Literature and Writing

The first summer and fall semester literature course is organized around the theme of identity. Although students are encouraged to confront many different themes in the literature they read, they continuously focus on how the novels, plays, short stories, and poems grapple with how an individual defines himself.

As the year progresses, textual themes focus on more universal questions relating to human nature and our relationship to one another and to the environment. We study literature which expresses the values and beliefs of a culture, as well as classic works that challenge students to think about the concept of “the journey.”

In class, all students are expected to offer their ideas about the reading. The goal of the literature course is to develop in every student an ability to read effectively and critically, and to discuss literature in a group. Participation is expected and required in every class, and students are repeatedly encouraged to offer text-based evidence for their comments and observations. Students also participate in two oratory experiences throughout the course of the year in which they commit a meaningful passage from any text read to memory and perform it in authentic voice for the larger community…an impressive feat to be sure.

The goal of the writing portion of the course is to develop critical writers who can analyze and synthesize major themes and ideas in essay form. Teachers begin the first summer session by teaching students how to write a solid paragraph, complete with topic sentences and concrete detail textual examples. After mastering the paragraph, students will move on to learn the pre-writing skills of brainstorming, outlining and organizing an essay. Once they have written a full-length essay draft, students learn the revision process. By the end of the program, students will have written and revised a number of essays of varying types and been offered a thorough introduction to the writing approach developed by George Hillocks at the University of Chicago.

Among the texts our scholars explore:

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Maizon at Blue Hill by Jacqueline Woodson
Black Boy by Richard Wright
A Hope in the Unseen by Ron Suskind
A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
Black Voices an Anthology of Poetry
Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths by Bernard Evslin
The Scarecrow and His Servant by Philip Pullman
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
The Pearl by John Steinbeck
The Odyssey by Homer (Stanley Lombardo translation)
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare