Literature is equipment for living
Dear Families,
First, please join me in congratulating the Class of 2008 on their college acceptances! Here is the matriculation list from 2004 through 2008.
I truly believe that literature is equipment for living, that within literature, one can find his or her own survival guide for life. Our humanities program here at the high school is one of many highlights in the academic program. Eleventh and Twelfth Graders have the opportunity to take elective courses in English and history. This week, rising Eleventh and Twelfth Grades heard about the offerings for the 2008-2009 school year from members of both departments; students will be choosing electives next week.
The new offerings in English, joining popular classes such as, Dangerous Language, Latino/a Literature, Creative Writing and Journalism are:
In American Literature–
City of Dreams – New York in Literature
New York is too vast to capture in one work of art. There is no New York story, only countless New York stories. Perhaps it is incomprehensible. But that hasn’t stopped writers and other artists from trying to get at the truth – or truths – of it. The poetry and prose we read in this class should be considered parts of an ongoing, collective and necessarily fragmentary rendering of the New York experience. Our authors probe New York’s social, psychological and moral landscape. They capture the tumultuous, rude, often violent drive of the place. They measure its great personalities alongside its huddled, anonymous masses. They attempt to unravel its mosaic of class, race and ethnicity, register its shocking contrasts and unlock its layered mysteries. New York writers bear witness to the city’s endless capacity for surprise, its rapid fire-transitions and its surreal juxtapositions. Most of all, perhaps, they dissect its dreams. New York is, above all, a city of dreams. And with its dreams, the obsession with inventing oneself anew that is at the heart of the New York personality. The result of this collective effort is a mythology that rivals that of Greece or Rome. Students will supplement their study of this mythology in a number of ways. They will explore places in the city that figure in the texts they are reading, they will look for parallels to the literature in other art forms, and they will keep a journal that renders their own imaginative experience of the city, their own contributions to its unfinished mythology.
Oh, Boy! Exploring Masculinity in Contemporary American Culture
What does it mean to be a boy? What does it mean to be a man? How are notions of masculinity formed? Who forms them? In this class, we will be exploring different ways masculinity is defined, perpetuated, and challenged in contemporary American culture. We will be using a variety of mediums, such as fiction, non-fiction, plays, films, mass media, and current events to look at what it means to be a man in the contexts of race, class, and sexual orientation. Texts for this course may include Vernon God Little, Drown, The White Boy Shuffle, “The Laramie Project,” and The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
There’s No Place Like Home: The Return from War
Stories of home and homecoming pervade American literature and film. What are our relationships to home and how do these relationships change as we travel through our lives? Once we leave home, can we ever truly return again? Who do we leave behind? Where do we find “home” after an experience has altered us? In this course, we will examine stories of home and homecomings, situating these themes in personal, social, cultural, and political contexts. Specifically, we will examine the experiences of soldiers coming home from war, as depicted in literature and the media. Homer’s epic, The Odyssey, will serve as a central text of the course. Additional texts may include: Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, Ernest Hemingway’s “Soldier’s Home,” Jonathon Shay’s Achilles in Vietnam, and films such as “Stop Loss,” “In the Valley of Elah,” and “Cold Mountain.” We will also read selections of poetry and essays from writers, past and present.
In World Literature–
Fierce and Fabulous: Feminist Women Writers
Think feminism is dead? Think again. Today’s young feminist writers are engaging in an amazing and challenging dialogue about the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, politics, and human rights in every medium from novels and poetry to ‘zines and films. From the feminist literary canon to the feminist blogosphere, we will trace the patterns and complexity of words and women, identity and politics, social justice and activism. Readings will include themes related to girls and body image, female friendships, women and the law, women artists, women of color, and queer youth. We will create a feminist blog to track our conversations and discoveries about favorite feminist writers, activists, and artists. Visits to the Barnard Center for Research on Women, the Ms. Foundation for Women, the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, and the Bluestockings feminist bookstore will also be scheduled. Authors may include Jacqui Alexander, Gloria Anzaldúa, Staceyann Chin, Simone de Beauvoir, Patricia Hill Collins, Audre Lorde, Catherine McKinnon, Chandra Mohanty, Cherríe Moraga, Alice Walker, and Naomi Wolf.
From Fiction to Film: The Art of Adaptation
In this class, we will be pairing movies with the texts from which they were adapted. We will be “reading” the films, examining the choices made by the screenwriter and the techniques employed by the director, as they attempt to bring the written word to the big screen. What is gained by adapting a piece of literature into a film? What is lost? How are tone, theme, and character translated and modified from one medium to another? How do lighting and camera angles function as a bridge between text and screen? Examples of texts/films that may be used for this class include Fight Club, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Il Postino, Pablo Neruda, Slaughter House Five, Trainspotting, Blow-up, Black Orpheus, Memento.
