All Upper School students are required to take English each semester through Class VIII. All English courses are major courses.

Class V English (1 Credit, Yearlong)

Students will read and discuss a Shakespeare play (usually Romeo and Juliet or Macbeth), Their Eyes Were Watching God, Catcher in the Rye, and short stories from around the world. They will write frequently in a variety of modes, including literary analysis, visual analysis, personal narrative, and style imitation. The course emphasizes the writing process and includes regular lessons on grammar and style.

Class VI English (1 Credit, Yearlong)

Students take a full year of United States Literature in conjunction with a full year of United States History. The course will ask questions about belonging in America. What does it mean to be an American? Who tells the story of America, and how is it being told? Who are the main characters in that story, and who is marginalized? To help us answer these questions, we will read texts from a variety of genres, voices, and time periods. Students will also practice writing in a variety of modes.

Class VII English

Students take a one-semester elective course in the literature of a country or region outside of the United States or western Europe in conjunction with a matching history course. Students have five offerings from which to choose: Africa, India, Russia, Latin America, and the Middle East. For their other semester of English, students choose from electives that explore engaging themes and that include a wide range of voices and genres. See elective choices below.

Class VIII English

Students choose two semesters of English study from a selection of electives in literature and writing. See elective choices below.

Class VII Semester 1 Electives

Indian Literature (0.5 Credits, Fall)

India is a naturally beautiful, diverse, artistically rich country that claims the title of world’s largest democracy. It is also a nation that struggles with gender inequality, religious strife, caste discrimination, and challenges to democratic freedoms. Using literature, articles, film, and our own research, we will explore India’s social, economic, political, and environmental challenges and opportunities. Although this course will focus primarily on modern issues, we will begin with a study of the ancient but still influential epic The Ramayana, a foundational work of the Indian and Hindu canon. We will then examine the hopeful writings of Tagore and Nehru as they imagined an independent, inclusive India in the early part of the 20th century. We will also consider some of the causes and effects of religious conflict and communal violence through short stories about the Partition of India and Pakistan and through a contemporary play. In our final unit, we will explore the impacts of globalization and urbanization on social mobility in modern India. We will also discuss the capacity of art to raise awareness and to effect change. This course will join with its History counterpart for an interdisciplinary research project. This course fulfills the Global Studies requirement.

Latin American Literature (0.5 Credits, Fall)

Foreigners, natives, conquistadores, explorers, novelists, guerrilla fighters, indigenous activists and tourists are just some of the people who have marveled at Latin America’s rich landscape. For writers as diverse as Columbus, Rosario Castellanos, Gabriel García Márquez, and Che Guevara, nature has played a pivotal role in their imagining of the region. As one way into understanding the complexities that make up the idea of Latin America and its vast body of literature, we will explore, among other topics, different authors’ approaches to the natural world within varied geographical and historical contexts and across a variety of genres. As we investigate different texts, we will consider the relationship between studying history and literature: What are issues of representation within each field? How can we understand texts in their historical context and use “literary” texts to inform our historical interpretation? This course will join with its History counterpart for an interdisciplinary research project. This course fulfills the Global Studies requirement.

Contemporary American Fiction: Identity and Belonging (0.5 Credits, Fall)

With units exploring memoir, speculative fiction, poetry, and film, students in this course will examine diverse stories across a range of genres. From the legacy of the Holocaust to contemporary immigrant experiences and imagined futures, we will trace the way individual identities relate to the communities they come from, exist in, or yearn for. Possible texts include Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel Maus, stories by Octavia Butler and N.K. Jemisin, poems and short works by Esmé Weijun Wang, Wo Chan, Rajiv Mohabir, Ha Jin, Susan Howe, Mark Salzman, and the film Everything Everywhere All at Once. Assignments will include both analytical essays and creative pieces in which students experiment with the literary techniques our authors have employed

Feminist Perspectives in Literature (0.5 Credits, Fall)

This course will take an interdisciplinary approach to feminist literature: we will use our reading of not only literary but also historical and cinematic texts to explore the development of feminism in the United States and to interrogate the complex interrelation of race, class, sexuality, and gender as part of that development. Focusing specifically on issues of intersectionality and challenges to the gender binary, we will look at texts that not only document gender oppression but also imagine revisions to and liberations from conventional narratives. Students will write both analytically and creatively and will learn the skills involved in film analysis. Readings might include: Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale or Ali Smith’s novel Girl Meets Boy; the collection of essays and poetry This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color; short stories by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Emma Donohue, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Maxine Hong Kingston; and the films Thelma and Louise, Confirmation, and Barbie.

