Curriculum Detail

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Department

English

The English Department focuses on supporting the mission of the school by developing meaningful relationships with students through 1) shared, humanistic experiences discussing literature and language, 2) individual work on writing, and 3) ultimate regard for the development of character and leadership.

Members of the department have great passion for and much experience with the teaching of written and spoken expression. In service of the growth of our students, the department creates common experiences in each of its courses. These experiences include the following:

summer reading and writing assignment;
core 9-11 grade-level books (including a Shakespeare play and a multicultural text) with the addition of works selected by the teacher to develop units and themes;
discussion-based classes with opportunities for small group work and presentations;
ongoing focus on character, leadership, and ethics;
study (perhaps even memorization) of poetry and use of poetic terms;
cumulative work with vocabulary (from workbooks and/or from reading);
frequent and formative assessments (including annotation and reading quizzes);
various opportunities for writing (including creative pieces and other common grade-level assignments) with at least two “major paper” compositions per quarter;
a grade-level research-based project or activity;
use of The Bedford Handbook as the central resource for writing mechanics and MLA documentation;
coaching through the writing process (including planning, drafting, editing, and revision);
one-on-one writing conferences and line-editing of papers to provide feedback;
collection of papers in a writing folder (digital or paper) to be used throughout each year (and distributed upon graduation);
practice with in-class, timed writing and analysis;
two-day, in-class final examination essay or culminating assessment.

Guidance for Students Selecting AP Courses

The AP course is for eleventh grade students who have already achieved a high-honors level of performance in English by demonstrating excellence as close readers, critical thinkers, and expository writers, as well as mastery of the conventions of written English. With longer reading assignments, more analytical work with texts, and higher expectations for timed writing, the AP course is geared toward students who relish the advanced study of the English language and its literature.

Using these criteria, tenth grade English teachers will recommend students who are qualified for the AP course of study. (Note: teachers may recommend both courses if the decision depends upon interest level, course load, etc.) Students who wish to appeal for a recommendation should inform the Department Chair before the end of the course request process.

Note for Rising Seniors
Students choose two semester courses (and two alternates) from a menu of a diverse offerings for completion of the senior year English credit. Each course is unique in its focus; however, all courses will entail reading, writing, and discussion that challenge students to extend and apply the skills, habits, and insights developed in prior years.

English 09

Grade 9 | Full Year
English 9 is the Upper School introduction to the formal study of literature. Summer reading is Tobias Wolff’s memoir This Boy’s Life; core texts are Homer’s Odyssey, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Sandra Cisneros's House on Mango Street, Dore’s Premier Book of Major Poets, and Boynton & Mack’s Introduction to the Short Story. In addition to reading, discussing, and writing, students engage in ongoing study of grammar and vocabulary. Class assignments encourage critical thinking, literary analysis, and creative expression. Teachers supplement the core texts with selections and topics that enrich the students’ experience with the English language.
English 10

Grade 10 | Full Year

English 10 focuses on character education in the context of ongoing work with reading, vocabulary, and writing. The first semester curriculum begins with John Knowles's A Separate Peace (summer reading) and progresses through Emerson’s essay “Compensation” and Sherwood Anderson’s short story "Sophistication." Vocabulary study begins with essential concepts, values, and skills essential to thriving on the path to becoming good men. Writing assignments present opportunities to contemplate the potential for lives of service and leadership. In the second half of the year, each student writes a major paper that explores his family’s history as a foundation for his sense of self. Furthermore, classes study the core literary texts: Sophocles's Oedipus Rex, Shakespeare’s Macbeth and The Tempest, and F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Teachers may select additional texts to complement students’ experience in the course.
English 11

Grade 11 | Full Year

Complementing the junior year study of American history, this course focuses on American Literature, as represented by traditional classics and diverse voices. Summer reading is a Vietnam War novel entitled Matterhorn. Core texts are Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, and Shakespeare's Othello (a universal tragedy). In developing course themes, the teacher will select additional novels and plays, as well as short stories, poems, and nonfictional pieces. The course entails a personal essay unit, a public speaking unit, a literary criticism research paper, and practice with new vocabulary. Students will focus on the practice of writing skills necessary for the senior year’s semester courses and college-level composition.
AP English Language & Literature