We Are Pilgrims Here: Reading Dante’s Divine Comedy
Poised between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Dante Alighieri set upon an impressive task – to write an epic poem that would lead readers on a virtual pilgrimage through the afterlife. In language that is at once gruesome, fantastical and exquisitely beautiful, Dante’s Divine Comedy depicts the three realms of hell, purgatory, and heaven in vivid detail. Meanwhile, the poet grapples with questions of faith, morality, personal and civic responsibility, and social justice: What is the nature of good and evil? Is there a human tendency towards sin or virtue? Are those in power immune from justice and punishment? What is the redemptive potential of love? This course will examine these questions from both a literary and a contemporary perspective, as students and teacher journey together through the entire Comedy. We will also examine artistic interpretations and modern adaptations of Dante’s work from across cultures.
In History, new offerings include:
Economics and Social Justice
Economics is the study of how people satisfy their needs and wants through the activities of production, consumption and exchange. These economic activities require the allocation of time, energy, and scarce material and financial resources. This course will provide a general introduction to the discipline of economics, including both microeconomics and macroeconomics. Students will also develop an understanding of how economic principles and analysis can be used to study social problems and issues. Topics include supply and demand, comparative advantage, inflation, unemployment, economic growth, money and the banking system. Throughout the course economic choices and policies decisions will be examined in light of their impact on society and in the context of social justice in the United States and the world. Students will be expected to complete daily assignments and maintain a consistent grasp of current events.
and…
Introduction to Western Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of everything that counts.
–from An Incomplete Education, by Judy Jones and William Wilson
As is so often the case, the Greeks got there first. When they weren’t busy inventing mathematics, drama, and architecture, they spent their time trying to answer the Big Questions: Why is there something rather than nothing? How should human beings treat each other? What can we truly know to a certainty?
Questions like these don’t come with easy answers; as new civilizations developed, they found themselves asking the same questions, and adding some of their own. We will do the same in this class.
Our goal in this course will be twofold: first, to explore the development of the various branches of philosophy over the history of western civilization. Second, to try to add our own insights to those of the philosophers who have come before us. To these ends, we will spend much of our time reading the writings of the great philosophers of history. But we will spend an equal amount of time in informal discussions and structured debates, as we weigh the value of the various theories that we have studied.
If you’re someone who always wants to know the answers, this may not be the course for you. But if you can take satisfaction in simply discovering a new set of questions, you will find the class a worthwhile journey.
We encourage you to help your child to think critically and enthusiastically about their course offerings for next year! Students have a wonderful opportunity to live the life of the mind, here at LREI.
All the best,
Ruth
Updates and Announcements:
- The school’s calendar can be accessed by clicking here.
- Click here to view the 2008-2009 LREI Calendar.
- For general LREI Athletics news go to this link . This page will provide general announcements, game summaries, league standings and season recaps.
*The Spring Concert is TONIGHT at 6:30pm features the Little Red Chorus, Elisabeth Irwin Singers, cast of “Into the Woods” and the EI Jazz Band. All parents and friends of LREI are invited to attend this joyous music event.
*Field day is tomorrow! Dismissal will be at 1:00PM. Please click here, FieldDay, for an important announcement about the day’s activities.
1. The 15th annual LREI camping trip will be held on the weekend of June 6-8. All LREI families and their children — pre-K through high school — are invited to participate. As in past years, we expect that a good time will be had by all: hiking, swimming, sports, fishing, camping, cooking, eating, singing around the campfire, etc. The site, as in past years, will be near the Delaware Water Gap (somewhat north of where I-80 crosses the Delaware River). The cost will be $30 per adult, $20 per child. Also, we need volunteers to help with hauling food and supplies and equipment out to the camp site (and back) and providing extra space in their vehicles for those who need a ride out and back. More details will be forthcoming for those who are interested. We will have a sign-up table on the mornings on Friday, May 23 and Wednesday, May 28 at LREI. Please save the date and let us know if you are interested in receiving more information — and especially if you are interested in volunteering. Send an email to Larry White, Lwhite@stern.nyu.edu. Click here for more information.
2. It’s a Party to celebrate Sharon Dupree’s four years at LREI! Please join us for a Sixth Avenue Rooftop celebration on Tuesday, May 27th from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm. All parents welcome. Childcare will be available in the Sixth Avenue Cafeteria. Please RSVP to Sharon Fong at sharonf@bflnyc.org if you plan to attend and to sign up for childcare by Thursday, May 22nd.
3. Please join a parent discussion on internet safety. Click here for more information.