persuasive communicators, and engaged citizens.
English IV asks students to consider the enduring question: How should we live together? Through literature, history, philosophy, and contemporary nonfiction, students examine the relationship between the individual and society while exploring themes of justice, power, responsibility, and human dignity. Students synthesize the analytical, research, discussion, and writing skills they develop throughout the English program as they engage with increasingly complex texts and ideas. Reading and writing experiences include literary analysis, argument, research, discussion, presentations, and independent reading, encouraging students to become thoughtful readers, persuasive communicators, and engaged citizens.
Possible texts include: The Allegory of the Cave, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, The Crucible, Pride and Prejudice, 1984, Just Mercy, Stamped, How the Word Is Passed, Invisible Women, Heart of Darkness, Things Fall Apart, Cat's Cradle, and selected poems, essays, and short stories.