English

This course is the foundation for subsequent English courses and focuses primarily on the development of clear, concise writing and speaking. The course improves the students’ close reading skills to sharpen their precision of thinking, writing, and expression. Students focus on such qualities as word choice and literary devices as they seek to unearth the significance of literary passages. Since each assertion or claim that a student makes in writing must be supported by evidence from the text itself, students aim to integrate quotations smoothly and effectively in their critical observations. In the first semester, students work on writing individual paragraphs to build incrementally toward passage analyses, poetry explications, and longer essays written in the winter and spring terms. Some assignments afford students opportunities to practice critical thinking in creative exercises; such assignments include memorizing monologues or poems, acting out scenes from dramatic works, and writing personal essays that are linked to texts being read in class. Modeling various writing styles and modes allows students to begin fusing rather than isolating analytical and creative work as they seek their own voices. Texts studied in recent years include Oedipus Rex, Antigone, A Raisin In The Sun, Macbeth, Things Fall Apart, Great Expectations, Seagull Reader Stories, and Poetry (anthologies). Intensive study of vocabulary and grammar facilitates the students’ development of varied diction and sound writing. Effective class participation—both in informal discussions and more formal debates and presentations—is an essential requirement of the course.

Note: Available to, and required for, grade 9 only.

Prerequisites: None.

In this course, students will analyze themes related to identity in multiple ways: the formation of personal identity, the complex dynamic of the collective or group identity, as well as how and why the individual can or must disguise or transform their identities. Building on the interpretive strategies that they learned in the Lower Mid year, students will extend their analysis of texts by considering them in light of each unit’s essential questions.  Students will evaluate the literary devices utilized in fiction, non-fiction, poetry in order to build a tool-kit for analysis. Students will continue to expand upon their ability to write analytical, thesis-driven essays, to use textual evidence in order to support their claims and illustrate their points in passage analyses and longer interpretive essay assignments. Students will also continue building mastery in mechanics, grammar, and MLA citation skills. Recent texts utilized in this course have included Station Eleven, The Dew Breaker, and Othello among others.

Note: Available to, and required for, grade 10 only.

Prerequisites: None.

The Upper Mid English course explores American identity over two hundred years of the country’s existence and through a variety of genres, including creative non-fiction, the novel, lyric poetry, satiric prose, and drama. Students are expected to practice extensive close reading, engage regularly in seminar discussion, and write both analytical and personal essays. Such writing takes place inside the classroom and out, allowing UMs to hone their critical thinking skills and multiply their forms of written expression. The course seeks to uncover the varieties of the American experience as well as identify the formal elements of creative writing that produce powerful art. Readings may include Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Nella Larson’s Passing, and a collection of short stories, poetry, and essays in conjunction with these longer works.

Note: Available to, and required for, grade 11 only.

Prerequisites: None.

In Honors Upper Mid English, students will read and analyze works of American literature from colonial to contemporary times. Forms studied include poetry, short stories, novels, drama, and nonfiction from across the evolving American canon. Students will continue to develop and expand their abilities in crafting an argument and using compelling evidence to support claims. Students can expect nightly reading and writing assignments. In Harkness style discussions, students are expected to show independence, awareness, and appreciation of the text and the contribution of their peers. Students will engage with many types of writing over the course of the year, including formal, informal, and creative responses. In-class passage analysis and essays (2-3 pages) are assigned throughout the semester. Students can expect both independent, group, and research projects that deepen their understanding of the themes and ideas explored throughout the course. The course culminates with an independent research project that is both related to the course content and individual student interest. Texts read in this course often include The Scarlet Letter, The Age of Innocence, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, among other longer texts as well as short stories, speeches, and poems.

Note: Available to grade 11 only.

Prerequisites: None.

This course is a workshop for students who need training in close reading, logical and critical thinking, and writing skills.  The readings are used to increase respect for detail and inference, to inspire ideas, and to serve as models for student writing.  The forms of composition range from personal narrative to exposition to analysis; students write almost daily, in or out of class, and the group edits much of their writing.  The objective of this workshop is to unify the students in a group effort, guided by the instructor, toward self-confidence and marked improvement in reading and writing skills.

Note: Available to Post-Graduates only.

Prerequisites: None.

