Grade 9 · English

Grade 9 English

Grade 9 English is the first high-school course: longer texts, the first formal literary essays, and quotations that have to be worked into the writing. Here is what the year covers, where students usually lose marks, and one way to help.

What your teen learns this year

Grade 9 English looks much the same across curricula:

  • Reading. Novels, short stories, poetry, drama (often a first Shakespeare play) and non-fiction.
  • Analysis. Character, conflict, theme and the writer's choices, with evidence from the text.
  • Essays. A thesis, body paragraphs that prove it, and quotations introduced and explained.
  • Media. How ads, news and online content are made and what they want from the reader.
  • Speaking. Presentations, discussions and debates.

Ontario's grade 9 English is one course for everyone (ENL1W). In the US, grade 9 is usually English I or English 9.

Where students usually lose marks

  1. 1Dropping in a quotation with nothing around it. A quote as its own sentence leaves the reader wondering who said it and why it is there.
  2. 2Quoting too much. A five-line quotation hides the words that matter. Usually a phrase is enough.
  3. 3Writing “this shows” without saying what. “This shows his character” isn't an explanation. What does it show about him, exactly?

One of Pip's tricks

Quote sandwich

Use it when putting a quotation into an essay or a reading response.

  1. Top slice: a lead-in that says who is speaking and when.
  2. Filling: the quotation, short, in quotation marks, with the page or line.
  3. Bottom slice: your explanation of what the quotation shows.

Watch it work. Writing about a brother's loyalty, with the quotation “I don't remember that night” (p. 142):

  • Top: When the detective asks who drove, the brother answers only,
  • Filling: “I don't remember that night” (142).
  • Bottom: The reader knows he remembers every detail, so the forgetting is a lie he tells to protect his sister.

Why it works: a quotation with no lead-in leaves the reader unsure who is speaking, and one with no explanation leaves them to guess why it is there.

Try three

Tap a choice to see if it is right, with the reason.

  1. 1.Which is a floating quote?

  2. 2.The top slice of a quote sandwich…

  3. 3.The bottom slice of a quote sandwich…

How Sparkpip fits in

Pip, Sparkpip's tutor, works through texts and paragraphs like these with your teen one small step at a time, using methods like the one above.

Start freeSee how it works

Your curriculum

Sparkpip is built on the grade 9 English curriculum for your province or state. The official pages:

Also: Grade 8 English · Grade 10 English · Grade 9 math · Grade 9 science