English

The English curriculum is designed to reinforce and develop a student’s ability to think, read, write, and speak. Students explore connections between literature and the human experience, learning to consider increasingly complex questions through the analysis of a great variety of texts that range from the canonical to the contemporary. Over the course of their MSA career, students study the great texts of literature in English and of world literature. Students study vocabulary and grammar throughout their MSA career, although students in their junior and senior years are expected to have mastered formal grammar studies and have increased responsibility for the application of grammar in their writing. Students receive a systematic introduction to academic argument, rhetoric, and the scholarly writing process. They are taught to structure their essays around conceptually rich claims, to support all assertions with well-chosen evidence, to address other viewpoints, and to edit carefully. Students’ writing progress is assessed regularly. In sum, the goal of the English Department is to develop thoughtful, confident, well-read, and articulate students who are fully prepared for the rigors of the college classroom and a life of intellectual adventure.

Jay Kauffmann
English Department Chair
✉︎ jkauffmann@millerschool.org