This course seeks to interrogate the social, cultural, political, and economic impact of media on contemporary American society as well as on the adolescent experience. Our focus is divided into three units of study. Our first unit, “Me in the Media,” considers the following questions: Does the media reflect or produce reality? How has it shaped the way in which I see myself? What about how I see other people? What have I learned about race and gender through the media? In “Relationships in the Media,” we will reflect on the behaviors related to friendship, love, and romance that are normalized in the media through popular narratives. The final unit, “Networking Alone,” will allow us to examine issues related to social media use and the veracity of news coverage. Our readings will range from articles selected from popular non-fiction periodicals to Twitter threads and Instagram stories to The Circle by Dave Eggers to selections of critical theory by Baudrillard and Benjamin to an array of scenes from films and documentaries. The course culminates in an extensive research project and presentation.

Note: Available to grade 12 only.

Prerequisites: None.

**Not Offered for the 2026-27 Academic Year**

Toys coming to life when humans are not present! Humans and aliens coexisting with robots! The act of speculation creates new possibilities that excite us. And, while we have all likely consumed media at one point or another that creatively pursues an alternate reality, consider the importance of speculating about people, places, and/or things that are less frequently incorporated into the mainstream narrative. In this course, our primary focus will be a range of horror, fantasy, and science fiction texts that exclusively emphasize the culture and experiences of the African diaspora and fit into the overlooked canon of Black speculative fiction. The texts provide readers with an escape to a different world and, yet, offer a window into conversations that are deeply relevant to an America in the middle of a racial reckoning. It is important to note that we will regularly integrate contemporary insight and literary criticism into the reading cycle throughout the semester. In order to ensure that students are as competent and comfortable as possible engaging in these conversations, we will begin our study by considering excerpts from foundational texts that provide linguistic and historical context. Our primary study will include novels from the late twentieth century to the present. Additionally, we will supplement the longer texts with short stories, plays, and even films. Aside from in-class assignments, the major assignments in this course will consist of essays about class material and a final creative project in which students will choose whether they would prefer to write an analytical critique or their own speculative fiction story.

Note: Available to grade 12 only.

Prerequisites: None.

**Not Offered for the 2026-27 Academic Year**

Get ready for in-depth descriptions and suspenseful moments of athletic action! In this course, our primary focus will be a range of non-fiction and biographical texts that explore the world of American sports through a contemporary female gaze. With memoirs by athletes from Lisa Leslie to Ronda Rousey, Abby Wambach to Brittney Griner, we will discuss how each author’s unique, storytelling approach reveals just as much about sports as it does about themselves, the people who are around them, and the places where they are rooted. We will soon realize that although sports is the focus, each story deviates at some point to make a statement about identity, about belonging, and about the broader context of society. Aside from in-class assignments, the major assignments in this course will consist of brief, structured journal assignments. For the final research / creative project, students will examine a cultural issue through the lens of the texts we have read, and then reach beyond to think critically about relevant connections to the world of sports today. Athletes, fans, and non-participants are welcome!

Note: Available to grade 12 only.

Prerequisites: None.

**Not Offered for the 2026-27 Academic Year**

"A peasant stand up thus?" asks Regan before disemboweling a servant. "May I with right and conscience make this claim?" asks Henry V before annexing France. "Why, there they are, both bakèd in this pie, / Whereof their mother daintily hath fed / Eating the flesh that she herself hath bred," announces Titus Andronicus, erasing the distinction between Roman and barbarian. This course examines the ways in which political expediency banishes moral greyness, how stolen crowns and stolen titles lead both to tyranny and to poetry, and how royal blood flows both in veins and in streets. Contrary to Henry's assertion -- "The truth of it stands off as gross / As black and white" -- this class dives deeply into the nuanced ambivalences and political cross-currents many of Shakespeare's leaders attempt to navigate and survive.

Note: Available to grade 12 only.

Prerequisites: None.

This course explores the fantastical genres of magical realism, fantasy, and science fiction. Although the works we read may bend reality or take us very far from it, we will learn that new worlds offer a powerful commentary on our own. The content will be covered through novels, short stories, poems, articles, and film. Students will have opportunities to write analytically and creatively, and perhaps even build a world of their own making. Students will also engage in research concerning the origins of modern works of fantasy or science fiction. Whether you are already a fan of science fiction or fantasy, or are curious and interested in learning something new, you will come away with an appreciation and understanding of the genre.

