Upper School Curriculum

Grade: 12
Spring

PREREQ: Teacher recommendation advised 

ADV English 12: Women’s Literature applies several theoretical lenses (e.g., feminist theory, queer theory, formalism, old historicism, Marxism) to the study of literature written by and about people who identify as women. Essential questions of the course include: What are the societal rules, expectations and limits on women in different times and places? How does literature written by and about women reflect those, and how does it challenge those? Students in the class read nonfiction, poetry, short stories, and novels by cis- and trans women, considering their sociological, historical and aesthetic contexts. Much of the learning and reading is processed through in-class discussions that require full and engaged participation from every student. Skills that will be practiced include critical reading, personal response writing, civil discourse and analytical writing. As a result of the course, students will develop their own perspective on gender as it is preserved in the literary record, and they will write a gender-focused and research-based critical introduction to a work of their choice.