This live online Honors English course is designed for advanced high school homeschoolers in the 10th grade (15+) and up who are seeking a comprehensive, full-year English class.
Through analytical reading, engaging discussions, and targeted essay writing, students will delve deeply into the souls of literary characters and into the minds of the writers who created them. Beginning with Old English Beowulf and ending with a piece of equally imaginative literature written during their lifetime, students and their classmates will explore the many facets that equip novels, plays, short stories, and poems to stand the test of time--moving us emotionally, intellectually, and socially.
Class Details
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Honors English Literature & Composition 2 } Traditional, full-year, live class
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Looking for a 10th grade NON-honors or self-paced English class? Look HERE.
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Tuition & Resources:
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Tuition: $865
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Instructor: Christine Proctor
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Dates: August 18, 2025 to May 8, 2026
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Optional Weekly Live Check-Ins: Wednesdays @ 1:30-2:30 p.m. Eastern
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Grade level: 10th and up (15+)
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Prerequisite: Students should have successfully completed Blue Tent Honors English Lit & Comp 1 or rigorous 9th grade-level English classwork
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Class size: 35
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See our FAQ for:
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age/grade guidelines, prerequisites, and class fit recommendations
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a complete list of days, times, and breaks
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a list of CA charter schools where this course is a-g approved
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Format:
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Students share an interactive online classroom and (optional) meet live on Zoom.
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This class can be taken synchronously or asynchronously.
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An optional mid-week "check in" takes place on Zoom.
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The live meeting in this class is not a lecture.
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Topics in the optional check-ins vary week to week based on what students need the most. They might include such things as:
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a discussion about the details of an upcoming writing assignment
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modeling of a student essay, with the instructor walking through it to point out strengths and weaknesses (the essay is always one that has prior approval of the author to use)
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teacher instruction/elaboration on elements that need reinforcing
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student and teacher-directed discussions about the class reading
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questions/answers about anything related to the class assignments/reading
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Students can drop in to ask questions and receive assistance or they can attend the entire hour.
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This class is highly active. Students will be conversing with one another and with the instructor both live (optionally) and on the class website in weekly text-based discussion forums.
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Average weekly time estimate: 8-10 hours per week
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This course is NCAA-approved.
A Lift to Analysis and Argument
As experienced readers, students who join this class realize that an author’s intent and what we glean from fiction and non-fiction may be quite different.
In weekly class discussion forums--where students and their peers post opinions and consider their classmates’ and instructor's additional points of view--perspectives will be broadened.
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A variety of resources, assignments, and discussion topics interweave to help students and their classmates hone their skills in the areas they need it the most.
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In fiction, beginning with identifying the simplest simile, students quickly move to appreciate the reasons writers use extended metaphors, motifs, and many other literary strategies.
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In non-fiction, students will focus on the writer's purpose and identify the tools that move a reader to a particular point view.
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Practicing annotation skills that are needed for close reading will help students excavate their way to becoming more discerning readers and writers.
Pump Up Your Writing
Honors English 2 is a course for students who already feel comfortable composing and editing multi-paragraph essays that apply sound grammar conventions, arguable thesis statements, a variety of sentence structures and word choices, and topic/closing sentences. This will be our starting point.
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Short and efficient grammar exercises will avoid a rehash of what is already known. These assignments will be designed to pump up writing skillfulness.
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Students and their classmates won't simply be writing to an audience of "one." They will be sharing their ideas and strategies with a friendly group of students in helpful writing forums, collaborating with their peers and receiving detailed instructor feedback on each essay that is written.
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Regularly recurring test-prep exercises will help prepare students for the English and writing portions of the SAT and ACT and for AP classes to come.
Enjoy Reading & Writing Poetry
And what English course would be complete without a jaunt through the green, fragrant pastures of poetry?! Instead of a separate unit buried deep within a literature framework, students can look forward to weekly reflection as they read, write, and--most importantly--understand this sometimes-daunting art form. They’ll be amazed how easy it is to spot figurative language and other literary devices in a James McBride novel after taking apart a poem by Ogden Nash!