Literature and the Mind (0.5 Credits, Fall)

In this course, we will explore the ways writers, painters, and filmmakers have sought to plumb the depths of the human psyche and to represent that exploration. We will touch on theories of the unconscious, repression, self-deception, and trauma, and we will situate the artistic texts in their societal contexts and look at the way gender, race, and class play a role in the representation of the mind as well. Assignments will include both analytical essays and creative pieces in which students will experiment with their own portrayals of the mind’s workings. Our first unit focuses on the way repression can lead to a divided self; our texts will be Robert Louis Stevenson’s horror classic Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s eerie short story “The Yellow Wallpaper.” The second unit centers on self-deception and the narratives people tell themselves to stay sane or to cover their misdeeds; here, our central texts will be the film Memento and poetry by Robert Browning, Richard Howard, Christina Rossetti, and Margaret Atwood. In the third unit, we will continue our work with visual texts by considering the liberation of the imagination in the paintings of Surrealist artists Remedios Varo, Dorothea Tanning, Leonora Carrington, and Frida Kahlo. Finally, we will explore the intersection of race, sexuality, identity, and the mind; we will look at poems by Danez Smith, Rajiv Mohabir, and Terrance Hayes and focus our analysis on two recent films, Get Out and Moonlight.

Class VII Semester 2 Electives

African Literature (0.5 Credits, Spring)

One of the first questions we will consider in this course is how to approach studying the literature of an entire continent in a single semester. We will also examine how the very notion of an African Literature is shaped by cultural and economic forces. Course texts will focus much of our attention on the effects of colonialism and the formation of postcolonial literary voices. Those texts may include Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing, Chinua Achebe’s canonical Things Fall Apart; the oral epic Sundiata; short stories by Alex La Guma, Bessie Head, and others; and a contemporary African film. This course will join with its History counterpart for an interdisciplinary research project. This course fulfills the Global Studies requirement.

Middle Eastern Literature (0.5 Credits, Spring)

“The Middle East” is a slippery construct that seeks to encompass a geographic area that cannot be understood through a single unified culture, language, ethnic identity, or religious experience. As we sample the vast and varied literature of this region, we will look for meaningful areas of continuity, taking up questions of reading in translation, the social role of the poet/author, narrative constructions of national identity, claims about politics and good governance, the challenges of modernity and colonialism, and gender roles. After beginning with one of the oldest extant works of literature, the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, students will turn to pre-Islamic poetry, the Qur’an, Sufi poet Rumi, and a unit on Egyptian Modernism. As time permits, we will enrich our investigation of the literary and cultural landscapes by considering works of visual art and film such as those by Shirin Neshat and Youssef Chahine. This course will join with its History counterpart for an interdisciplinary research project. This course fulfills the global studies requirement. 

Russian Literature (0.5 Credits, Spring)

In this course, we will explore the contested development over the last two hundred years of a distinct Russian identity, with a focus on the stories Russians told about themselves with regard to socioeconomic class, gender, power, and morality. The course is designed to work in tandem with the Russian History course, and the overarching theme of both classes will be the interaction—and the conflict—between the individual and the state. Our first unit will center on short works from the 19th century (a poem by Alexander Pushkin, short stories by Nikolai Gogol, Mikhail Saltykov, and Anton Chekhov, and a novella by Leo Tolstoy) that represent different facets of Russian identity in relation to social class, geographical location, and conscience. From there, we will explore Soviet propaganda and the realities beneath those idealistic portrayals, with an emphasis on the experiences of women; our literary texts will include a memoir about growing up as a young girl in the Soviet era, a dystopian short story critiquing late-Soviet life from the perspective of a teenage girl, and a long-form poem that seeks to speak the truth of life for women under Stalin. This course will join with its History counterpart for an interdisciplinary research project. This course fulfills the Global Studies requirement.

