Current courses focus on advanced middle- and high-school students. Each course is taught in four eight-week “quarter” blocks. Students may take one or more quarters as their interest/availability allows. See below for pricing.
World Epic and Fantasy
Wednesdays, 4-5:30 pm Eastern, 1-2:30 pm Pacific. Class begins Wednesday, September 7.
This course samples epics from Mesopotamia, Europe, Japan, and India. It combines history and literature, original texts and graphic novels. We’ll read parts of Paradise Lost and Gilgamesh (in translation), as well as the graphic novels Sita’s Ramayana and Usagi Ojimbo along with historic and summary descriptions of the epics/stories they draw on. Students will learn how to read/analyze heroic couplets, verse, and narrative visual art. Possible topics of discussion: cultural values across time and place; epic backgrounds and influence on fantasy and other fiction; connections to popular culture (e.g. manga); religious and historic iconography and visual art; literary adaptation. Students will write four 3-5 page essays, one on each main text. Essays might include historic research, literary analysis, comparison to other reading, or creative approaches to interpreting/presenting their response to each text. They’ll get plenty of feedback on their writing, help and instruction on research methods, and a solid introduction to the ways that scholars and artists have approached these foundational stories.
Students will be expected to provide their own books, whether by purchasing them or borrowing from the library. In most cases, they are welcome to use different editions or translations than the ones provided – we can use different versions of texts to talk about the decisions editors or translators make :-).
Writing and Grammar
Mondays 4-5:30 pm Eastern, 1-2:30 pm Pacific Class begins Monday, September 5 (Labor Day)
Less a formal course than a workshop, this class will help students work on their own writing, using projects that they choose themselves. They can bring to class essays they are working on for middle or high school, pieces they are writing for their own satisfaction, college admissions essays, or choose a topic they’d like to learn and write about. During class meetings, the instructor will teach formal grammar using a descriptive rather than prescriptive model, students will discuss their own writing processes, challenges, and triumphs, and students will read and workshop each others’ writing. Students will learn to think about audience, revision, and authorial voice, will produce at least one polished piece of writing per eight-week quarter, and will become more proficient and confident writers.
Calendar
September 5: first day of class
September 26/27: Rosh Hashanah (class may be moved to Thursday if there are Jewish students in class)
October 28: end of first term; there will be a 2-week break before classes resume
November 14: first day of second term
November 24-27: Thanksgiving break
December 23-January 2: Winter break
January 14: end of second term; there will be a 1-week break before classes resume
January 23: first day of third term
March 8: Holi (class may be moved to Thursday)
March 17: end of third term; classes will resume on April 4
April 3: start of fourth term
May 26: end of fourth term
Pricing
All classes are $100 per week, per student. Each term must be paid in full by the first day of that term’s class (September 6 for first term, November 15 for 2nd term; January 24 for 3rd term; April 4 for fourth term).
Discounts
Siblings enrolled in the same class receive a 50% discount on the second (or third!) student.
Clients who refer a student that enrolls receive a 50% discount for the first term of the new enrollment.
Clients who pay for all four terms up front receive a 25% discount.
Questions? Contact me: