Literature

As a continuation of the Literature Circles in Elementary, the Adolescent Program Middle School students participate in Book Club. This class meets weekly and is designed to give students an opportunity to discuss literature in a thoughtful way. Organized like a Socratic seminar, discussions center around student-proposed questions arising from the text. Most of these questions attempt to understand the adult world and human behavior; this is essential work for the adolescent. Here are a few examples of the questions students asked while reading Treasure Island: Is it possible to be likeable and at the same time evil? Was the adventure worth its risks? Why didn’t the “good guys” kill Long John Silver when they had the chance? Was it right to leave the pirates marooned on the island? 

The Adolescent Program High School literature, building upon the work of the middle school, is a part of a larger Humanities course which includes history and its corresponding literature. For example, high school students read Shakespeare’s Hamlet – both as a literary masterpiece and a vehicle by which to attain a deeper understanding of Shakespeare’s world, as they learn and study the beginnings of the Modern World of which Shakespeare was a citizen. Asking thoughtful questions comes naturally to our high school students… Who is responsible for Ophelia’s death? Did Gertrude know about the murder of her husband? Should Hamlet avenge his father’s death? Was there another way?

All our Adolescent Program students practice civility in their discussions about literature. Learning to listen to their peers, considering another’s perspective, and sharing their questions – these practices help the adolescent become an adult who can listen, consider another’s perspective, and have the humility to ask questions.

In the Adolescent Program, literature texts are thoughtfully selected and reflect the fact that our six-year continuum serves multiple goals. First and foremost, the Adolescent Program continues to introduce students to good and great literature – assigning texts that are excellent in both style and characterization, as well as texts that respect their intellect. Adolescents are capable of uncovering deeper meanings, of understanding subtleties, and sustaining attention through longer texts.

In addition, our literature selections present students with stories that foster empathy, characters that encounter complex and complicated situations (think Hamlet), imaginative worlds that shed light on our world (Tolkien’s Middle Earth), and historical narratives that showcase heroism in the face of great danger (Corrie Ten Boom in The Hiding Place). These stories become an aide for life as they, too, will encounter complex and complicated situations.

A goal of the Adolescent Program (and of reading as a whole) is the perseverance that is built when students contend with difficult texts. Whether the difficulty arises because of the vocabulary, unfamiliar references, or maybe the difficulty of the content – Hamlet’s predicament feels impossible. Students in the Adolescent Program are given the opportunity to deal with challenging texts, and the complexity and challenge presented grows as the adolescent moves through the program.