LEVEL 11
Each class is 2 hours. Each session is 8 classes (total of 16 hours)
We develop these reading, writing, and critical thinking skills through the study of classical and contemporary great books in their historical contexts. We do so by removing the artificial divide between literature and history. An interdisciplinary approach helps students understand the deeper underpinnings of civilizations, instead of simply memorizing isolated dates and events.
Course Description
Level 11 students explore foundational literature about America history from the late 15th century to early 21st century, including texts about early Native American experience, Transcendentalism, The Great Depression, and the Harlem Renaissance. This level emphasizes:
- Reading strategies to comprehend challenging classical texts; using compelling and thorough textual evidence to support inferences draw and identifying where the text becomes ambiguous about the matter; identifying multiple themes and examining how they develop and intertwine over the arc of the narrative; examining how texts from the same period treat similar subjects.
- Analyzing the narrator’s tone and implied intention and the effect on meaning
- Examining how the development of story elements influence structure, meaning, and the reader’s experience; denotative and connotative meanings of words and their effects on meaning, mood, tone, and aesthetic effect; analyzing how rhyme, sound, and form contribute
- Writing and grammar instruction includes developing evidence-based arguments and counterarguments fairly, establishing the significance of these claims, and specifying the strengths and limitations of both; using words, phrases, clauses, and varied syntax to cohesively clarify relationships between claims and counterclaims; diagramming sentences; practicing a formal and objective tone in analytical writing; using precise domain-specific language when making a claim; continued study of progymnasmata
- Practice using language and story devices to write short stories and multiple personal narratives
- Selected literature and history that intertwine in late 15th century to early 21st American history
Small Classes
There is maximum of 6 students per cohort (6:1 student-to-teacher ratio) to ensure personal attention.