Note: Available to grade 12 only.

Prerequisites: None.

This course delves into the chilling and complex world of gothic literature where fear, darkness, and the supernatural converge to expose our deepest, often unsettling, emotions. Through a close study of both classic and contemporary works—from Edgar Allan Poe and Shirley Jackson to Stephen King and modern voices—we will explore how the genre has evolved while maintaining its ability to tap into universal human fears: isolation, madness, and the unknown. Students will engage in critical literary analysis, unpacking the psychological and emotional depths of these texts, while also developing their own creative voices through writing exercises. We will examine the gothic genre’s exploration of the human psyche, its symbolic use of the supernatural, and its ability to evoke both terror and empathy. In addition to discussion and analysis, students will have the opportunity to apply their insights by crafting their own gothic short stories, drawing on the themes, techniques, and tropes that define the genre. By the end of this course, students will have gained a deeper understanding of gothic literature’s historical roots, its evolution, and its relevance in contemporary storytelling—equipped to both critique and create within the unsettling, shadowed world of gothic horror.

Note: Available to grade 12 only.

Prerequisites: None.

This course will offer students an introduction to the visual language of cinema and to some of the dominant film genres of the past 100 years of cinema history. A central goal of the course will be for students to master the terminology of visual analysis through regular written analyses. Students will also read selections from film theory, film criticism, and popular reviews and practice incorporating ideas from these readings into their own analyses. The course will cover such film styles and genres as the Hollywood Style, Film Noir, Science Fiction, the Western, the French New Wave, Italian Neo-Realism, and the Hong Kong New Wave.   

Note: Available to grade 12 only.

Prerequisites: None.

**Not Offered for the 2026-27 Academic Year**

This course will allow students a chance to read all poetry, all the time. Through a close examination of poems from a variety of time periods, perspectives, and poets, we will explore the diversity of the poetic form and the wide range of themes addressed through poetry. As we examine each work, we will be discussing their historical, cultural, and social influences, the multiple structural elements used in poetry, and the relationship between form and meaning. We will write our own poetry to help us learn and internalize the ideas we cover; we will write at length about poems and poets, analyzing and commenting on concepts, themes, devices, and poetic elements.

Note: Available to grade 12 only.

Prerequisites: None.

**Not Offered for the 2026-27 Academic Year**

Artists occupy an honored rank in society, exalted both as technical masters and prophetic visionaries, pushing the limits of form and expression. Great artists are often imagined as figures outside of society: the eccentric experimenting with new modes of expression or the non-conformist rebelling against conventional life. At the same time, artists are often depicted as madmen, monomaniacs and narcissists, solely and selfishly obsessed with their careers and their legacies. This course will look at how artists and art are represented, examining: the myth of creative genius and the creative process; the conflict between originality and collaboration, and artificial intelligence; the relationship between art, desire and ego; and the evolving status of the artist in society. Readings may include plays, poems, and other literature and film.

Note: Available to grade 12 only.

Prerequisites: None.

This course explores the literature of power, politics, and principles. Students will read a variety of rich texts, from Shakespeare’s most politically charged plays — dramas filled with intrigue, murder, betrayal, and crisis — to compelling and provoking essays, speeches, and letters from writers and thinkers including John Dewey, Thomas Hobbes, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Hannah Arendt. Class conversations and writings will incorporate an analysis of historical and contemporary political events through a literary lens, drawing connections between the language and structures of power on the page and in the world.

Note: Available to grade 12 only.

Prerequisites: None.

From the dusty streets of Kabul to the blood-stained triage tents of Vietnam, women have always borne witness to war. Yet, far too often, they remain invisible and relegated to the margins of narratives that privilege the movements of men while silencing the experiences of women. Through exploration of two contemporary novels separated by both geography and culture, students will journey across different landscapes to engage with a diverse set of characters who mirror the real women of history—those who served, those who suffered, and those who were forgotten. Essential questions include: When living under oppressive systems, what does meaningful resistance look like? In what ways do female friendships bridge gaps of class, age, and background to become a primary means of survival? How does war fundamentally change a person, as well as reshape their understanding of home?

Note: Available to grade 12 only.

Prerequisites: None.