Grade 11 | Full Year
Intended for students who are passionate about the English language and literature and who have already demonstrated excellence in reading and writing, this course focuses on the verbal artistry of a wide array of works, including not only fiction, drama, and poetry but also such nonfictional genres as editorials, letters, speeches, and visual texts. The course will prepare students for both AP English examinations. Students write a personal essay, rhetorical & literary analyses, syntheses of researched sources, and arguments. They also prepare a formal spoken presentation. The course entails close reading and timed writing. Moreover, the course maintains a focus on American literature, themes, and issues with summer reading of the Vietnam War novel Matterhorn, with the core texts of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, and Shakespeare’s Hamlet (a timeless tragedy), and with a selection of additional, diverse pieces and voices.
English 12 - Building a Way with Literature & Philosophy

Grade 12 | 1 Semester
Embark on an intellectual but practical journey designed to weave together the realms of literature and philosophy, illuminating paths to individual and collective flourishing. Delve into the essence of justice through Plato's Republic, unravel the art of transcending self-pity via the Book of Job, and explore rationality's role in sustainability through Kant’s insights. Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass invites you to experience the exhilaration of self-creation, while Self-Determination Theory offers practical strategies for nurturing well-being. Confront the enigma of mortality with Rilke’s Duino Elegies, fostering a courageous embrace of life's impermanence. Students will engage with these texts not just academically but as possible guides for living, emerging from the course with inspired resolve to undertake the rewarding, albeit arduous, challenge of crafting their paths in the world.
English 12 - Creative Writing: Poetry

Grade 12 | 1 Semester
This class will be conducted as a workshop. Each week students will spend some time reading and discussing famous modernist and contemporary poems; their study of the poetic tradition will help to inspire their own original poems. They will receive training in the effective use of formal features including diction, imagery, metaphors, similes, personification, and tone. Students will write some poems in traditional poetic forms and many poems in free verse. Each student will produce a portfolio of original poems by the end of the semester.
English 12 - Creative Writing: Short Fiction & Creative Nonfiction

Grade 12 | 1 Semester
This course will introduce students to the craft of writing short fiction and creative nonfiction. The first step in such an endeavor is to learn from excellent examples of the genres, and to that end, a portion of the semester will be spent closely reading outstanding short stories and essays, journalistic articles, travel pieces, and personal narratives. Of course, a large portion of the class will involve writing, workshopping student work, and meeting with the teacher to discuss pieces. Students will learn that good writing entails rewriting. By the end of the semester, students will have produced two short stories and one essay, each of at least 2,500 words.
English 12 - Dystopian Literature

Grade 12 | 1 Semester

Dystopian themes pervade our society. Movies, TV shows, videogames, and books focus on what could happen in our not-so-distant future if we don’t heed the warnings surrounding us. Conversely, perhaps these stories are prophecies; they intend to tell us what is surely to come whether we want it or not. Prophecy, warning, or both, we will consider why dystopias captivate us and what the authors of these works do through their fictional, yet often realistic, stories. Core texts include Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death. Possible additional texts include Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta, Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, George Orwell’s 1984, and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.
English 12 - Gothic Horror

Grade 12 | 1 Semester
This course will explore “Gothic” fiction and poetry from the 19^th to the 21^st centuries. Ruined castles, vampires, ghosts, demented monks, creepy graverobbers, madwomen in attics, weird mutations, and strange beings populate this literary world, and its novels and poems explore the dark side of human nature, reveal the bizarre relationship between eros and thanatos, and provide us with tantalizing and terrifying glimpses of the abyss. Representative works studied in this class may include Frankenstein, Dracula, and Jane Eyre as well as short works by Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft. In addition, we will read some modern Gothic works such as Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Daphne du Maurier’s classic Rebecca, and selected short stories by Stephen King.
English 12 - Literature of Human Rights

Grade 12 | 1 Semester

This course will explore human rights through the lens of fiction and documentary film, looking at texts that elucidate situations in which human rights are at issue. The course will explore how literature (broadly construed) grants us a deeper understanding of what we might mean by such concepts as "freedom of expression," "due process," "torture," and "equality." Books may include A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hossenini, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, American Dirt by Jeanine Cummings, White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, and The Psychology of Silicon Valley by Kathy Cook. Topics may include the Death Penalty, Indigenous People’s Rights, Global Women’s Rights/Feminism, Immigration/Refugees, Human Trafficking, Big Corporations and Workers Rights, and People with Disabilities/Ableism.
English 12 - Literature of War & Survival

English 12 | 1 Semester
This course travels from The Great War to the present, examining the literature that defined and was defined by conflicts of the time. In particular, we examine the mental impact of war and trauma on soldiers, their loved ones, and communities during and following times of conflict. We will study fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and film guided by two central questions: how and why do humans create literature and art throughout unimaginable loss and conflict? How do humans function, survive, and emerge through times of trauma? Students will focus primarily on analytical writing but with opportunities for personal essays and research. Earnest and enthusiastic engagement in class discussions is required.
English 12 - Once Upon a Time: Fairy Tales and Folklore in Literature

