As the ninth grade works its way through Catcher in the Rye, with classes on symbolism, character development and social satire with Mr. Dunton and Mrs. Feldblum, and a visit by “Holden Caulfield” (Rabbi Fleischmann in a hat) in Dr. B’s room, the sophomores are reading The Merchant of Venice. Questions of race and religion abound as students parse the text, line by line and argue authorial intent. Some are beginning work on a project centered on the struggles of life in Africa while others are writing their own tales for a class version of The Canterbury Tales.
Many eleventh graders are experiencing the roaring 20’s through discussions of The Great Gatsby while others are looking at the Romantic Hero in poetry like Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown.”
Mr. Gotlieb’s 11th Grade English classes used the distinctly American novel, The Great Gatsby as a springboard to a discussion of “What is American Art?” utilizing the following presentation:
Rabbi Rosen’s Hot Topics class finished Othello and students are now working on analyzing reviews of a production while updating the story and creating a completely new treatment of the classic play. The Honors twelfth graders recently wrote explications of Martin Espada’s “Who Burned for the Perfection of Paper” and Hamlet is a major focus in AP classes as students perfect close reading skills while debating textual variations and historical accuracy.