Course Specific Suggestions

Welcome to Freshmen Literature and Writing!  The following titles are recommendations from Daniel Hand students and teachers.  In class this year we will be working on developing your skills to manage complex texts, more deeply analyze theme, and explore a wide variety of texts including classic literature.  It is our goal to develop and encourage reading as a habit so we are providing a wide variety of suggestions to support that goal.  

Our recommendation is to read thirty minutes per day, with a goal in mind of completing four books by the time you return to school in the fall.  Feel free to choose from the selection below or find your own recommendations. Please come to school in the fall prepared to discuss your summer reading suggestions and your reading goals for the upcoming school year.  Please follow this link to a google form to log your summer reading.

American Literature is a workshop course that will provide students with the opportunity both to build upon the skills developed during freshman year as well as explore American ideals. Students will grow as critical readers as they move from analysis to synthesis of ideas with various levels of support and scaffolding and through the process of feedback and revision. Throughout the course, students will consider the beliefs of the founding fathers, our country’s successes and shortcomings, and the impact of race, class, and gender in America. They will also examine the ways that literature reflects and/or challenges society.  This course will help each individual student refine his/her skills and grow as a reader and writer while moving from analysis of text to synthesis of texts.   

Our recommendation is to read thirty minutes per day, with a goal in mind of completing four books by the time you return to school in the fall.   Feel free to choose from the selection below or find your own recommendations. Please come to school in the fall prepared to discuss your summer reading suggestions and your reading goals for the upcoming school year.  Please follow this link to a google form to log your summer reading.

Our World Literature class poses this question: As Americans, how are we genetically, culturally, and politically connected to the rest of the world?  In order to set the stage for this study, students will engage in a range of texts from ancient classics, to contemporary fiction. This course invites students to pose inquiry, investigate themes across cultures, and examine the “second story.” 

The second trimester of this course will examine the notion and nature of the hero by studying a range of experiences that are strongly unlike our own. As Americans, what do we have to learn from the hardship of others and how might this cause us to see our own selves differently? With a mix of contemporary and classic texts, students will investigate intercultural experiences that are both universally human and culturally unique. Students will investigate in what ways we share common human experiences of loss, loneliness, hope, and determination. 

Our recommendation is to read thirty minutes per day, with a goal in mind of completing four books by the time you return to school in the fall.   Feel free to choose from the selection below or find your own recommendations. Please come to school in the fall prepared to discuss your summer reading and your reading goals for the upcoming school year.   Please follow this link to a google form to log your summer reading.

In an increasingly technological world, the ways that people communicate with each other and the methods that they use to do so are constantly changing. In this course, students will learn and practice the skills that they will need to effectively communicate with others in contemporary society. Topics to be explored in this class include public speaking, strategies for delivering an effective presentation, collaboration and discussion, technology and the internet, current events, written communication, ethics, and personal and professional success.  Students will have opportunities to demonstrate listening, oral, and written skills in both individual and collaborative projects, and they will study a variety of texts – both fiction and non-fiction – that are relevant to our course concepts.

Our recommendation is to read thirty minutes per day, with a goal in mind of completing four books by the time you return to school in the fall. Feel free to choose from the selection below or find your own recommendations. Please come to school in the fall prepared to discuss your summer reading suggestions and your reading goals for the upcoming school year.   Please follow this link to a google form to log your summer reading.

In Race, Literature, and Culture, students will be introduced to a variety of concepts related to the role of race in literature, history, and contemporary culture: implicit vs. explicit bias, the danger of a single story, colorblindness, postcolonial power relationships, and the various means by which people of color have been (and continue to be) segregated. They will study literary and historical texts from the slavery era to the modern day and analyze them through the aforementioned concepts. This course will challenge any pre-conceived opinions by exposing students to new ideas. 

Our recommendation is to read thirty minutes per day, with a goal in mind of completing four books by the time you return to school in the fall. Feel free to choose from the selection below or find your own recommendations. Please come to school in the fall prepared to discuss your summer reading suggestions and your reading goals for the upcoming school year.  Please follow this link to a google form to log your summer reading.

With a strong emphasis on literary analysis, this course exposes students to the vocabulary of film and adaptation.  Through a focused study of iconic films, students will identify and critique the cinematic techniques used to create meaning in film.  Once that foundation is set, students will read a variety of short-form and long-form literature and consider the decisions that screenwriters, directors, cinematographers, and actors make when adapting these works for the big screen. Students will also engage in critical, historical, and theoretical analysis of film to understand its cultural impact.  Successful students will view films in and outside of school, read literature that has been adapted into film, complete formal scene and film analyses, as well as read and write film reviews.