Grade 12 | 1 Semester
Do you think you know the story of Cinderella? Think again. The real story is a far cry from the 'Disneyfied' versions you grew up with—the ending will make you gasp with horror. Fairy tales and stories from folklore are fascinating, sometimes terrifying, and often much more meaningful than they seem at first glance. This class will explore the deeper meaning of fairy tales and their relevance to the human experience. Representative texts include the original version of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, James Barrie’s Peter Pan, the stories of Hans Christian Andersen, Washington Irving, and Charles Perrault, medieval ballads, other poems and folksongs, The Uses of Enchantment by Bruno Bettelheim, and films such as Splash, The Princess Bride, Hook, and Finding Neverland
English 12 - Science Fiction

Grade 12 | 1 Semester
“Science fiction is not predictive; it is descriptive.” –Ursula LeGuin
This course will introduce students to literature that falls within a broad genre, one that seeks to explore questions of “what if?” as much as it examines topics of humanity, culture, and the like. Science fiction pursues these ends via whatever creative liberties the author deems useful; reality need not apply, but through such methods, particular elements of realism are maintained or even accentuated. In studying stories and novels that imagine alternate realities and plausible futures, we will glean new ideas about our present.
English 12 - Sports in Literature & Society

Grade 12 | 1 Semester
Sports have often been referred to as a microcosm or metaphor for society at large, and this one-semester course for grade 12 students intends to use examples from our sporting world to explain (and sometimes predict) larger movements in our society. Also, this course will use an interdisciplinary approach to introduce students to aspects of narrative non-fiction often found in sports writing and will allow students to explore their own writing styles in this genre. Through current events, historical, and fictional writing, students will examine long-standing and modern issues of sports in our society. Students will be afforded the opportunity to engage in their own writing and revising, continue honing research skills and argument development, learn from writers, journalists, and industry leaders in the field, and conduct field studies in the Dallas area. The course asks students to engage in meaningful discourse, practical application, and thoughtful reflection.
English 12 - Texas, Dallas, and the One-Hundred-Year Partnership

Grade 12 | 1 Semester
This course will provide students an introduction to the history and literature of Texas, with a special unit on St. Mark’s and its relationship with the city of Dallas. In addition, students will be introduced to how a large, modern city functions: from how utilities are delivered to how city government works. Students will be tested over historical material, write several short literary analysis papers, and give at least one significant presentation. Oftentimes, at the start of the first class of each week, students will hand in a short reaction or descriptive paper (1-2 paragraphs) of no more than 275 words and lead a discussion on its subject matter. The topics will vary from week to week, usually focusing on Dallas landmarks or traditions. Experiential learning will play a large role in the curriculum. Speakers will include a civil engineer to discuss Dallas (and Texas) water issues, a nonprofit speaker on gentrification and housing insecurity, and a guide on a tour of the Hall of State, historic Swiss Avenue, and Freedman’s Cemetery. Participation and classroom leadership are absolutely essential to the success of our group endeavor. We will read chapters from Glen Ely’s Where the West Begins: Debating Texas Identify, Randall Cambell’s Gone to Texas, and Darwin Payne’s Big D., and all of Ben Fountain’s award-winning Dallas novel Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, Attica Locke’s Texas Ranger mystery Bluebird, Bluebird, and Larry McMurtry’s classic novella Horseman, Pass By.
English 12 - The Bible as Literature

Grade 12 | 1 Semester
In this secular class, we will explore the themes and archetypes of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. These profound stories have lasted the test of time because of their ability to uniquely speak to the human condition and experience. From God’s call for the separation of light and darkness to Cain’s horrendous murder of his brother and Job’s seemingly unjustifiable suffering, the stories of the Bible speak to how we can better both ourselves and our society. Moreover, the Bible is a foundational text for better understanding the Western canon. Biblical stories have shaped the minds and imaginations (and literary works) of Western people for millennia, and because it is the single most influential book ever written, it is well worth further investigation.

