I'm excited to partner with English teacher Emily Ellerbe to offer a relaxed, alternative learning setting for young people to meet in small groups with a skilled educator without the hassle of membership commitments to any organization.
Course Description
High School Language Arts: Diverse American Voices is an arts-integrated introduction to literary analysis using primarily YA (young adult) texts, focusing on diversity: not only cultural/ racial/ economic/ gender/ religious diversity within the works themselves but also works written in a diverse array of forms, including poetry, creative nonfiction, drama, graphic novel, and short fiction.
Both critical analysis and comprehension of texts written for an adult audience are important skills to develop in high school, but I contend that teasing these skills apart leads to a stronger foundation in both. This course builds literary analysis skills through texts that were written with teenagers as the intended audience, and will therefore be more likely to amuse, surprise, horrify, and demand the turning of its pages.
Students will come away with a thorough understanding of point of view, tense, figurative language, poetic elements, story structure, character arcs, evidence-based claims, and, above all, the relationship between form and function in literature. They will practice discussing texts with their peers in ways that deepen their own understanding of the texts, their peers, and the wider world.
Written assignments will include reflections, creative pieces, and a capstone analytic essay, scaffolded with teacher feedback on multiple drafts.
Final books TBA but possibilities are Piecing Me Together, The Poet X, The 57 Bus, American Born Chinese, Huda F are You?, Monster, Everything, Everything, and Man Made Monsters. All books will be available from local libraries.
When
Fridays from 1pm - 2:30pm
from September 6th, 2024 to May 23, 2025
(Classes will not meet on September 20, November 29, December 27, January 3, March 28, and April 4.)
Location
Classes will take place at Ms. Alice’s House on Boston Avenue in downtown Silver Spring, MD. Her home is houses away from Silver Spring Intermediate Park and just blocks away from the Montgomery College Takoma Campus. Ms. Alice’s House has a fully enclosed backyard with a further enclosed duck pen and apiary. This class will meet both inside and outside depending on the weather and students' preferences.
Cost
The course fee is $275/per semester or $500/full school year
REGISTRATION IS OPEN!
Space is limited.
About Emily Ellerbe
Emily has a BA in English from St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and has worked professionally in libraries, bookstores, and as an assistant to a prize-winning children’s author. She has studied writing at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda, the Kenyon Review Workshops, and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and workshopped with authors Amity Gaige, Isle McElroy, Jamie Quatro, Laila Lalami, and Julia Phillips. She is currently seeking representation for her first novel, and drafting her second. This year will be her 15th year of homeschooling, and her 6th year of teaching literature and writing at the high school level.
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