NOTE:
Humanities 3 and 4 fulfill the graduation English requirement in the fifth and sixth forms.
Humanities 3 (AP) Requires departmental approval. This course completes the syllabus for the Advanced Placement English language and Composition examination but includes intense studies of the Humanities. A unique educational experience, the course develops English vocabulary through the etymological study of 600 vocabulary words presented in two vocabulary workbooks (Vocabulary Workshop Levels G and H). Students explore the rhetorical strategies utilized by authors of prose and poetry. There is a balance maintained among readings in American and British literature exemplified in poetry, novel and short story. Selections are made each year but generally include Scarlet Letter, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Ethan Fromme, To Kill a Mockingbird, Animal Farm, and Portrait of An Artist. Students are also exposed to classical music, sculpture and painting according to the context of what they are reading. Frequent discussion, reflection essays, creative writing,and public speaking characterize the classes. Humanities students are inquisitive, independent learners and will write the AP English examinations.
Humanities 4 (AP) Requires departmental approval. The fall term is opens with a study of ancient epic in which students read selections from the Iliad, Odyssey and Aeneid. Exploration of the origin and development of the Greek theater leads into a study of drama. Students read Aristotle’s Poetics, and Sophocles's Oedipus Rex or Antigone. The class then looks at Elizabethan theater and does a close reading and analysis of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Othello, or Lear. The winter term opens with a study of ancient Rome with emphasis on the iconography of power. Monuments are studied in their political context from the late republic through the first century. Transition is then made to a comprehensive study of the Italian Renaissance. Selections from Dante’s Inferno augment the detailed study of the social, literary and artistic aspects of the world of Renaissance Florence. Students become familiar with the monuments, sculpture, and paintings of Giotto, Masaccio, Donatello, Rafaello, Boticelli, Michelangelo, and Bernini. The spring term is devoted to Literature in Film. The class applies the principles of drama, learned in the fall, to the medium of film. In all phases of the course students are encouraged to read, write and think attentively. There are opportunities for individual and group presentations. Students will also have the opportunity to travel to Europe in the Spring break to visit under the guidance of their teacher specific centers which have influenced world cultural development. Students are encouraged to take the Advanced Placement examination in English Literature.
Humanities Term Courses:
Classical Mythology This term course examines the principal stories which comprise Greek mythology. These will include myths connected with the origin of the universe, the evolution of the Titans, the rise of Zeus to power and the specific stories surrounding each Olympian god. In the desire to show how text and context inform one another, the teacher will expose the students to various archaeological sites whose excavations have shed important light upon the myths traditionally associated with them. (Fall)
The Art and Archaeology of Ancient Greece - Through slide lectures and net sites, students explore the material remains of various cities prominent in the history of Greece. Knossos, the main city of the Island of Crete, Troy, and Mycenae are among the sites studied for their importance in the Bronze Age (3000-1100BC). After a detailed study of Greek architecture and the evolution of key building types such as the temple, the stoa, and the theater, students study the remains of Olympia, Delphi, and Athens, as well as the myths associated with these cities. A critical component of this course is the exposure to the art of each locale; students are encouraged to produce their own art forms expressive of and reflective of its classical antecedents. (Winter)
The Art and Archaeology of Ancient Rome - This course will examine the archaeological remains of Rome's major monuments through slide lectures, internet research, and assigned readings. Students will grow to comprehend the remarkable development of Rome from a village to a major city to an imposing empire. This study of the design, development and importance of each stage in Rome's evolution will lead to a greater understanding of related subject areas such as economics, urban planning, engineering, architecture, demography and history. Students are expected to become familiar with names, dates, locations and history of the major monuments in the city. The sites studied will include the Palatine and Capitoline hills, the Roman Forum, the various imperial forums, the Rome of the emperors Augustus, Vespasian, Titus, Domitian, Trajan and Hadrian. Emphasis will again be placed on student comprehension of all aspects of Roman art; students will again be encouraged to produce their own work as personal artistic expression rooted in their exposure to the world of the Romans. (Spring)