Upper School Curriculum

Grades: 9, 10, 11, 12
Fall

PREREQ: Students are offered placement into WL ADV courses by their current teacher, in consultation with the department. Performance in previous courses, end-of-year assessments, overall language proficiency, and student skills are factors in offering placement to students.

This Advanced course explores the Siglo de Oro, or Golden Age, of Spanish literature — the 16th and 17th centuries — with an emphasis on Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quijote de la Mancha. Don Quijote — a medieval knight in his imagination, a Renaissance man in his actions and a Baroque character par excellence — is our lens into the evolution of thought, language, and literature in the Spanish-speaking world from the Middle Ages to the discovery of the New World.

This course develops Spanish proficiency from the Advanced Low to the Advanced Mid levels, according to ACTFL proficiency guidelines. 

Throughout this course, students will read the works and literary analysis while searching for nuance and developing original interpretations. Most classes will be in the form of structured discussions or literary salons, frequently led by students, during which they will discuss their original ideas and ask probing questions. Students will write frequent short essays with elaborate and detailed language. Students will also make presentations connecting the texts to other works of art or aspects of history. The course culminates with each student creating a multi-sensory project in which they present their original take on the texts and draw connections guided by their self-inquiry.