2012-13 upper school course description book - University Liggett ...

First Semester
The Art of Writing Plays
First semester, 1/2 credit
The Art of Writing Plays is designed to take students through the grueling, enlightening, harsh,
sometimes exhilarating and often depressing process of writing a play. Students will complete the class
with a better knowledge of playwriting and strong set of critical skills necessary for good writing. We
will study one-act plays and scenes from great and not-so-great plays and discuss what makes them
work or not. Students will also be required to lead a discussion of at least one play of their choice. The
class will also operate, in part, as a writers’ group in which students read each others’ plays aloud and
critique them. This is to get at the heart of writing: being able to discern what works, what doesn’t and
why, and learning how to articulate that not only to yourself, but to the author in a constructive way. It
also puts writers in the position of having to defend or explain the choices they make. This will help the
students understand and develop their voice. Grades will be based on classroom participation, writing
exercises, vocabulary quizzes, the play discussion, a group project, and several individual works.
Characters Behaving Badly: A Consideration of the Antihero
First semester, 1/2 credit
This semester elective explores the advent of the postmodern hero, a protagonist who undermines the
expectations readers typically have for the hero of a novel or film. The course begins by looking at film
noir and the detective novel before considering more contemporary examples of the antihero
phenomenon. The fundamental question will be to determine what historic and artistic factors
influenced the development of this character type. Texts may include, The Maltese Falcon, Grendel, A
Clockwork Orange, and Heart of Darkness. Films such as Unforgiven, There Will Be Blood, and L.A.
Confidential help demonstrate how the antihero archetype is as much a part of filmic narrative as literary
works.
Shakespeare
First semester, 1/2 credit
Hamlet is arguably Shakespeare’s most complex character while Henry V, the eponymous hero of
Shakespeare’s great history play, is perhaps the most glorious. In a semester-long look at this pair,
students will explore why these characters (and the play they inhabit) are still relevant 400 years after
Shakespeare shaped them. In addition to the two plays, readings may include Gertrude and Claudius and
A Man for All Seasons. Students will also study several film versions of Hamlet and Henry V.
The Craft of Writing
First semester, 1/2 credit
This course examines multiple genres of writing and a full range of strategies to develop students’
abilities and confidence. Starting with academic analysis and working through fiction, poetry, journalism
and other forms, students practice writing and revision exercises, exposing them to a broad range of
choices for growth. The final project entails selecting a representative piece and shaping it into an ideal
selection for inclusion in a final collection of works.
Vikings, Knights, & Pilgrims:
Masterpieces of Old and Middle English
First semester, 1/2 credit
This course will examine canonical works at the foundation of English Literature. Students will closely
examine Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales in modern
translation. Through these texts, students will see the roots of English poetry and come to better
understand the culture of these times. The changing nature of concepts such as the Hero and Honor will
be at the center of class discussion. This class will allow students to study more recent literature through
an enhanced historical perspective.
11