Literature and Ethics (0.5 Credits, Spring)

Our lives—and literature—are full of challenging ethical questions. What is the right thing to do in a morally complex situation? What criteria should we use to make those judgments? Should we base our decision on the consequences of our actions, on the nature of the act itself, or on our relationship with the people involved? This course will provide some background on a variety of theories philosophers have used to approach ethical dilemmas. We will then apply those philosophical lenses in our discussions of several engaging literary works. Course questions will include: What are the civic responsibilities of leaders and citizens to their community? What do parents and children owe each other? What ethical considerations should guide scientific, medical, and technological advances? Texts may include excerpts from Michael Sandel’s Justice, short stories by LeGuin and Saunders, the plays Antigone by Sophocles and A Doll’s House by Ibsen, the novel Klara and the Sun by Ishiguro, the film version of The Immoral Life of Henrietta Lacks, and other short films and podcasts. Our final project will involve creating a podcast on an ethical issue that matters to you. If you are looking to read some great literature and to engage in some lively and thought-provoking ethical debates, this is the course for you.

Literature and the Mind (0.5 Credits, Spring)

In this course, we will explore the ways writers, painters, and filmmakers have sought to plumb the depths of the human psyche and to represent that exploration. We will touch on theories of the unconscious, repression, self-deception, and trauma, and we will situate the artistic texts in their societal contexts and look at the way gender, race, and class play a role in the representation of the mind as well. Assignments will include both analytical essays and creative pieces in which students will experiment with their own portrayals of the mind’s workings. Our first unit focuses on the way repression can lead to a divided self; our texts will be Robert Louis Stevenson’s horror classic Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s eerie short story “The Yellow Wallpaper.” The second unit centers on self-deception and the narratives people tell themselves to stay sane or to cover their misdeeds; here, our central texts will be the film Memento and poetry by Robert Browning, Richard Howard, Christina Rossetti, and Margaret Atwood. In the third unit, we will continue our work with visual texts by considering the liberation of the imagination in the paintings of Surrealist artists Remedios Varo, Dorothea Tanning, Leonora Carrington, and Frida Kahlo. Finally, we will explore the intersection of race, sexuality, identity, and the mind; we will look at poems by Danez Smith, Terrance Hayes, and Rajiv Mohabir and focus our analysis on two recent films, Get Out and Moonlight.

Class VIII Semester 1 Electives

Literature of Ambition (0.5 Credits, Fall)

How much of our lives are shaped by our decisions and how much determined by forces outside of our control? Are we responsible for the unintended consequences of our actions? What brings someone to justify betrayal, and is it always possible to atone? We will explore two very different texts interested in characters who seek to exert power over their worlds with disastrous unintended consequences: Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Ian McEwan’s Atonement. Additional texts may include Jason Reynolds’ Long Way Down, Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These, poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay and Carol Ann Duffy, and film adaptations of the two longer works.

Literature of Defiance (0.5 Credits, Fall)

Over three hundred years after the publication of Paradise Lost, Milton’s epic poem still offers up the surprise of a sympathetic Satan. His mission to corrupt human hearts should make him a villain (the villain), but this version of Satan has the courage to defy the entity that created him. That choice leaves him lonely and embittered, but it also makes him a complex character who reminds readers of their own struggles to become something apart from their creators. In this course, we will consider the creatures who defy their gods and creators. Satan will lead the parade of characters who question the authority of those higher powers and choose to create themselves. What does it mean to become a fully realized person (or spiritual adversary)? Does that realization happen only when one rejects their creator? Is paradise worth submitting to the whims and will of a higher power? What is the relationship between defiance and creativity? Texts for this course may include Milton’s Paradise Lost, Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go.

Literature of the Faustian Bargain (0.5 Credits, Fall)

Over the years, the character of the devil has slithered and smooth-talked through epic poems, plays, short stories, and novels. Despite his reputation for being the evil adversary of all that is good, he neither wields a pitchfork nor makes threats; instead, he poses the seemingly innocuous question: What would you give to have everything your heart desires? In this course, we will read works in which characters make Faustian bargains, or deals with the devil. We will read excerpts from Milton’s Paradise Lost, in which Satan tempts the first woman to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. We will examine at least one version of Christopher Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus and take a look at some short stories that place the devil in the paths of people who crave love, knowledge, power, community, and earthly delights. Students will build on their analytical writing skills and practice revising their work.

