English

Required of all Freshmen.

Ninth grade English students focus on reading, discussion, and writing strategies they will use throughout their four years at Pingree. Students will study a variety of texts exploring different voices, perspectives, genres, and time periods, encouraging them to tell their own stories and discover and experiment with their own voices. Readings include Renee Watson's Piecing Me Together, Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, and a Shakespeare play, among other works. Vignettes, a persuasive essay, a memoir, and literary analysis, in addition to shorter creative and analytical works will be assigned. Classes will emphasize student participation in class discussions.

Required of all Sophomores.

The Tenth Grade curriculum continues to develop writing strategies, reading practices, and discussion principles established in Ninth Grade through a study of different genres—novella, short story, essay, poetry, and drama. There are frequent analytical and creative writing assignments based on the reading, as well as an emphasis on learning vocabulary and literary terms derived from the literature. In the third trimester, students elect a genre of choice for a more in-depth study. In each seminar, students will write an original work in the chosen style, with an emphasis on the creative process, workshopping drafts, and defending artistic choices.

A study of American character, culture, and visions, the course examines works of American writers from the seventeenth century to the modern era, exploring conflicts between the individual and society in terms of race, gender, and economic issues. In addition to shorter pieces, lengthier works include Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad; F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby; Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye; Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God; Junot Díaz’s Drown; Maxine Hong Kingston’s Woman Warrior; and Ayad Akhtar’s Disgraced. This course also includes intensive work on writing in conjunction with the literature; writing assignments may be personal, creative, and analytical, and range from short paragraphs and timed essays in class to longer polished pieces written at home. 

Enrollment determined by departmental (English & History) recommendation.

American Cultural Studies, an interdisciplinary, year-long course taught jointly by the ­History and English Departments, moves beyond the traditional classroom model. This course offers full credit in both English and History. We study key historical topics and read influential literary texts, as well as consider how art, music, film, and popular culture all play a role in shaping our culture and defining who we perceive ourselves to be as individuals and as a nation. As we draw upon these media and other disciplines, students will make cross­-curricular connections, read and research independently, bring their personal histories and stories to bear on the course material, and play a key role in introducing course topics. The course includes field trips to local sites like the Museum of Fine Arts, the Crane Estate in Ipswich, and the Isaac Royall House in Medford.

Seminars are designed to serve as a transition from high school to college-level English. Typically the seminars are thematic or focus on the literature of a particular area, author, or time period. Students read a variety of works; there are frequent papers, and most seminars conclude with a final test or a term paper. Sample courses include:

• Caribbean Literature: An Island is a World
• Fictions of the Apocalypse
• Indonesian Storytelling
• Introduction to Mexican Literature
• Literature of Modern India
• Native American Literature
• Nigerian Literature
• American Family Drama
• Examining the Intersection: Literature on Race, Gender, and Power
• Literature and the Long View: Seeking a Good Way to Live
• The Modern Western
• Novel Perspectives on Higher Education 
• Retelling Shakespeare
• The Unquiet Mind
• 20th Century Vietnam: History, Literature, and Film (Interdepartmental)
• Counterculture Literature and Music
• Love American Style
• Mirrors and Windows: Individuality and Identity within Families
• Modern Women Writers
• Politicization of the Body: Literary Lenses and Intertextual Responses
• Songwriters and Storytellers (Interdepartmental)

• Creative Writing
• The Newsroom: An Introduction to Journalism