What are we reading these days?

5th Grade is currently steeped in the mythology of Greek Antiquity from the pen of the eloquent 19th-century author Nathaniel Hawthorne in his Tanglewood Tales, a continuation of his earlier Wonder Book. From the Minotaur of Minos to the pomegranate seeds of Persephone, the 5th graders anticipate the upcoming Panathenea!

The 6th graders just finished reading From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler  by E. L. Konigsburg. and now they are about to set off on a literary adventure together in Tolkien's The Hobbit... are you a Tolkien fan?

The 7th Graders are currently reading The Scarlet Pimpernel, a classic adventure story full of brave heroes, savvy heroines, and plenty of new vocabulary words. We encourage our upper school students to read with a dictionary nearby. Studies show words are retained better from a consult with the dictionary, rather than simply inferring from context.

In 8th grade Literature, students are reading The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. The novel describes the experiences of a “youthful private” in the Union army during the American Civil War. Students have been considering the tension between the soldier as an individual or as a member of a greater whole.

For Ancient Literature, our freshman are reading Virgil's "Aeneid", the 12-part Ancient Roman epic poem about Aeneas, the ancestor of Romulus, the founder of Rome. A must read for any scholar in the classical curriculum.

In Medieval literature, the 10th graders recently finished travelling with the diverse collection of pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales. Through this work, they have been discussing how the late middle ages reflect on and critique the chivalric ideal of the early middle ages, the roles of the husband and wife portrayed in many different marriages, the way the poet teaches virtue by satirizing vice, and the allegory of a soul's journey through life. Now, they are moving on to follow Saint Augustine's journey toward God as he relates it in his Confessions, starting to see in particular how Providence uses the evil and suffering caused by men to bring about good and to draw us closer to Him. This autobiographical work was written in the late 4th century AD and remains one of The Great Books of the western world. Looking for a suggested read over April Break? Check out this endorsement for Confessions

In Modern Literature, the juniors and seniors just finished reading Giuseppe di Lampedusa’s novel, The Leopard. Set in Sicily during the late 19th century, the story gives insight into the perspectives of the old noble class who face the revolutionary change brought to their island by the Italian Unification. Early in the work, a character declares that “If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.” The juniors and seniors have spent classes discussing how to interpret this line in light of the way the plot unfolds.