Language and Reality

Language is a mixed blessing. While the great achievements of human society depend upon it, language is also a source of individual and collective superstition and stupidity. In focusing on the relationship between language and reality, we will be examining such matters as the degree to which language helps to create the reality we experience, the uses and abuses of language in various environments (politics, the mass media, science, education, etc.), and the workings of language in real human situations and the consequences of these workings.

Organizationally, the first semester will be divided into three parts (1) classroom instruction and discussion (about 7 weeks); (2) a group project (about 4 weeks); and (3) an individual project (about 4 weeks). English or social studies credit.

Newspaper

The main function of this workshop is to produce The First I, our weekly newspaper now entering its fifth year. The First I reports primarily on 3I people and events but also includes discussions of community issues. Its success depends entirely on students who are interested in learning how to dig up, research, and write articles and who are willing to work hard, to accept criticism, and to write and rewrite. Instruction is offered on both an individual and a group basis on how to write various kinds of articles. Regular sessions are held for this purpose and to analyze the overall effectiveness of the paper.

The Representation of Reality in Western Literature

How has reality been represented in Western Literature? This question will be the major one and provide the unifying theme for a reading-discussion course which will include an examination of such works as The Odyssey, the Gospel According to St. Matthew, Tristan and Isolde, Don Quixote, Macbeth, Poems by Keats, Madame Bovery, and The Communist Manifesto. Limited to 15 students. Two-hour meetings on Monday evenings. English Credit.

Writing Workshop

This one-semester workshop is for students who want and need help in expository types of writing (essays, informational articles, biographical and historical papers, criticisms of books, etc.) and the skills (sentence construction, paragraph development and the like) associated with such writing.

Each student will be required (1) to maintain a journal in which he or she is to write a minimum of two hours per week and (2) to write at least one paper per week which will be criticized in a meeting with the teacher and/or by the group.

The workshop group will be limited to 20 students and divided by the two teachers into two sections of 10 students each. 1/2 Eng. Credit.

The Art of Satire

The purpose of this course would be to read experimentally. Most areas of written satire would be covered. Such authors as: Swift, Twain, Bruce, Woody Alan, Ben Franklin would be read and discussed.

Poetry Exchange

Poetry Exchange will be a class in which 3I students will get together to read and discuss their own poetry, prose, etc.

An Introduction to Four Bibles

Scriptural writings have played immensely important roles in revealing and shaping the thought and behavior of mankind. Among those writings are the Jewish Old Testament. the Christian New Testament, the Hindu Bhagavad-Gita, and various Buddhist scriptures. The study of these texts will include discussions of history, religion, mythology, literature, archaeology, and philosophy as well as a comparison of Western and Eastern ways of thought.

The approximate schedule for the year will be: September-November Old Testament; November-January New Testament; January-March Bhagavad-Gita; April-June Buddhist scriptures. English or studies credit.

School and Society

The institution in American society with which we are the most familiar is the school. But how well do we really know it? What are its purposes? How do we know? What is its relationship to other institutions in our society? To what extent does the school reflect the prevailing values of that society? To what extent does it influence them? In short, how do the schools work and why are they the way they are? Traditional classroom work -- instruction, reading, discussion -- will play a minor part in the course. The main emphasis will be on student formulation of and inquiry into questions about the relationship of school and society. These inquiries will involve observation and critical analyses of schools and meetings of the Board of Education as well as other school groups, designing and administering questionnaires, interviewing students, parents, teachers, principals, etc.

Literature and Poetry: Walt Whitman through 1920's

Extensive reading and discussion of the period of American literature roughly 1870-1930.

American History through Literature

Selected novels, interpretative sources, and poetry will provide a look at what America is as a country and what her people represent individually and collectively.

American History Topics

5 ten week topics will be selected and will be studied in depth. These topics are designed to give interested students an understanding of interpretation in American social and political development. The following topics have been selected:

1. The Constitution - how it developed and what it means to us now.
2. The Coming of the Civil War.
3. Money, Expansion, and Cultural Development.
4. The American People - Composition and Characteristics.
5. America today.

This course will be one semester. It will be community based and Project oriented. Students will learn the electoral process and be required to develop a project involving a candidate or an issue related to a local, state, or national race.

Study of criminal law with emphasis on courtroom observation and project work.

Elementary Algebra

An algebra course (two semesters) for those who have not taken or have not passed an algebra course at the Junior High School level. This course satisfies the math requirement for High School graduation in New York. Content will be determined by the background and ability of the class.

Geometry

This course (two semesters) presents geometry as a formal system of logic. Students learn the role of proof in mathematics, the nature of mathematical existence, and other topics such as analytic geometry, constructions, area and volume, and trigonometry. Weekly assignments are made. Elementary algebra is a prerequisite.

Algebra & Triginometry

This course (two semesters) reviews the content of elementary algebra and introduces such new topics as complex numbers, exponential equations, theory of functions, logarithyms, conic sections ,and the general trigonometric functions. The approach to these topics is quite theoretical. Assignments are made weekly or bi-weekly.

Geometry is normally a prerequisite; any student who wishes to take the course without having completed geometry should talk with me before enrolling.