Postcolonial Literature: Empire Writes Back (0.5 Credits, Fall)

In this course, which builds on students’ experiences in Global Studies, we will first briefly explore the political, racial, cultural, and religious beliefs that fueled the development of the British Empire. How does the discourse of the time reflect both the ideology of empire and the latent cracks in its structure? We will then spend the majority of the course reading texts from authors in African, Caribbean, and/or Indian regions that were colonized, as well as texts from contemporary British and American writers reflecting on Britain’s colonial heritage. Authors may include Smith, Kincaid, Said, Fanon, Friel, Rhys, Rushdie, Coogler, Coates, and others. This course will make connections to the dynamics of empire within American history and culture and emphasize student-led explorations of the impact of Britain’s colonial heritage on our world today.

Truth and Fiction (0.5 Credits, Fall)

In her debut novel White Teeth, British author Zadie Smith’s protagonist Samad Iqbal confronts a woman experiencing mental illness in the streets of London and tells her, plainly, “Your past is not my past and your truth is not my truth.” To Samad, truth may well be different from fact; it is derived from experience and point of view. This course will explore the notion of truth as perspective and the inevitable tangle of narratives delivered by characters whose reliability is questionable, if not questioned. Why do people witnessing the same events remember and interpret facts so differently? How does one’s experience shape one’s sense of reality? Is something real just because you believe it to be real? Are lies always dangerous?  Students will critically analyze contemporary texts that may include: The 392 by Ashley Hickson-Lovence, Trust by Hernan Diaz, and Atonement by Ian McEwan.

Women, Power, and Madness in Literature (0.5 Credits, Fall)

One of the most beloved classic books, Jane Eyre chronicles the adventures of an orphaned girl who must make her way in a Victorian society that afforded few opportunities for women. As one of the first novels to trace a female coming-of-age story, the novel raises many questions that will guide our reading: What were the expectations for girls in Jane’s time? In what ways must Jane push back against the demands of her society in order to honor her own desires? How have girls’ lives changed since the 1840s? Are there any ways in which the challenges are familiar? In the second half of the course, we will turn our attention to the novel Wide Sargasso Sea, a twentieth century retelling of the Jane Eyre story. Originally from the West Indies, author Jean Rhys imagines Jane’s mirror image, a young girl living in Jamaica during the same time period. Re-casting Jane Eyre in light of British colonialism, Rhys’s novel questions whose stories are told, whose are discarded, and at what cost. Our course will begin with Mary Wollstonecraft’s famous essay “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman,” which will provide historical context for Jane’s story and also introduce us to some of the earliest ideas about feminism and its goals. Working our way from Wollstonecraft to Bronte to Rhys will, in addition, introduce students to three important literary periods—the Enlightenment, the Victorian, and the modernist—and, in doing so, demonstrate the way literature, and feminism, have developed over time. Writing for the course will include short analytical essays, as well as creative responses to each novel, with options both for creative writing and visual arts.

Class VIII Semester 2 Electives

Afrofuturist Literature (0.5 Credits, Spring)

Civilization has fallen apart in Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower and hope is a rare commodity in a world rife with fire and violence. This world will not be restored through politics or military might. In Butler’s imagination, salvation takes the form of a young woman whose poetry establishes a new faith and new communities. It makes sense: after all, Octavia E. Butler’s own prose helped create a community of Black writers of science fiction and fantasy and give voice to the Afrofuturist—and Africanfuturist—movement. In this course, we will explore at least one of Butler’s novels and consider the ways in which her work “stretches the imagination far beyond the conventions of our time and the horizons of expectation, and kicks the box of normalcy and preconceived notions of blackness out of the solar system” (Womack, Ytasha L. Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture. Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books. 16). We will also define terms like Afrofuturism and Africanfuturism and study the works of writers who point to Butler as an influence and literary predecessor. These writers will pull us into the past or tug us into the future; introduce us to aliens from outer space; and prompt us to question the boundaries of race, class, and gender. In addition to studying one of Butler’s novels (Parable of the Sower, Wild Seed, Kindred, or Fledgling), students will encounter short stories and poetry from several writers of the Black diaspora.

