Students will participate in reading, writing, listening and critical thinking activities. Novels, as well as the textbook, will be read in and outside of class. Student will focus on reading texts of different genres, written for a variety of purposes. Students will also write formally and informally, and be expected to apply standard English punctuation, mechanics and spelling rules to their work. In this class students will master the eight parts of speech, additional grammar skills and apply them to their writing and speaking.