As part of the ongoing reorganization of the English curriculum, the ISearch essay will be moved from the fall semester of junior year to the fall of senior year.

This year, juniors at the advanced level took a Rhetoric and Composition class in the fall semester during which they wrote the ISearch, a five to seven page paper about a topic of their choice. They are currently taking American Literature in the spring semester before they take a Contemporary American Literature course next year. The ECP level is taking a full year of American Literature in their junior year and the Rhetoric and Composition class in their senior year.

The English curriculum, however, is being modified for next year’s juniors, who will all take a full year of American literature and rhetoric, regardless of their level. Senior year, they will all take the semester-long composition course, during which they will write the ISearch.

According to Academic Dean Aileen Goldstein, the composition class was added specifically to focus on the development of writing and research skills, particularly the analysis of primary source and the construction of an essay with secondary sources.

“One of the things we identified when reviewing our curriculum last year was that it would be best for students and their learning process if we isolated the reading and writing skills into a separate course where students could focus exclusively on the research and writing process through a variety of methods,” Goldstein said.

Goldstein said that the change for the advanced level from having the composition course in the fall semester of junior year to senior year makes more sense than the current timing of the course.

“We quickly learned from this year’s classes that the course would be much better timed for everybody in the senior year, leaving American Literature as the sole focus for the 11th grade,” Goldstein said.

English Department Chair Thomas Worden also said that the change would allow more time for students to focus on different writing skills.

“One more year of writing standard critical essays gives these students the opportunity to master linear argument based in a single literary text before having to write on multiple texts,” Worden said.

Additionally, Worden said that the ISearch was always in junior year because that was the earliest time at which students were prepared to write it, but that the paper never fit in as part of the junior year course. According to Worden, having the ISearch in its own course makes much more sense for the continuity of the English department curriculum.

Sophomore Ezra Loeb, who is in advanced English, thinks that the change will be beneficial. He believes that moving the ISearch to senior year will help lessen the workload of junior year.

“While the ISearch will now be at the same time as college applications, I still think it’s better to remove its stress from junior year,” Loeb said.

English teacher Nancy Wassner, who taught the Rhetoric and Composition course this year, said that moving the class will allow more flexibility for students who wish to change their English class level. Since the composition and American Literature courses focus on different skill sets, the separation of these classes will allow students who excel at certain skills, but not others, to challenge themselves at different times.

“There are certain students who might be very, very strong readers, but who need more support in writing, who might choose not to take composition as an advanced class,” Wassner said. “On the other hand, there may be students whose reading comprehension is not as strong, but who are very, very strong writers, who may want the challenge of taking a composition course at the advanced level.”

Junior Mollie Griminger, however, recently completed the Rhetoric and Composition course in her advanced English class and thought the timing of the course helped her develop necessary writing skills as a junior.

“It’s good to know these types of skills by this time, before you start writing things for AP courses or college courses, rather than 12th grade where you’re learning it all last minute and you may not really care,” Griminger said.

Worden, however, believes that the new curriculum will benefit all students by providing them with the time and skills they need to learn.

“The 11th-grade American Lit class will now offer everyone the opportunity to build skills necessary to succeed in the ISearch project,” Worden said. “This change will also bring some continuity to our program, as now everyone will be able to take a full year of American Lit.”