Faculty

Michael Morris

English Department Chair

214-346-8307

Williams College - B.A.
Columbia University - M.A.

morrism@smtexas.org
Bio
Michael Morris began his St. Mark’s career in 2014 and currently serves as English Department chair. Morris earned his B.A. from Williams College and M.A. from Columbia University. Before joining the St. Mark’s faculty, he taught and led the English Department at Vail Mountain School in Colorado and Western Reserve Academy in Ohio. Morris teaches freshman English and advises students in their junior and senior years. He has engaged in professional development through the National Endowment for the Humanities, the College Board and the Klingenstein Center for Independent School Leadership.
John Ashton

Associate Headmaster

214-346-8122

Indiana University - Bloomington - B.S.
Central Washington University - M.A.

ashtonj@smtexas.org
Bio
With more than 30 years experience as an educator, John Ashton serves the School as associate headmaster, a position to which he was appointed in 2015. He has held additional administrative and teaching positions at St. Mark’s (assistant head of Upper School, Wilderness director), Hockaday (head of Upper School) and various public schools in his home state of Indiana. Ashton first joined the St. Mark’s faculty as a member of the English Department in 1996, teaching sixth grade humanities, coaching three sports, serving as a trip leader in the Wilderness Program and managing student attendance. As the first director of the School’s Leadership & Ethics program, he played a crucial role in forming the foundation of the character education program here. He has also served as interim head of Upper School for two years.
William Atkinson

Head of Upper School

214-346-8110

Southern Methodist University - B.A.
Southern Methodist University - Masters of Education

AtkinsonW@smtexas.org
Bio
A 1995 graduate of St. Mark’s, William Atkinson ’95 joined the faculty as a Humanities teacher before being appointed Head of Upper School. A participant in the Pecos Wilderness program, he is also an assistant varsity football football coach and assists with assorted Middle School sports. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Southern Methodist University. After graduating from St. Mark’s, Atkinson attended West Point for two years before pursuing a career in law enforcement, teaching situational awareness to elite military personnel around the world. An accomplished artist, his work is exhibited in professional art galleries on the east and west coasts and Europe.
Lauren Brozovich

Upper School English Teacher

214-346-8177

Harvard College - A.B.
Harvard University - A.M.
Harvard University - Ph.D.

BrozovichL@smtexas.org
Bio
Dr. Lauren Brozovich began her St. Mark’s career in 2021 and currently teaches courses in AP English language, freshman English and AP English. Brozovich earned her A.B. from Harvard College, and A.M. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University. Before joining St. Mark’s, Dr. Brozovich taught English at Deerfield Academy and Phillips Academy. She also was a tenure-track professor of English at The University of Houston where she taught both undergraduate and graduate courses on American literature, poetry and ecocriticism. Dr. Brozovich serves as faculty co-sponsor of The Marque and the Advanced Poetry Analysis Club. At Phillips Academy, Brozovich received the Elizabeth Rogers Teaching Fellowship and at Harvard University, she received the Thomas Temple Hoopes Prize for Excellence in the Art of Teaching and a Harvard University Certificate of Distinction in Teaching. For her Ph.D. studies, she received an Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship in humanistic studies from the Woodrow Wilson Foundation.
David Gonzalez

Administrative Team Member; 9th-grade Class Co-Sponsor, English 9 and Humanities 8 teacher

214-346-8421

North Texas State University - B.A.
University of Dallas - M.H.

Gonzalez@smtexas.org
Bio
With a St. Mark’s career that began in 1995, Scott Gonzalez currently serves as English and humanities instructor as a member of the English Department. He is the Senior Master for the School and serves as class co-sponsor in the ninth and tenth grade class rotations. Gonzalez earned a bachelor’s degree from North Texas State University and a Master of Humanities degree from the University of Dallas. Before coming to St. Mark’s, Gonzalez taught Spanish, French and composition at Greenhill School for four years and was a board member for three years. He also taught English and chaired the English and Spanish Departments at The Winston School for seven years. At St. Mark’s he has twice served as interim head of Upper School and and was appointed to The Cecil H. and Ida Green Master Teaching Chair in 2020. He earned the John H. Murrell Excellence in Teaching Award in 1997, and was recipient of the Marksmen yearbook dedication in 2001.
Cameron Hillier

English Teacher, Director of the Wilderness Program and Head Varsity Tennis Coach

214-346-8428

Colby College - B.A.
Middlebury College - Bread Loaf School of English - M.A.

hillierc@smtexas.org
Bio
Cameron Hillier ’13 returned to his alma mater in 2020 as a member of the English Department, where he teaches classes in junior English, literature of war and survival and dystopian literature. Before returning to St. Mark’s, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Colby College. Hillier is the head tennis coach here, directs the School’s Wilderness Program and serves as an adviser in the freshman-sophomore class rotation. He also taught English at Christ School in Asheville, NC while coaching tennis and serving as head of house for one of the campus dormitories there.
John Perryman

