Whether you’re a voracious middle school reader who wants to understand the deeper meaning behind great literature or someone who needs to get a grip on literary analysis before high school, this is the course for you!

Based on Thomas C. Foster’s classic guide, 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘳, we’ll use Foster’s middle school edition 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑲𝒊𝒅𝒔 as our guide. We will learn to read great books together with the eye of someone who has been trained to search for deeper literary meanings woven into texts. We’ll begin to recognize symbols, themes, and contexts and come away from the course with a keener understanding of some of the world’s greatest writing. 

Great “Aha!” moments can happen if we know what to look for, and together we’ll make connections to classical literature, modern writing, film, television, music, and even video games. 

Socratic discussion (questions to help you think critically about a topic) and weekly activities, such as creative writing and close reading assignments, will be the foundation of our in-class time together. We will also consider and analyze movies, video clips, and other media forms of storytelling. 

-Week 1: You do not have to come to the first class having read any of the book yet. We’ll familiarize ourselves with the book’s layout and discuss the introduction.
-Week 2: Discussion of the Introduction and Chapters 1-3
-Week 3: Discussion of Chapters 4-7
-Week 4: Discussion of Chapters 8-11
-Week 5: Discussion of Chapters 12-15
-Week 6: Discussion of Chapters 16-19
-Week 7: Analyzing Fiction - Live analysis of the short story, "The Medicine Bag" (Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve)

At the end of our course period together, you will feel prepared to jump into a high school-level literature course, equipped with analytical tools that will serve you well for the rest of your life.