<p>I'd like to hear some people's opinions on which schools they think have the best writing (literature, english, etc) programs, for: loomis chaffee, lawrenceville, phillips exeter and andover, and SPS.</p>
<p>I don't think you can really answer this question, unless perhaps a parent has had children go to more than one of the schools and noticed a big difference. Even within a school, there is going to be a range of quality, even if you could measure it. Rather than asking which is best, you might ask how the program is set up at any of those schools and how people with experience there like it.</p>
<p>andover has the best</p>
<p>Thanks Inq. That was kinda what i was trying to get at. People say that Lawrenceville has a top-notch english department, but I don't exactly know how it's great. Personal experience would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Thank you for your question.
I can affirm that Loomis Chaffee has a phenomenal English program. Between entering Loomis and graduating, students notice a tremendous improvement on their writing ability, fluency, and style. Loomis offers a wide variety of English courses, which include: </p>
<p>-African American Literature
-AP Senior Seminar in Literature
-Creative Writing
-English I
-English II
-English III
-English III Advanced Seminar
-Independent Studies in English
-Literature of the Sea
-Public Speaking and Argumentation
-Satire
-Shakespeare
-The American Dream
-Women in Literature
-Writing abut Reality: The Craft of Nonfiction
-Writing Workshop</p>
<p>As quoted from our website:
"The Loomis Chaffee English curriculum, three years of required courses and one year of electives, provides students with the skills they need to be effective and independent thinkers. The study of literature and writing leads students to this goal. The English curriculum likewise introduces students to the historical development of the ideas and the literature that they study. The readings of the freshman year investigate four basic genres: short story, drama, novel and poetry. The sophomore year focuses primarily on American literature, and the junior year adopts a thematic approach. Students read a play by Shakespeare in each of the first three years. In their senior year students choose among a wide variety of elective courses or opt for the Advanced Placement Seminar.</p>
<p>Believing that students profit from learning to read insightfully and from writing clear, logical and persuasive prose, the department teaches writing throughout its curriculum. To accustom students to expressing themselves in writing and to teach proper usage and diction, the freshman year emphasizes informal descriptions and narratives. Throughout the sophomore year expository writing and analytical essays, usually based on the reading material, gradually assume greater importance. In their junior year students further develop their expository writing, devoting much of the fall term to writing analytical and personal essays in preparation for senior electives, which require substantial reading and regular literary analysis.</p>
<p>The English department prefers discussions to lectures and expects students to accept responsibility for their education and to participate actively in creating a classroom atmosphere in which they and their classmates will develop as scholars and independent thinkers."</p>
<p>LoomisTourGuide brings up a great point by listing the course offerings. This is true for English as well as any subject. ALL the schools have great programs. It depends on what you want. Loomis clearly has a wide variety of English electives from which to chose in addition to the basics which all schools have. That's what you should be looking at.<br>
Same for things like science. All schools offer bio, chem, physics. It's what do they offer beyond those that you need to look at. </p>
<p>Most web sites list the courses offered. Check them out and see what is available. I would also see if you could meet with someone from that department when you go for your interview (ask when setting it up) at each of the schools.</p>
<p>Thank you Linda for your response.
Please</a> wait... includes links describing each course that I listed above.</p>
<p>Exeter definitely has a great English program. The Junior Studies course for incoming freshman especially teaches you not only to write but rewrite. I found myself going from turning in papers after one revision to going through over ten drafts to satisfy myself before turning it in. Unfortunately, up until Senior year, you don't get very many choices (ie you don't get any choices at all) in English electives, but the Senior electives are diverse and interesting. My personal favorite is the Lord of the Rings course taught by the principal himself.</p>
<p>Loomis also has a fantastic course called "Sophomore Writing Workshop" that is required of all (you guessed it!) sophomores. Once a week, you go to an auditorium where you sit and take notes on a lecture (given by an English teacher) and accompanying powerpoint. Each class has a main point of focus (ex: interpretive sentences, composing a personal narrative, imagery etc.). The best part about the class is that you aren't just sitting, falling asleep listening. The teachers are constantly calling on people to contribute by analyzing a passage, giving their opinion on a technique, or sharing general tips. For the last 20 mins. of class, you complete a practice worksheet that reinforces what you have just learned, and are also assigned homework that is due two days later. You hand your notebook, classwork and homework (a 2-page personal narrative, a paragraph analyzing language in a poem or vignette etc.) to your English teacher for grading, and they some how incorporate your grades from Writing Workshop into your overall English grade. My English teacher told me the other day that when they sent out a survey to alumni, 9 out of 10 people said it prepared them for college-level assignments and even writing they do as an adult.<br>
There's a "Proficiency Test" at the end of the year. If you don't pass, you take it over as a junior.</p>
<p>Depends upon whether you are referring to creative writing or analytical writing.Analytical writing is really a product of intelligence & understanding your subject matter, then presenting it in a clear & convincing manner. Therefore, the best school for writing may be the school that requires the most challenging analytical thought due to a rigorous curriculum & an intelligent, highly motivated environment such as that found in St. Paul's School's humanities courses. If you want school names, then certainly Groton, Andover, St. Paul's School & St. Andrew's School would be at or near the top of any reasonably assembled list. But this assumes that you are a student scoring well within the top 10% on standardized tests such as the SSAT.
Northfield Mt. Herman & Mercersburg Academy and any other school with small class sizes & serious students will help improve one's analytical writing ability.</p>
<p>SPS is one of the few schools that has a Humanities program. It combines elements of history, art, literature all into one course. In the course, you write about what you read, and vice-versa. Many students say they prefer a Humanities based course because it allows them to improve their writing through reading texts, as well as writing about the texts afterwards. Also, many students say that they find Humanities much more interesting than a normal English class.</p>
<p>From what I have researched I would feel most comfortable with St. Paul's humanities program. I think every student finds a program he or she likes and even a teacher that appeals to them in away no other does. All these schools are top of the line in every program, I feel like it's personal preference.</p>
<p>I'll just add to what has been said about the Sophomore Writing Workshop. It seems to be central to the four years of English at Loomis. For example, the 9th grade English class prepares students for the rigor of the Sophomore Writing Workshop. (My 9th grade kid is so grateful that his paper comes back full of helpful comments!) I'm sure that the juniors and seniors are held to very high standards following the Sophomore Workshop. My child would have gotten a great education at an international school in Asia... but the Writing Workshop is the kind of thing that convinces me that it was worth all the effort to go half way around the world.</p>
<p>Nasafato: My son has fallen in love with the St Pauls humanities program. His favorite courses were english and history, and he was initially reluctant about the concept. As I recall, it came about as the result of a Harvard School of Education study which indicated a need to integrate several diciplines into a more unified one. This is my son's third year there, and while he may not become the autor he once dreamed of, he loves the program and clearly agrees with the concept. How do you study Renissance history without understanding the books, art, architecture of the period and the role of the Catholic church? It is a two credit course, it is required, and it is great. </p>
<p>Their description is: " students learn to think critically in a unique curriculum that connects important elements of literature, history, philosophy, and religious studies." but it goes beyond that. My son now wants to go back to museums to see some of the paintings he never appreciated in context.</p>
<p>Winterset said, "How do you study Renissance history without understanding the books, art, architecture of the period and the role of the Catholic church?"</p>
<p>You can study it, but you won't fully understand it. You may be able to recall facts, but it won't have any meaning. </p>
<p>Oh, and don't leave the music out! Another interesting element of the humanities that is often overlooked is the roll of costume in reflecting social norms. For those of us who are cultural history geeks, SPS sounds like humanities heaven.</p>