English & History Teacher

214-346-8433

Williams College - B.A.
University of Texas at Dallas - M.A.
University of Texas at Dallas - Ph.D.

perrymanj@smtexas.org
Bio
In his position as director of Civic Responsibility, Dr. John Perryman is a member of both the History and Social Sciences Department and the English Department where he teaches courses in sophomore English, AP history and the highly popular senior elective, “A 100-year partnership: A history of St. Mark’s and the City of Dallas.” He joined the School in 2009 and previously served as assistant head of the Upper School. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Williams College and both a master’s degree and a doctorate from the University of Texas at Dallas. He was the recipient of the Marksmen yearbook dedication in 2016.
William Roudabush

Long-term English Substitute

RoudabushW@smtexas.org
Lynne Schwartz

Trustee Master Teaching Chair in Humanities

214-346-8126

University of California, Los Angeles - B.A.
University of Dallas - Master of Humanities

SchwartzL@smtexas.org
Bio
Lynne Weber Schwartz teaches A.P. Literature and Composition (12) and tenth grade English. She has held the Trustee Master Teacher Chair in Humanities for the past 20 years. Lynne sponsors the award-winning literary/art magazine The Marque and is the director of the St. Mark’s Teacher Institute. Before teaching at St. Mark’s, Lynne taught at Highland Park High School and the Mesquite Independent School District. For a number of years, she has served as lead consultant at a multitude of College Board A.P. English summer institutes in the Southwest. For seventeen years, she also served as a senior lecturer at The University of Texas at Dallas, teaching Curriculum and Instruction in English to pre-service teachers. In 2005, Lynne received the College Board’s Special Recognition Award. Lynne was editor-in-chief of the Laying the Foundation series of teacher guides and was the project director for the English Vertical Teams Guide published by the College Board. She holds a B.A. in History from UCLA and a Master of Humanities degree from The University of Dallas. Lynne is married and has a grown son and a daughter in Dallas, as well as a new granddaughter, Scarlett Rose.
Martin Stegemoeller

Malcolm K. and Minda Brachman Master Teaching Chair

214-346-8233

Northwestern University - B.A
Vanderbilt University - M.A.
Vanderbilt University - Ph.D.

stegemoellerm@smtexas.org
Bio
Holder of the Malcolm and Melinda Brachman Master Teaching Chair, Dr. Martin Stegemoeller teaches courses in humanities to eighth graders. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northwestern University and a master’s degree and doctorate from Vanderbilt University. Before coming to St. Mark’s, Stegemoeller taught English and math, coached golf and tennis, was a dorm parent and did development work at Lake Forest Academy in Illinois. Before that, he was an assistant professor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He is the faculty sponsor for the Telos Leadership Society, the Upper School Philosophy Club and the Middle School Philosophy Club. Stegemoeller received the Franklin J. Machette Teaching Award from Vanderbilt University in 1993, the John H. Murrell Excellence in Teaching Award in 2007, and the Ralph B. Rogers Alumni Award in 2013. He has been chosen by the Senior Class to deliver the Baccalaureate address twice and was the Marksmen yearbook dedicatee in 2011.
GayMarie Vaughan

Victor F. White Master Teaching Chair in English

214-346-8150

Pennsylvania State University - B.S.
University of Texas at Dallas - M.A.T.
University of Dallas - M.A.S.
Southern Methodist University - D.L.S.

vaughang@smtexas.org
Bio
As a member of the English Department, Dr. GayMarie Vaughan joined the St. Mark’s faculty in 2012 and teaches courses including sophomore English, literature of human rights, dystopian literature and literature of war and survival. She earned a B.S. from Pennsylvania State University, an M.A.T. from the University of Texas at Dallas, an M.A.S. from the University of Dallas and a D.L.S. from Southern Methodist University. Vaughan previously served as English Department chair at The King’s Academy in Knoxville. She also served as an English teacher at Nolan Catholic High School in Fort Worth and as English Department chair at Prince of Peace Christian School in Carrollton. Vaughan received the John H. Murrell Excellence in Teaching Award in 2018.

St. Mark’s School of Texas

10600 Preston Road
Dallas, Texas 75230
214-346-8000

About Us

St. Mark’s School of Texas is a private, nonsectarian college-preparatory boys’ day school for students in grades 1 through 12, located in Dallas, Texas. St. Mark’s aims to prepare young men to assume leadership and responsibility in a competitive and changing world.

St. Mark’s does not discriminate in the administration of its admission and education policies on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin.