Thornton Township High School - Thorntonite Yearbook (Harvey, IL)

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i I .il-hunalafiond affine jufure fir Within these studies, each and every one, Are found the arms hy which the futu1'e's won. fi?

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Reading 1175 fffiff for one 07 Ugg-1g4w.., v---- to A .JL9 il -.ii li...-4'ss.,.., i H965 Since the earliest times the distinguishing mark between man and the lower forms of life from which he sprang has been the ability to communicate thoughts and abstract ideas. When man first began to talk he took the great upward leap which left the present gulf between him and animals. Gradually, along with the ability to talk, came the necessity for and the gradual realization of a need for a written form of com- munication. From the early picture-writings on the walls of the cavemen has developed our present complex system of written language. It is with these two fundamental aspects of life that the English department is concerned. It is the aim of the teachers of English to train their students in oral and written communication so that they can best perform their future work. The first part of this program comes in the freshman year. During this year students are given a free reading program. They are urged to read as much as possible. All tastes are con- sidered, and all types of books and stories are read. Since the ability to read the language is a necessity not only for later life, but for every subject that they will take in school, this year is spent in training and developing the habits and abilities of good reading. It is also a time in which the boys and girls come to understand and appreciate some of the best of the literature which forms our heritage. During the second year students are reviewed in and taught the essentials of grammar and composition. Since the mark of an educated person is his ability to speak the language cor- rectly, we here learn to talk well, using proper grammatical constructions. Through the com- positions which we write every week we learn to express ourselves clearly and accurately in writ- ing. The ability to scrawl letters on a piece of paper is useless unless these letters form words which record our thoughts and desires in a form which may readily be interpreted and under- stood by those who must read them. It is train- ing in this skill which is acquired during the sophomore year in school. The third year of English is divided into two semesters. During one semester we read the great literature of the world and receive training in public speaking. During the other semester we learn the forms and conventions of formal and informal business communication and letter writing, and we branch out into creative and imaginative writing, even indulging in some poetic forms. A fourth year of English is required of all those students who received less than a B aver- age during their first three years. These students read English literature, and receive further in- tensive work in business correspondence. For those students who have an A or B average in English five elective courses are given. One of these is in radio work, one in dramatics, one in creative writing, and two in journalism. One journalism class publishes the newspaper, the other publishes the yearbook which you are now enjoying.