This 13-week course of study investigates major events and movements of the twentieth century through the lens of 4 classic texts: Animal Farm, Night, Persepolis, and The Central Park Five. These 4 core texts are access points to 4 defining events/movements of the twentieth century  1) Totalitarianism, 2) the Holocaust, 3) the Iranian Revolution, and 4) Mass Incarceration.
More broadly, we will consider both the ways in which war, revolution, and survival have shaped our world, and also how social change, media, and appeals to authority continue to remake society. Supplementary materials will include short media clips, and articles, among other materials.

Because this course fulfills the goals of an English Language Arts class, we will pay special attention to the genre, rhetorical analysis, authorial purpose, and vocabulary of the texts we read. Genres of the 4 texts include short story, political satire, graphic memoir, and creative nonfiction. 

Historical analysis involves the cultivation of efficient and compelling writing. Writing projects include a 1-page literary analysis of Animal Farm, a vocabulary assessment, and the Final Project. 

Class sessions consist primarily of a short orienting lecture, with most of the class period devoted to a Socratic seminar format. A Socratic seminar emphasizes careful listening and discourse with fellow classmates. Classes are intentionally small in order to help learners engage in focused discussion with the instructor and other students around a prearranged set of questions. 

Week 1: 
Introduction

Week 2: 
Animal Farm; Power and Propaganda

Week 3: 
Animal Farm; Stalin's History 

Week 4: 
Animal Farm; Review and Write

Week 5: 
Night; Memory and the Holocaust

Week 6:
Night; Memory and the Holocaust

Week 7: 
Night; Authority

Week 8: 
Persepolis; Authority 

Week 9: 
Persepolis; Vocabulary assessment

Week 10: 
Central Park Five; Mass Incarceration

Week 11: 
Central Park Five; Language

Week 12: 
Central Park Five; Review

Week 13: 
Final Project

Please request a full syllabus for a precise structure of readings and assignments. 

Image Citation 
(RIA Novosti archive, image #910794 / Grigoriy Vasilenko / CC-BY-SA 3.0)