Creative Writing (0.5 Credits, Spring)

We all have stories to tell, whether about ourselves, the lives of others, or the world around us. In this course, we will focus primarily on learning to tell “true” stories well by studying and applying the craft of a diverse group of authors working across genres. Writing daily, we will draft, revise, and rewrite a variety of shorter and longer pieces on topics that may include places, objects, people, memorable moments, and anything that interests us greatly. Students will have ample opportunity to write in other genres, such as short fiction and poetry, through our in-class writing exercises, our assignments, and an independent project. As a supportive community of writers, we will regularly share our work and reflect on our process, and the end of the course will be devoted to workshops in which students read and respond to one another’s work. Those at all levels of comfort with creative and personal writing are welcome.

Dystopian Visions in Literature: The Fragile Future (0.5 Credits, Spring)

Dystopian fiction imagines a future in which everything we most value has been imperiled or destroyed. A perennial favorite, the genre has only become more popular in recent years, yet one has to wonder why we love stories about the end of the world and why they so frequently head up lists both of bestsellers and of banned books. We will begin our semester by considering the concept of a utopia: what would a perfect world look like? Would we wish to live in such a place? Is it possible to achieve, or even approximate, a society free of conflict or hatred? We will then turn our attention to some dystopian novels, which may include George Orwell’s 1984, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, or another familiar example of the genre. As we read we will consider the following questions: Why is the literary dystopian novel so effective at communicating a political cautionary tale? How much do these novels continue to address the most urgent problems we confront in our own society? Are there ways in which their messages need to be adjusted or updated? Are their concerns our concerns in 2026? If time permits, we may also dip into some short stories and films that presciently anticipated current concerns about artificial intelligence and what is sometimes referred to as the “post-human.” Likely candidates include the stories of Philip K. Dick and films such as Blade Runner and Gattaca. Students in the course will produce at least one short analytical essay in addition to creative responses to the reading, as well as, possibly, film analyses.

Manifesto! Literature for Changing the World (0.5 Credits, Spring)

Manifestos constitute a unique genre of writing. Subversive, contrarian, idealistic, and often marginal, they are passionate declarations of how things should be. In this course, we will investigate the conventions of the genre, consider the emergence of the format as a form of political critique, explore the development of the aesthetic manifesto, examine the countercultural manifestos on race and gender from the 1960s and 70s, and, finally, turn to contemporary documents engaging with climate change and other pressing issues. Along the way, we will interrogate what gives these documents rhetorical power. Our central questions will include: What are the characteristics of the form? Who writes manifestos and to what end? Do manifestos actually accomplish anything? How does the imagined audience for a manifesto impact its form? What is the role of humor and absurdity in a manifesto? Of rage? We will read widely; texts will include The Communist Manifesto, F.T. Marinetti’s Futurist manifesto, Tarza’s Dada manifesto, and the platforms of the Black Panther Party, the Young Lords Organization, and the American Indian occupiers of Alcatraz. We may read Valerie Solanas’ SCUM manifesto, along with relevant documents from NOW, SNCC, and local Boston activists such as the Combahee River Collective. Our contemporary documents shift yearly. The course will involve both analytical and creative writing, and students will write manifestos on topics important to them as a culminating assignment. 

Monstrosity in Literature and Society (0.5 Credits, Spring)

“Vampires, Aliens, and Orcs! Oh, my!” Why has so much traditional literature and popular culture focused on horrific monsters and the “heroes” who face and, sometimes, overcome them? By examining representations of monstrosity in a selection of literary works and films, what will we discover about societal values, the idea of the monstrous outsider, or “Other,” and the concept of the hero, the individual who enters the dragon’s lair? Are we always sure we know who the monster is and who the hero is? As society moves toward the modern period, how do “monsters” also change? How do modern monsters reflect contemporary society’s anxieties, fears or values? We will explore both monsters and their nemeses in such works as the poems “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”  and “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” and two novels:  Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. We will also dive into some important essays about the longer works and, time permitting, view some film adaptations of the novels and/or some contemporary films. Students will write in a variety of modes, including analytical essays and creative writing, as well as, possibly, film responses.