This course is designed to meet the educational needs of the students based on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills objectives. Emphasis will be on fundamental language skills: reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing and presenting. An emphasis on vocabulary and composition skills will be an on-going part of the program. The course includes studies of various literary genres: short story, poetry, novel, drama and non-fiction. The development of critical reading and critical writing skills is a major emphasis of the course.