This is a continuation of Sr. Lit and Comp (EN401) from the fall semester. This course is a workshop for students who need training in close reading, logical and critical thinking, and writing skills.  The readings are used to increase respect for detail and inference, to inspire ideas, and to serve as models for student writing.  The forms of composition range from personal narrative to exposition to analysis; students write almost daily, in or out of class, and the group edits much of their writing.  The objective of this workshop is to unify the students in a group effort, guided by the instructor, toward self-confidence and marked improvement in reading and writing skills.

Note: Available to grade Post-Graduates only.

Prerequisites: None.

**Not Offered for the 2026-27 Academic Year**

This course begins in 1905, with Sigmund Freud’s publication of three essays on the “Theory of Sexuality.” Like many of his contemporaries, Freud erased distinctions and distilled all known psychosexual deviancy and degeneracy into a single category: the aberrant homosexual. From the Latin, “aberration” means both “unwelcome deviation” and “relief.” This course focuses on the latter definition: the relief of expressing oneself truly and unabashedly, the sharing of a secret sometimes kept even from oneself. We will read and examine queer expression of different media: memoir disguised as fiction, fiction disguised as memoir, sketches and portraits, amateur and professional photography, arthouse and home cinema, mainstream and underground music, and onstage and gendered performances. Together, we will travel from the smoke-filled cabarets of the Weimarer Republik to the pink triangles of Sachsenhausen, from Paris’s salons to Paris is Burning, from a room for Giovanni to a room of one’s own.

Note: Available to grade 12 only.

Prerequisites: None.

**Not Offered for the 2026-27 Academic Year**

Why do people take journeys? In particular, why do people take long journeys on foot, carrying a heavy load, enduring the discomfort of the elements while traversing mountains, forests, and deserts? What are these travelers really carrying (apart from the gear in their pack)? Do they come back from these trips renewed, or do they return to the beginning of the same circle? How have walking pilgrimages inspired literature across time, cultures, and genres? In this course, students will explore a variety of film and literature concerning one of the oldest stories ever told: the pilgrimage. Whether the travelers seek the shrines of Canterbury and Santiago, answers and enlightenment, immersion in the wilderness, or an escape from suffering, all pilgrimages share the quality of an inward movement. Students will explore the human need to perceive a meaningful “road” in their experiences, and in turn, interpret the path they have followed through their lives. The end of the course features an optional backpacking excursion on the Appalachian Trail. Literature and film will include Emilio Estevez’s The Way (2011), Herman Hesse's Siddhartha,  Madeline Miller’s Circe, Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), Cheryl Strayed’s Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, and Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods.

Note: Available to grade 12 only.

Prerequisites: None.

Creative Writing offers an opportunity to approach writing and the creative processes in a new way, one in which the student is the author of the works that we read over the course of the semester. Developing an original writer’s voice is at the heart of this class. Through lessons on technique and style, daily writing exercises, and writer’s workshops, students will produce original pieces of short fiction, flash fiction, personal essays, and poems. Participation in the workshop process is of critical importance to this class. Students will learn to provide meaningful constructive criticism to their peers in a supportive environment. Critiquing and reviewing peer work will count towards the grade. The course will culminate with the creation of a final portfolio. Whether you already love writing or simply want to try something new, you will leave this course more creative and confident, and with a new appreciation for the art of writing.

Note: Available to grade 12 only.

Prerequisites: None.

“What is reality?” is a question philosophers have asked across time. Our near constant use of digital devices, as well as the difficulty in discerning images developed via Artificial Intelligence versus those captured in real time, compounds issues of truth and manipulation. Surveillance capitalism is now an everyday reality that is largely unchecked, because, like it or not, our every move—in physical and digital spaces—is often recorded and captured despite our limited understanding of how this data might be used. In this class, we will interrogate these issues and related essential questions using a variety of theoretical, non-fiction, literary, and popular culture texts. Assessments utilized in this course range from frequent writing assignments and personal reflections, experiments with theory, multi-media presentations, Socratic seminars, and film studies. Text selections may include The Matrix; Your Face Belongs to Us; God, Human, Animal, Machine; Dopelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World; and A Handmaiden’s Tale.

Note: Available to grade 12 only.

Prerequisites: None.

