In the 9th and 10th grades, the IACS English curriculum is aligned with the History curriculum, with students studying world literature in the 9th grade and American literature in 10th. In selected units, the History and English curricula are intermingled, giving students more time to focus in depth on cultural and historical themes.

In the Junior and Senior years, students are free to choose among semester-long English electives in which students are able to pursue a topic in far more depth. All English electives continue to emphasize writing skills and to teach students to read college-level literature. Electives include a wide range of focuses, ranging from an intensive Shakespeare course, in which students read a wide range of plays and learn about how they are performed, to a course on memoirs, in which students read a range of memoirs as they compose their own 20 page memoirs.