Our recommendation is to read thirty minutes per day, with a goal in mind of completing four books by the time you return to school in the fall.   Feel free to choose from the selection below or find your own recommendations. Please come to school in the fall prepared to discuss your summer reading suggestions and your reading goals for the upcoming school year.  Please follow this link to a google form to log your summer reading.

Journalism students examine the First Amendment as well as the ethical and legal concerns of journalists.  In addition, the course focuses on interviewing skills, evaluating newsworthiness, and current events.  Students have a number of assignments that cover the full range of journalistic writing.  These activities result in major articles submitted for grading during the course.  In addition, students assess newspaper writing style, learn to edit and ready copy, and experience the process of publishing a newspaper.  The list below are nonfiction titles by reporters and researchers.

Our recommendation is to read thirty minutes per day, with a goal in mind of completing four books by the time you return to school in the fall.   Feel free to choose from the selection below or find your own recommendations. Please come to school in the fall prepared to discuss your summer reading suggestions and your reading goals for the upcoming school year.  Please follow this link to a google form to log your summer reading.

Creative Writing highlights techniques of expressive writing in the autobiography, poems, fiction, and drama.  Students keep writing journals and share some of their work with the class.  Readings and written exercises are assigned to help students acquire greater awareness of the writing styles of established authors and to experiment with new techniques in their own expressive writing.  

Reading a wide variety of literary works will help spark creativity.  Our recommendation is to read thirty minutes per day, with a goal in mind of completing four books by the time you return to school in the fall. Feel free to choose from the selection below or find your own recommendations. Please come to school in the fall prepared to discuss your summer reading suggestions and your reading goals for the upcoming school year.  Please follow this link to a google form to log your summer reading.

Humanities is a course intended for the very capable and highly motivated student dedicated to academic study.  The purpose of the course is to explore the interdisciplinary nature of history, literature, art, and music. The course will be co-taught by one English teacher and one history teacher, supplemented throughout the course by teacher presentations from the art and music departments.  The humanities utilize a specific way of thinking about and responding to the world, prompting people to examine and make sense of the human experience in general and their individual experiences in particular.  The humanities enable people to reflect upon their lives and ask fundamental questions of value, purpose, and meaning in a rigorous and systematic way about the challenges faced in their families, their communities, and as a nation.  The Humanities course requires students to read extensively and critically, make presentations, respond to materials in written essays, and to actively participate in discussions.

Our recommendation is to read thirty minutes per day, with a goal in mind of completing four books by the time you return to school in the fall.  Feel free to choose from the selection below or find your own recommendations. Please come to school in the fall prepared to discuss your summer reading suggestions and your reading goals for the upcoming school year.  Please follow this link to a google form to log your summer reading.

The Bible as Literature is a survey of the Old and New Testament of the Bible.  The course includes readings from Greek mythology and modern literature for comparative purposes.  Students examine the biblical concepts of democracy, freedom, justice, life, death, and marriage, as well as their impact on modern-day literature, the legal system, etc.  Most importantly, the course explores the numerous literary allusions which have the Bible as a source.

Our recommendation is to read thirty minutes per day, with a goal in mind of completing four books by the time you return to school in the fall.  Feel free to choose from the selection below or find your own recommendations. Please come to school in the fall prepared to discuss your summer reading suggestions and your reading goals for the upcoming school year.  Please follow this link to a google form to log your summer reading.

War has been one of the most prevalent topics in literature throughout time.  This course will look at modern war from World War I & II and Vietnam to the War on Terror.  Students will study the transition or change in sentiment towards war and how the literature both shapes and reflects this change.  Students will have a unique opportunity to study literature (Hemingway, Salinger, O’Brien, etc.) and film (Saving Private Ryan, Forrest Gump, The Hurt Locker) to trace the various sentiments of different subcultures.  

Our recommendation is to read thirty minutes per day, with a goal in mind of completing four books by the time you return to school in the fall.   Feel free to choose from the selection below or find your own recommendations. Please come to school in the fall prepared to discuss your summer reading suggestions and your reading goals for the upcoming school year.  Please follow this link to a google form to log your summer reading.

All Latin students are encouraged to read Madeline Miller’s Circe or Song of Achilles. If interested in mythology, Edith Hamilton’s Mythology is the standard. If interested in the politics of Rome, students should read Tacitus’ Annals, Livy’s Ab Urbe Condita, or Suetonius’ Lives of Caesar’s.

All students taking a Spanish class 2023-2024 school year are encouraged to view the following suggestions for summer work.