From Old School to Testimony, writers have worked arduously to capture the unique and elite boarding school experience. The media and the public are obsessed with uncovering the perceived unbecoming and ugly underbelly of this elite world. Through studying novels, memoir excerpts, and films, we will identify and explore the archetypes associated with the boarding school narrative and how these archetypes have changed over time. We will explore the obsession with the prep school world and its coveted status. We will also examine the relationship between these schools and society, and more importantly their purpose. Do these schools provide intangible goods or an education beyond their mission statements? Who has access to these schools and why? Lastly, we will culminate the course by writing brief memoirs on our own experiences in boarding school.

Note: Available to grade 12 only.

Prerequisites: None.

**Not Offered for the 2026-27 Academic Year**

In the realm of science fiction, there is a sub-genre based wholly on the question “What if?” . . . What if human cloning had been perfected in 1952? What if the term “underground railroad” had not been a metaphor for escape routes from slavery, but an actual steam-powered locomotive chugging along underground? What if the Nazis had won World War II? We will read books based on each of these questions, and discuss how and why these hypothetical realities help us understand our own. This course will look at the history of the subgenre, as it has evolved over time, as well as how alternate history authors research and craft their work; however, our main focus will be on the literature itself, and how the basic elements of story-telling come together to create meaning. The major assignments in this course will consist of short passage analyses, tests, one comparative essay, and one culminating research/creative assignment, in which the students will research a topic and time period of their choice and construct an alternate history story.

Note: Available to grade 12 only.

Prerequisites: None.

As the course title would suggest, Race and Gender in Hollywood Film is a class that investigates the ways in which contemporary Hollywood cinema shapes our understanding of race and gender. We will explore and define key terms -- for example, race, racism, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual identity, masculinity, femininity -- and use these concepts to examine the explicit as well as implicit messages conveyed by recent, popular films. This course is both reading and writing intensive, with the goal of preparing students for the types of reading and writing they will be expected to do in college. Readings will be taken from a range of critical and theoretical sources, and in weekly writing assignments, students will be expected to incorporate ideas from these secondary texts in analyzing films. Viewings will include documentaries as well as five or six feature films produced in the past five years. Ultimately, we will use readings and films to explore one essential question: How do Hollywood films construct the way we think, see, feel, and act with regards to race and gender?

Note: Available to grade 12 only.

Prerequisites: None.

**Not Offered for the 2026-27 Academic Year**

This is an interdisciplinary course that focuses on texts from a range of cultures – modern, medieval, and ancient – often pairing literary texts with contemporary films to broaden and deepen our comparisons. In the first half of the year, we will explore what it means to cross boundaries – cultural, national, temporal, and spatial; in the second half of the year, we will explore what it means to live a good life – personally, philosophically, spiritually, and morally. Readings will include the following: In Other Words; Sea of Tranquility; Cold Enough for Snow; In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom; On the Nature of Things; The Tale of Genji; The Arabian Nights; and excerpts from a variety of wisdom literatures.

Note: Available to grade 11 only.

Prerequisites: None.

From toys coming to life to humans coexisting with robots, the act of speculation opens doors to worlds that thrill and excite us. Yet, while we often consume mainstream alternate realities, this course centers on the vital perspectives frequently missing from that narrative. Our focus is the "overlooked canon" of Black speculative fiction—a rich tapestry of horror, fantasy, and sci-fi that centers the experiences of the African diaspora. Through poetry, plays, short stories, and film, students will journey into different worlds to confront conversations essential to an America in the midst of a racial reckoning. We will explore: How do we reconcile the skin we inhabit with a system that demands we trade it away to belong? How do we navigate a present that is haunted by the unlived traumas and triumphs of the past? How do we forge authentic human bonds when our social roles are scripted by race, gender, and class?

Note: Available to grade 12 only.

Prerequisites: None.

Haiku, Manga, Film, and Anime—across the board, Japanese storytelling has taken on many forms that shape and reshape what literary critic Michio Takeyama describes as “the Japanese ethos”. From the end of WWII, Japan’s identity has undergone a transformation in social stratification, technology, and global presence. Japan is a nation of antiquity with temples, emperors, and tea ceremonies, but also a powerhouse of innovation with robots, bullet trains, and sushi conveyor belts. As a result, contemporary Japan has a large population of people who feel alienated from their home, culture, and traditions, with modern isolation and youth anxiety on the rise. This course aims to probe these modern tensions by exploring literary and visual media. Yet, the path forward, paved with traditionalism and modernity, offers a way for the “land of the gods” to heal and thrive. Essential Questions we will explore: How do Japanese authors explore the tension between duty and personal desire? What does it mean to be human, or an individual, in a society that places a heavy value on the collective? How can poets interrogate their past as a platform for reflection and education? How does poetry encourage challenging discourse in a community? How can surreal animation encourage people to grapple with their history and personal values?

Note: Available to grade 12 only.

Prerequisites: None.

This course focuses on the exploration of nonfiction storytelling and the strategic deployment of rhetoric across different journalistic mediums. Students will begin with an introduction to rhetorical devices and how they are utilized in everyday life, opinion pieces, and formal addresses. Through analysis and hands-on writing assignments that include a persuasive speech and an archival feature story, students will hone their skills to become eloquent, intentional, and ethical communicators. Students will also spend time analyzing the art of nonfiction storytelling through the book Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green. The course will conclude with exploring the different types of journalism in contemporary news sources and looking into the importance of journalism. The ultimate goal of this course is to equip students with the tools necessary to analyze nonfiction texts and engage critically with the manipulation of language found within everyday news and written word.

Note: Available to grade 12 only.

Prerequisites: None.

This course explores how literature helps us to look past diminishing definitions and grow out of limiting labels: how literature might teach us how to see one another and ourselves in a fuller light and with richer depth. Reading the works of authors such as Sappho, Lorde, Whitman, Baldwin, Woolf, and Miller, students will approach texts from different angles and perspectives through a focus on the complexities, contradictions, and complications of one’s identity. Students are invited to consider the ways in which each of the many facets of identity — whether that be gender, sexuality, or race, to name just a few — might illuminate shaded and untrodden portions of the text. Writing in this class blends and balances analytical close readings and personal reflections.

Note: Available to grade 12 only.

Prerequisites: None.

In terms of content, Honors Humanities is an interdisciplinary, multicultural course that offers a chronological introduction to some major figures and ideas of Western civilization through readings in literature, religion, philosophy, art history, political theory, and the sciences. We take our readings from the Old and New Testaments and from such authors as Homer, Plato, Euripides, Dante, Machiavelli, Shakespeare, Marx, Darwin, Freud, Einstein, and Sartre. Likewise, we pay special attention to the sculpture and architecture of Ancient Greece; visual representations of Biblical stories; paintings and sculptures of the Florentine and Roman Renaissance; the art of the British and German Romantic eras; French Impressionism; and Cubism. In terms of philosophy, Honors Humanities is in many ways a course that explores how we teach ourselves to see the world – how we construct our understanding of the physical and the metaphysical universe through literature, philosophy, art, religion, and science. Students will be encouraged to view the texts we study through a double optic – in the first place, to understand those texts within the historical, social contexts of the time period from which they emerged; and then, in the second place, to interrogate and evaluate those same texts through a modern lens. How did a particular text speak to its immediate audience? How does it speak to us now? In addition, we will continually question the very notion of “Western civilization” for its political and moral implications. Can we rightly say that Western civilization is truly “Western?” Who is included and who is excluded in the idea of “Western civilization?” How have the various writers, thinkers, and artists whom we study been appropriated and employed – both correctly and incorrectly, both positively and negatively? In ranging through a sampling of some key moments in the history of Western civilization from the past 3500 years, students will leave the course with an appreciation for the moral complexities of the cultural legacy they inherit, as well as with a foundation of skills that will enable them to reshape that legacy in their roles as leaders of the future.

Note: Available to grade 12 only.

Prerequisites: None.

Honors Senior English affords students the opportunity to read, discuss, and compose responses to challenging literature and literary theory. This course is the culmination of the four year sequence of English study at Taft; as such, students are expected to be engaged and motivated readers, collaborators, and writers who are eager to take on the rigor of these tasks as well as the fast pace of the course. Reading and writing will be assigned on a daily basis. While passage analysis and close reading remain the cornerstone of this course, longer reflective assignments will also be required. Authors we may interact with include Woolf, Morrison, James, Wharton, Faulkner as well as theorists like Fanon, Freud, Benjamin, and Mohanty.

Note: Available to grade 12 only.

Prerequisites: None.